Past Lives
Delicately sad romantic drama about love, fate and how things could have turned out differently in life. PAST LIVES was the big sensation of the Berlin and Sundance film festivals earlier this year. Nominated for two Oscars, amongst others for Best Motion Picture.
Also screening with English subtitles.
The very best romantic films are those about unconsummated loves; about cravings and desires that, for whatever reason, cannot be indulged. See, for example, IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (2000) by Wong Kar Wai or BRIEF ENCOUNTER (1945) by David Lean.
PAST LIVES follows three episodes in the life of Nora, a South Korean woman who emigrates to Canada with her parents as a child. As a result, she is separated from her bosom friend Hae Sung. Twelve years later, Nora is studying in New York and seeks contact with her childhood friend on the internet. They fantasise about a reunion, but their plans never materialise. Another twelve years later, Nora is happily married to American writer Arthur. But then Hae Sung turns up in New York after all, and the childhood friends are reunited for one all-important week.
PAST LIVES was the big sensation of the Berlin and Sundance film festivals earlier this year. A feature film debut of this calibre is rare: Celine Song enchants the viewer with a film that gently rocks back and forth between romantic and platonic, and leaves us musing on roads in life not taken, and how other choices would have led to a different life path.