'Past Lives' is a film that resonates with anyone, director Celine Song says

Movies

Published: 07 Feb. 2024, 15:46 Updated: 07 Feb. 2024, 16:10

'Past Lives' is a film that resonates with anyone, director Celine Song says

A scene from ″Past Lives″ (2023), Korean Canadian director Celine Song's film about two childhood friends who meet decades later and reconnect, starring Greta Lee, left, and Yoo Teo [CJ ENM]

We all have lives that we have left behind somewhere, according to director Celine Song, whose debut film “Past Lives” (2023) was nominated for Best Picture at this year’s Oscars.

“'Past Lives’ is about an immigrant who traveled across the Pacific Ocean, but even just moving from Seoul to Busan could be similar,” Song said during an online interview with reporters on Tuesday. “Of course, my film isn’t a fantasy about multiple universes or a story about superheroes, but ordinary lives have many kinds of time, I think. That’s why people resonated so much with ‘Past Lives.’”

“Past Lives” tells the story of two childhood friends, Nora and Hae-sung, played by American actor Greta Lee and Korean actor Yoo Teo. Nora and Hae-sung grew up together in Korea but are separated when Nora moves to the United States, and they meet decades later when Hae-sung visits Nora in New York City. A romantic vibe arises between the two childhood friends, and Nora’s American husband Arthur adds to the complications.

After premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in January last year, the film garnered positive reviews and received five nominations for the 81st Golden Globe Awards, also being listed on numerous lists of the top 10 films of 2023. Aside from the Best Picture nod at this year’s Oscars, “Past Lives” is also up for the Best Original Screenplay award.

Director Celine Song [MATTHEW DUNIVAN]

“The idea of inyeon [a Korean word meaning providence or fate] is well known to Koreans, but people overseas don’t have this concept,” Song said. “It was rewarding to see audiences feel and come to know the meaning of inyeon through watching my film.

“I don’t think inyeon can be defined as one thing,” Song continued. “I moved to Canada when I was 12, so maybe what I think of as inyeon is different from what it really is. Passing relationships and deep, unique relationships can both be inyeon. I think the idea is open to everybody.”

The love triangle between Nora, Hae-sung and Nora’s husband Arthur was drawn from the director’s own personal experiences, Song said.

“The opening scene where the three characters are drinking together at a bar in New York City was inspired from the time when my childhood friend came to the East Village and drank with me and my husband,” Song said. “Sitting in the middle and translating between the two, I felt like I was deciphering my own history, like my past and present were sitting there at the same time. When I told my friends about this experience, they all said that they had similar moments, so I began to write a screenplay based on that.”

A scene from ″Past Lives″ (2023), starring Teo Yoo, left, and Greta Lee [CJ ENM]

Many scenes in “Past Lives” were filmed in Seoul, and Song tried to film those scenes with the mind of someone living in the city and calling it their home, the director said.

“When people in Paris or New York City talk about their homes, they don’t mention obvious locations like the Eiffel Tower but talk about cafes or restaurants they usually go to,” Song said. “I thought it would be the same for Koreans in Seoul. So we looked for places not like the Namsan Tower but places that the Korean team of the film visited frequently in their daily lives.”

Casting Yoo for the part of Hae-sung involved a three-hour conversation over the phone after the actor sent in an audition tape, according to Song.

“As I was watching the audition tape, I thought that I really wanted to meet this actor, so I gave him a callback and we talked for a very long time,” Song said. “After a process of having him spontaneously act the character of Hae-sung, I felt that he was the one for Hae-sung’s role.”

A scene from ″Past Lives″ (2023)

The Oscar nominations for “Past Lives” mark the third time that a Korean director or a director of Korean descent has been nominated for Best Picture at the prestigious event, starting with Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” (2019), which went on to win, and Lee Isaac Chung’s “Minari” (2020), which didn’t win Best Picture but did turn into a Best Supporting Actress award for Youn Yuh-jung.

“People have been calling ‘Past Lives’ the next ‘Parasite’ or ‘Minari,’ and I feel very pressured,” Song said. “But I think that these films are all very different. At the same time, I also think that it’s a great feat and something to be very proud of.”

Song further expressed her love of “Parasite” in particular and said that it “opened a path” for other films by Korean filmmakers.

“I think ‘Parasite’ is a great movie, and it has opened a way forward for other movies,” Song said. “'Past Lives’ has a lot of Korean dialogue in it, and ‘Parasite’ paved the way for movies with subtitles to be shown widely. It also let audiences see works with Korean elements without much aversion.”

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]