SEOUL TO SOUL (PAST LIVES)

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Looking for an underdog to cheer on at next year's Oscars?

Celine Song's 'Past Lives' may well be that film.

A gentle movie about unrequited love across continents, the Korean Canadian's debut feature should melt even the hardest of hearts.

It also contains some of the finest, understated acting on a cinema screen this year.

© A24 & StudioCanal

Written and directed by Song, the movie initially concerns itself with the childhood bond between Seung Ah Moon's Nora and Seung Min Yim's Hae Sung in Seoul in the year 2000.

Thick as thieves, the 12 year olds enjoy each other's company in school and walk home together.

Nora's mum, played by Ji Hye Yoon, and Have Sung's mum, played by Min Young Ahn, arrange for the two of them to go on a date.

However as the kids goof around in a public park, Nora's mum reveals to her counterpart that her family is due to immigrate to Canada because her dad, played by Choi Won-young, has found work there as a director.

© A24 & StudioCanal
 
Nora's mum just wants her to have a treasured memory of her life in Seoul before the family heads to Toronto.

When the family uproots to Canada, Nora and Hae Sung lose touch.

Twelve years later, Greta Lee's 24 year old Nora ends up in New York where she is a writer.

Back in Seoul, Teo Yoo's Hae Sung has spent time, serving in the military.

© A24 & StudioCanal

On a whim, Nora looks him up online and discovers Hae Sung has been trying to make contact with her through her dad's blog.

She reaches out and they set up a video call which then develops into a regular thing.

However the pressure of maintaining a long distance friendship that could be something else starts to take its toll.

Hae Sung heads to China for work and Nora attends a retreat in Montauk and cuts off contact with him to enable her to focus on her writing.

© A24 & StudioCanal

Inevitably, the duo reconnect but at what cost?

Song's movie is a well observed, delicately handled tale of romantic possibility and lost opportunities that is exquisitely delivered.

The film's opening sequence has Shabier Kirchner's camera spy on Hae Sung, Nora and John Magaro's Arthur at they sit at a late night bar in New York.

Offscreen, we hear two people taking a guess what the relationship between the three people is and mischievously they speculate what is really going on.

© A24 & StudioCanal

As we move into the back story, we know we'll eventually get back to this scene with all the blanks filled in.

What unfolds after this sequence is a movie that is very much of its time.

'Past Lives' is a digital age tale about childhood crushes, unfulfilled dreams, the access social media gives to our past, the wisdom or folly of exploring that further and the consequences of straying from romantic possibility.

In some respects, it's a simple story.

© A24 & StudioCanal

However it's a simple tale that's really well executed by Song and beautifully acted.

Some viewers will think of Richard Linklater's 'Before' trilogy with Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke.

There's no doubt it shares the same tensions in those films that come with romantic possibility.

Song's film poses the question: is it better to act impulsively when it comes to love or are those the actions of a fool?

© A24 & StudioCanal

In the complex world of love and relationships, should you accept your lot or rectify the past?

Lee, Yoo and Magaro are simply terrific in the film - each of them brilliantly navigating the awkwardness of the situation their characters find themselves in.

Sparingly written by Song, the film requires each of them to say an awful lot through their body language.

They easily pass that test.

© A24 & StudioCanal

All three deliver performances of such grace and depth, they really ought to be featuring on awards season lists.

Although don't bank on it.

Knowing Hollywood, it's a big ask that a film as delightfully indie as 'Past Lives' will get the recognition it deserves.

It's not just Lee, Yoo and Magaro, though, who deserve applause.

© A24 & StudioCanal

Seung Ah Moon and Seung Min Yim are excellent as the childhood versions of Nora and Hae Sung.

In truth the entire cast deserves recognition, while Song's direction, Kirchner's camera work and Keith Fraase's editing is razor sharp too.

Ultimately, though, it is Teo Yoo's performance that stays with you.

The subtlety of his acting really hits home, with him able to convey heartache and longing with the briefest of glances.

© A24 & StudioCanal

With barely an angry word uttered, Song masterfully builds up tension in 'Past Lives' and convincingly charts the trajectories of frustrated love.

The experience of watching 'Past Lives' is oddly more exhausting than watching a thrilling gun battle or car chase in a spy movie and yet a shot is never fired, a punch is never thrown, dialogue is never roared and an engine is never revved.

Like Prasanna Puranawajah's 'Ballywalter,' Song's film in its understated way makes a compelling case for more investment in grown up cinema.

© A24 & StudioCanal

Sometimes all you need is a genuine story of human connection.

Often it's the simplest of tales that has the greatest impact.

'Past Lives' passes both tests and will soak into your consciousness for a very, very long time.

('Past Lives' opened in UK and Irish cinemas on September 7, 2023)

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