Past Lives: the Space Between Love.

by Oliver Spicer.

Nora and Hae Sung on the Staten Island Ferry - converted to monotone.

Past Lives (Celine Song, 2023) is a series of memories: some from the night before yesterday, some from years ago. Both the kind that appear when gazing into the ceiling on sleepless nights. These memories form three acts that cover the relationship of Nora (Greta Lee), who emigrated from South Korea to Canada at age twelve, and her childhood love Hae Sung (Teo Yoo). fate, which is key to the film in the form of the slightly-untranslatable 인연 (in-yeon), draws the two close only to separate at the point of intimacy.

To show this separation, Past Lives uses many visual metaphors in the form of cinematography and blocking. Architecturally, the two are parted in conversation with handrails and stairs which bend into opposite directions. Characters are framed with extra-headroom and in unbalanced compositions that draw attention to distance, and especially the distance between. One sequence of Nora and Hae Sung talking uses slow panning shots to-and-fro the speakers instead of cutting, which is an unique decision due to the large separation between the lost lovers meaning that for several seconds only the blank space between is shown on screen. The air between the two connected souls is captured, along with the molecules of longing, disappointment, and 인연 present.

The two are also separated geographically, with Nora spending the majority of the narrative in New York and Hae Sung in Seoul. While other romance films display their locations as much as their stories (Before Sunrise() and its setting of Vienna), Past Lives can't pull its focus away from its relationships - only offering sparse vignettes of the two cities: a few locations in Seoul and the regular views of NYC. The fact they are apart is more important than their exact positions, with even the wide shots of skylines only offering a backdrop instead of a pair of cities explored in the film.

A certain real life imperfection makes this film relatable. In the second act, 2012 technology is on display with scenes involving Facebook, Skype, and texting. But instead of the pristine version of the internet that many films cut to, the videocalls buffer and have a real compressed look to them. Subtle acting also immerses the viewer into the film, meeting the deliberately imperfect framing to make it seem as you are watching an unknown story play out from across the room - an idea hinted to you by the opening scene.

These elements of separation and imperfection stack to form Past Live's core identity as an Anti-Romance film. Much like the Anti-Western this does not mean the complete inversion of a genre (it is by no means an aromantic film), but instead a counter-argument to the tendencies of a genre whilst still displaying many aspects. It is more than being 'untraditional' and should question the basis on which a genre exists and why audiences enjoy such films.

This leads to Past Lives sitting between In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-wai, 2000) and When Harry met Sally...(Rob Reiner, 1989) thematically, due to the two films dealing with life impeding on the perfect romantic arc. Characters in such films know all the archetypes and plot points of a romance story - aware of every cliché they perform. Nora and Hae Sung are the same: they know what their love story should be, they know all the beats. The problem in the film is not that they are separated or their external lovers, its that the universe won't easily grant their perfect story...

As the void of the credits snapped the screen to black, sobbing became audible from all directions. Personally, I think the end of the second act is much more melancholic. Maybe I would have cried if not dehydrated from walking the streets of Edinburgh. But it offers a larger space for reflection than most studio synthesised tear jerkers, and is certainly more subtle.

Past Lives is released on the 30th of August across the UK.

by Oliver Spicer, August 2023.