So in central New York a new way to measure time is the time between waves of smoke form Canada, and the last time there was a wave of smoke that came through, it was about a month ago. I was running at Green Lakes, because the smoke had let up some, and I was not interested in another day on the treadmill. I literally cannot mentally survive runs longer than a couple of miles on the treadmill. While running, I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, The Big Picture, a movie podcast from The Ringer, and they started to talk about a movie that I had not heard about yet called Past Lives, as they went through the plot summary, they eventually got towards the end, and they said if you have not seen it yet, we really suggest that you turn this off, and finish listening after you have seen it. So I whipped my phone out of my running belt, and I stopped the podcast, and patiently waited for the wide release of the movie. It was supposed to be released wide last weekend, and I kept refreshing, and it never showed up in my theater, and I was beyond excited when I saw that it had arrived this weekend, not knowing the emotional roller coaster I was in for. (Sorry Indiana Jones)
Na Young and Hae Song are two twelve-year-olds living in South Korea, and they are introduced on their walk home, and Hae Song has just beaten Na Young in a test in school for the first time, and Na Young is upset. She has vast ambitions of one day winning the Noble Peace Prize, and she takes school very seriously. So she is upset, but Hae Song is comforting, and he is not one to rub it in her face. They have a close bond. Na Young finds out that she is going to be moving from South Korea across the ocean. So her mom sets up a date with her and Hae Song, so that Na Young can create some good memories before she leaves. Their last goodbye walking away from school is an awkward one as they literally take separate paths on their way home.
Fast forward 12 years, and Na Young, who is now Nora, has moved to New York City to try to be a writer, and she is now aspiring to win a Pulitzer. Hae Song is still in Korea, and he is completing his mandated military service for the country. (In South Korea men from 18-35 are required to do a stint of 18 to 21 months of military service.) Nora’s dad was a movie maker, and he had a Facebook page, where Hae Song posted and asked if anyone could help him get in contact with Na Young. He could not find her, because she had changed her name. Eventually Nora stumbles upon this, and she reaches out to him, and they start to message on Facebook, and this leads to many Skype dates. They become close again, but Nora realizes that she is investing too much time with a person, who there is a low potential of a future with, because neither wants to move, and it is not cheap or easy to commute from New York to South Korea. So she tells Hae Song they are going to take a break, which was painful for both of them.
Fast forward another 12 years, Nora has married a Jewish writer, and Nora is now a play write, who wants to win a Tony. Hae Song is an engineer and newly single, because he was not making enough money to marry the girl he was in a relationship with. He did a stint in China learning Mandrin, and now he is grinding away at a job that seems to be going nowhere. Hae Song decided to fly to New York, and he messaged Nora to see if she would be able to meet up, and she agreed. Then she realized that he made the trip just to see her, despite her being married, and they hung out, and there was definitely chemistry there, and Nora brought Hae Song to meet her husband, and the film ends with an emotionally potent moment.
One of the concepts that they talk about in the movie is the Korean idea of Inyeon, which is like the relationship that you have with people in this life connects to past lives, so even if you brush up against someone’s arm walking down the street, then that means in a past life you had some small connection with them, and if you marry someone, then it means that you have a very layered connection with them. This goes beyond romantic relationships; it also includes familial relations and friendly relationships as well. It goes with the idea of reincarnation. In the movie, Hae Song and Nora are speculating what they could have meant to each other in a previous life, and one of the most interesting ones was that she said maybe one of us was a bird, and the other was the branch that the bird landed on, which goes to show a true belief in the interconnectedness of all nature, and that is a truly beautiful thing.
They also bring in the idea of a soul mate. It seems like Hae Song and Nora are destined to be together. They lived in close proximity, when they were young, and they had a strong connection. Then they were able to rekindle this strong relationship over skype years later like nothing had changed, and then after 12 more years, they were able to rekindle their connection again. It seems like they are meant to be, but Nora is married, and she is happy. She found a writer, and although he is different from her, and it never seems like they have as strong of a connection, this does not dissuade Nora from her commitment to him. Also there is a logistical nightmare of what would have to change if they were to get together. Something that is often forgotten, when it comes to true love. It would not be easy for Hae Song to come to America, especially if that means the breaking up of the relationship that got Nora her green card. Also Nora has been chasing her dream in America, and that is where she wanted to be, so it seems like her moving to Korea would not be a great option either. So that just leaves a heart-breaking conclusion of everyone returning to their own lives.
I do not think that I believe in the idea of a pure soul mate. I think that there are probably multiple people out there that might fit into a perfect box for someone, and that can lead to someone thinking that the person they are with is their soulmate. That does not mean that a certain element of fate does not play into it. There may be unusual circumstances that lead you to a specific person, so that is how they end up together, but the idea of fate and their being some preconceived pathway does not seem as fun, because then it would technically take our agency away, but I might be okay with that.
Although this focuses more on romantic relationships, there is clearly an added friendship element to this movie as well. Nora and Hae Song were 12 when they were originally together, and although they went on a date, they were 12. So a big part of that is a friendship connection, and as I have experienced, it is easy to rekindle that friendship connection if it is strong enough. Just last weekend, I went down to Georgia for a wedding, and I got to see some of my best friends, and although we have only spent a couple of days together over the past few years, it felt like we had never been a part. It felt so natural just to flow back into conversation and enjoy each other’s company.
The ending of this movie is truly what makes it great. It is both brutal but heartfelt at the same time. Hae Song is leaving to go to the airport to fly back to Korea, and Nora walks him down the road to where he finally stops to wait, and for a large amount of time, they are silent. Then he asks her what she thinks they are in a future life, and she said that she does not know. Hae Song agrees, and then the Uber arrives, and they both say bye, just like when Nora leaves Korea at 12, but this time before Hae Song gets in the car, he turns and looks at her, and he says, what if this is just a memory of our past lives, and now we are together, and then he leaves. When the director was asked about them leaving, she said that when it appears on the screen that the direction Hae Song is going on the way to the airport was from left to right on the screen, which is toward the future, and Nora went from right to left on the screen, which was back to her current life the present. As Nora is walking back, she is visibly breaking, and by the time she reaches the stoop, Arthur is sitting there waiting for her, and she breaks down and cries in a heart-breaking moment. Every time I think about this moment, I still feel it deep down.
This movie was incredible. It started a little slow, which is why I am giving it 4.5 Stars instead of 5. It just did not fully draw me in at the beginning, but it was not long before I was totally invested in their story. Not only is the story beautiful, but so is the setting. There are so many shots that are beautiful. The ones in Korea and the ones in New York city. I am not a big city person, but there is something so stunning about New York, and when they are just sitting there in front of the merry go round, I could not help but think how great it all looked. I highly recommend going and see this! I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes from the movie that Nora’s mom said to Hae Song’s mom right before they moved, “It's true that if you leave you lose things, but you also gain things, too.”
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