Past Lives at Luna

Details: Written by: Nita Teoh; Category: Arts & Culture; Published: 22 August 2023

Past-Lives-Greta-Lee-Teo-Yoo-Luna — Greta Lee (as Nora) and Teo Yoo (as Hae Sung), Past Lives at Luna

Greta Lee (as Nora) and Teo Yoo (as Hae Sung), Past Lives
Photo Credit:Studio Canal

If there are two paths in the fork of a road – you have to decide which one to take.

You choose one path – but how different would your life have been if you had gone the other way?

And so the movie Past Lives explores the many facets of what changes our destiny over the course of our lifetime – decisions made about who we hung out with at school, where we lived, the influence of our family, getting an education, getting married etc.

In her debut film, Writer / Director Celine Song explores in a contemplative manner the close childhood friendship of Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) who are split apart when Nora's family emigrates from South Korea to Canada.

Two decades later, they are reunited in New York when Hae Sung goes on vacation to visit Nora, who has been married for some time to Arthur (John Magaro) - an American Jewish man and a fellow writer like herself.

As Nora and Hae Sung spend some time together getting reacquainted they ponder over what might have been ?

It is a sensitive movie that explores the close connection of two friends, and what might have been.

Based on personal experiences in her own life, Director Celine Song also explores the idea of “In-Yun” – the Buddhist concept of a fated human connection and reincarnation.

According to this theory, "it takes 8,000 layers of 'in-yun'" for two people to be together in a lifetime.

Past Lives is a unique and poignant movie, and toggles between the current day as well as returning back to childhood memories as the main characters reminiscence about the past.

Besides covering the themes of love and destiny, it also interweaves the experience of grief and sadness and reflections on what might have been.

Movie goers who enjoy a deeply reflective movie that is set in New York and Korea will enjoy this unique offering from Director Celine Song.

The two main characters reflect on their feelings towards each other within their own complex inner emotional world.

Broader themes of the migration experience and assimilating in a Western country when you are from another culture, and toggling between two different countries whose values can sometimes seem worlds apart, provide much food for thought in this movie and is a very relatable experience for many of us.

Past Lives opens at Luna Palace Cinemas on 31 August.

Advance screenings on Friday 25 August to Sunday August.

Special preview event on Thursday 24 August with a Korean / New York flavoured evening.

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