The concept of In-Yun is one that’s threaded throughout the new film “Past Lives,” which has been receiving rave reviews since it screened at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.
The term is defined in the film as the Korean word for “providence” or “fate” and represents an idea that when two people encounter each other, they must have had some connection in a past life.
Written and directed by filmmaker Celine Song, “Past Lives” is a romantic drama about two childhood sweethearts and the connection they share with each other as their lives move in different directions.
Essentially divided into three chapters, the film spans 24 years from childhood to college and their 30s, with the pair repeatedly drifting apart and reconnecting as they consider their choices.
Simple, sweet and subdued, the film is mostly a three-hander anchored by stars Greta Lee as Nora; Teo Yoo as Hae Sung, her childhood friend; and John Magaro as Arthur, her husband.
The story begins with Nora and Hae Sung in South Korea, as the two friends (played as children by Seung Ah Moon and Seung Min Yim, respectively) are supervised on one date by their mothers before Nora, then going by Na Young, and her family emigrate to Toronto.
Years later, Nora is a writer, Hae Sung an engineering student in Seoul. The two reconnect over the internet, but their ambitions are different — and lives go on.
After a final time jump, Hae Sung comes to New York on “vacation,” but really he’s there to see Nora, who is now married to Arthur. This leads the two to confront their past and present, while considering what could have been had their story unfolded differently.
A personal debut feature, writer-director Song has said it was inspired by her own experience finding herself sitting in a bar between her husband and her childhood sweetheart, a story that is mirrored by a key, intimate scene.
In addition to understated but emotive performances, the cinematography is gorgeous, while avoiding flashiness. An atmospheric, naturalistic score from Grizzly Bear’s Christopher Bear and Daniel Rossen complements the minimalist aesthetic.
The impact of “Past Lives” may not hit all audiences immediately — there are no showy performances, with much of the emotion told through eyes and interactions — but its subtlety and grace is one that will likely make it stick for decades to come.
“Past Lives” opens at The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Boulevard, Tucson, on Friday, June 23.
