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James Mottram

4/5 stars
A gentle, touching romance about first loves, and the destinies we carve out for ourselves, Celine Song’s Past Lives is an elegantly handled sliding doors story.
Like 2021’s Minari, this simply told Korean-American tear-jerker has huge awards potential, particularly for its central performances from a trio of actors who understand their characters on a deeply emotional level.
It starts, briefly, with a shot of all three in a bar, as an unseen observer ponders who they might be and what their relationship is. One is Arthur (John Magaro), a Jewish New Yorker. The others are both Korean, Nora (Russian Doll’s Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo).


What are their connections to each other? Song then winds the clock back 24 years to begin her explanation.
As children in Korea, Hae Sung and Nora – then called Na Young, before she Americanised her name – were friends, until Nora’s parents decided to move to Canada.
“If you leave something behind, you gain something too,” reasons Na Young’s mother, when a friend asks why she might give up her life as an artist in Korea. There are no tears or tantrums; just a rather blunt “bye” between the kids. But the sadness in their eyes is plain to see.

A dozen years later, Nora is in New York, living the dream, forging her career as a playwright. Hae Sung is an engineering student in Seoul. Feelings blossom when they reconnect over Skype, but life gets in the way.
When the film returns to the present day, Nora is now married to Arthur, a fellow writer she met during a residency. But then Hae Sung comes to New York, seeing Nora in the flesh for the first time in over 20 years.
Song, in her feature film directing debut, handles these scenes with considerable maturity, introducing the idea of in-yun, the Korean concept of providence between people.
Kill Boksoon: Jeon Do-yeon plays assassin in visceral Korean thriller
An indie film that’s the very antithesis of Hollywood hearts and flowers (and all the better for it), Past Lives will feel familiar to anyone who has looked up an old flame online and wondered ‘What if?’
While the film feels slight at times, lacking in emotional fireworks, its delicate nature is to be savoured. In particular, the aforementioned bar is returned to in what might be one of the most sublimely written scenes of the year, one that cleverly uses language barriers as a way of expressing true feelings.
Tender and moving, Past Lives will touch the depths of your soul with its honesty and integrity.
Want more articles like this? Follow SCMP Film on Facebook


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American cinema

Berlin 2023: Past Lives movie review – Greta Lee, Teo Yoo play childhood sweethearts in Celine Song’s touching romance about first loves

Greta Lee (left) and Teo Yoo in a still from Past Lives, directed by Celine Song. Photo: Jon Pack.

(From left) Teo Yoo, director Celine Song, Greta Lee and John Magaro pose on the red carpet for the film “Past Lives” at the Berlin film festival on February 19. Photo: AFP.

Berlin 2023: The Shadowless Tower movie review – Chinese director Zhang Lu’s midlife drama is a gentle story of soul-searching

Xin Baiqing as Gu Wentong in a still from The Shadowless Tower.

Xin Baiqing as Gu Wentong in a still from The Shadowless Tower, directed by Zhang Lu. Gu is a middle-aged food critic and divorcee in a relationship with a much younger photographer (Huang Yao) in this slow-moving drama that premiered in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Huang Yao (left) and Xin Baiqing in a still from The Shadowless Tower, with the eponymous tower in the background.

Xin Baiqing (left) and Tian Zhuangzhuang in a still from The Shadowless Tower.

From left: Xin Baiqing, Huang Yao and Nan Ji in a still from The Shadowless Tower.

Berlin 2023: Kill Boksoon movie review – Jeon Do-yeon plays assassin in Korean action thriller straight out of the John Wick playbook

Jeon Do-yeon in a still from Kill Boksoon, an action film directed by Byun Sung-hyun in which she plays a ruthless assassin who hides her professional life from her teenaged daughter. Photo: No Ju-han/Netflix.

Esom in a still from Kill Boksoon. Photo: No Ju-han/Netflix.

Kim Si-a in a still from Kill Boksoon. Photo: No Ju-han/Netflix.

Sul Kyung-gu (left) and Jeon Do-yeon in a still from Kill Boksoon. Photo: No Ju-han/Netflix.

Hidden Blade movie review: Tony Leung excels opposite Wang Yibo as a conflicted intelligence agent in Cheng Er’s stylish wartime spy thriller

Tony Leung (centre) in a still from Hidden Blade (category TBC), directed by Cheng Er and co-starring Wang Yibo and Zhou Xun. 

Wang Yibo as intelligence officer Ye, in a still from Hidden Blade.

Zhang Jingyi as Ms Fang, Ye’s former fiancée, in a still from Hidden Blade.

Zhou Xun in a still from Hidden Blade. Her character, Ms Chen, is left as a disappointingly enigmatic presence by the movie’s editing.

Where the Wind Blows movie review: Aaron Kwok, Tony Leung play corrupt police sergeants in Philip Yung’s wildly ambitious period crime drama

Aaron Kwok in a still from Where the Wind Blows.

Aaron Kwok (left) and Tony Leung Chiu-wai in a still from Where the Wind Blows (category IIB; Cantonese), directed by Philip Yung Tsz-kwong, based on the true-life stories of two notoriously corrupt Royal Hong Kong Police officers.

Tony Leung as Nam Kong in a still from Where the Wind Blows.

Aaron Kwok as Lui Lok in a still from Where the Wind Blows.

Michael Hui as ICAC officer George Lee in a still from Where the Wind Blows.

Tony Leung (left) and Aaron Kwok in a still from Where the Wind Blows.

Netflix movie review: Unlocked – Korean serial killer thriller starring Chun Woo-hee and Im Si-wan is painfully uninspired

Chun Woo-hee as Nami in a still from Unlocked. Photo: Netflix.

Chun Woo-hee as Nami in a still from Netflix K-drama Unlocked. Photo: Netflix

Im Si-wan as Jun Yeong in a still from Unlocked. Photo: Netflix

Kim Hee-won as Ji-man (front) in a still from Unlocked. Photo: Netflix

Im Si-wan as Jun Yeong (left) and Chun Woo-hee as Na-mi in a still from Unlocked. Photo: Netflix

Lifestyle

Entertainment

Arts & Culture

Culture

Film & TV

Greta Lee and Teo Yoo play Nora and Hae Sung, childhood sweethearts in Korea who are separated when Nora moves to Canada
They reconnect on Skype after 12 years, and finally meet in person 24 years later, in New York, in a story that will touch your soul


Celine Song’s gentle romance stars Greta Lee and Teo Yoo as childhood friends in Korea who reconnect online after 12 years apart, and eventually meet again in New York.


Asian cinema: Korean films

Asian cinema

Film reviews

Cinema

South Korean celebrities

Fame and celebrity

Berlin International Film Festival

Sundance Film Festival

An assessment or critique of a service, product or creative endeavour.  Film reviews, restaurant reviews, reviews of art exhibitions. (Eg. Crazy Rich Asians: an important film, yes, but a good one?)


Review

Review | Berlin 2023: Past Lives movie review – Greta Lee, Teo Yoo play childhood sweethearts in Celine Song’s touching romance about first loves

Greta Lee and Teo Yoo play Nora and Hae Sung, childhood sweethearts in Korea who are separated when Nora moves to Canada They reconnect on Skype after 12 years, and finally meet in person 24 years later, in New York, in a story that will touch your soul

Greta Lee and Teo Yoo play Nora and Hae Sung, childhood sweethearts in Korea who are separated when Nora moves to Canada

They reconnect on Skype after 12 years, and finally meet in person 24 years later, in New York, in a story that will touch your soul