Film Journal 2023: Past Lives
Directed by Celine Song
Celine Song’s Directorial debut exhibits a quiet presence and a confident spirit in its studied look at the “stories” of our lives. Song’s sure handed approach to drawing out these characters is mesmerizing to watch, and given her own background (Korean-Canadian decent who moves to New York to pursue a career in writing), her own story lends it an inspired touch. The camera feels that closely tied to the ebb and flow of the journey.
It might be tempting to qualify this as a romantic drama, but that would be underselling it. The concept here, which deals with the philosophy of inyun (fate) inherent within Korean culture, is not restricted to romantic relationships. Certainly love, and the loss of love, plays a central role in the story, but never in a way that restricts or confines the relationships to it. Which is part of the films understated beauty.
One of the things the film does is push us as viewers to reflect on our lives as story, or the story that makes up our lives. Part of this process, as the film explores, is digging underneath to ask and wonder about the points in our story that intersect with moments and people and possibilities and actualities. The stories we are given, the stories we tell. This is how we make sense of our lives in the now. The now opens up our lives to all that brings us to where we are.
The notion of past lives in the film evokes a sense of memory. But not static memory, rather memory that leaves room for growth and change. It marks one path from another, but also connects these paths together. And it is within this, on a philosophical level, that we can begin to explore the emotional, experiential and psychological aspects of our being. We are different things to different persons, always framed by matters of perspective within time.and space, but we are, at the same time, all of these things to ourselves. That’s what makes our stories compelling.
This film is one that is perfectly suited for rewatches, not to tease out its layers- this film makes every aspect of its story immediately accessible- but because it’s that immersive. A beautiful and big hearted film from start to finish. I can’t wait to see what Song does next.
The Stories of my Life 