Past Lives (2023)

[StatisticalOutlier]

This is getting a wider release starting this Friday.  It delivers what the trailer promises (including the "woah" instead of "whoa" in the subtitles, more than once--grrrrr).

I was taken by the guy who plays her husband, and looked him up and realized he's the same guy I was so taken with in Kelly Reichardt's First Cow.  He's perfect in both movies. 

I'll be seeing it again, and this time won't have to drive to a theater 50 miles away (I didn't want to risk having it vanish into the night).  And maybe this time I won't have a woman sitting in my reserved seat, although I figured out she had reserved the seat I really did want, so I got to sit there after all, BUT she answered her phone in the middle of the movie.  Good god, what is wrong with people?  A loud "Hey!" did nothing; "TURN YOUR PHONE OFF!" did.  But it was definitely NOT what a movie like this needs.

ETA:  Here's a link to where it's showing:  https://tickets.pastlives.movie/

ETA2:  The first scene of the movie is amazing.  It amazes me how creative people can be.

Edited June 27, 2023 by StatisticalOutlier

[SeanC]

I was eager to see this, though also approached with some trepidation, since this has probably been the most lauded film of the first half of 2023, so it'd be disappointing if I didn't like it.

Not a problem, as it turned out. I thought this was some beautiful filmmaking. And I appreciate that Song, unlike a lot of Canadian directors who head south for their careers, keeps some of the CanCon in her work.

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 7/4/2023 at 4:41 PM, SeanC said:

I thought this was some beautiful filmmaking.

Literally.  She shot it on film, which is a plus in my book.

I saw it again yesterday and was able to concentrate on the filmmaking more, since I knew what was going on.  I'm amazed at what a sure hand Song had.  I never would have guessed it was her first feature.

The conversation in the bar at the end just blew me away all over again. 

[SomeTameGazelle]

On 6/27/2023 at 6:02 PM, StatisticalOutlier said:

It delivers what the trailer promises (including the "woah" instead of "whoa" in the subtitles, more than once--grrrrr).

Maybe they should have rendered it as "wah" instead. I don't know Korean but recent Hyundai ads have introduced the concept and it definitely sounds like that is what they are saying in the movie.

 

 

[StatisticalOutlier]

4 hours ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

Maybe they should have rendered it as "wah" instead.

Good catch.  It definitely sounds like what they were saying, and very definitely makes sense in the context.

But if they'd subtitled it "wah," that wouldn't help English speakers understand the meaning of what they were saying, because it would just be a sound to us--more like a transliteration than a translation.  Sometimes subtitles can be literal and work okay, but sometimes not.  I've seen a lot of Asian cinema and I know I miss a lot because all I have is subtitles, e.g. Stephen Chow movies are famously very different if you can understand the language as opposed to relying on subtitles. 

I remember many years ago an episode of I Love Lucy had Ricky saying "Igual Pascual," which was obviously his way of saying "even Steven" in Spanish.  And I remember thinking "I thought Esteban was Spanish for Steven, not Pascual."  I put it in the "whatever..." category at the time, but a light went off in my head many years later after I'd watched many many subtitled movies.

"Whoa" in this case is kinda sorta like wah.  I think it's close enough to the meaning, and benefits from being very close to the sound so it's not distracting.  And I do think it is better than "wah" because to us, that wouldn't have any meaning other than its sound, which is actually not a terrible description of the emotion, but I think "whoa" does add something.  Nowhere near enough to explain the concept of wah, but that's not really its job.

Speaking of subtitles, I watched the "wah" video with captions on and the bot needs to brush up on its Korean--it called it "wall" once and "war" once ("nobody does war like we do" 😮 ).

And BTW, I noticed the second time I saw the movie that they did subtitle it "whoa" one time.  Which might be even more maddening than getting it wrong every time.

Anyway, thanks for pointing out the Korean concept of wah.  It's one of those things that shows that everything is more complicated than it ever seems at first glance.  And it also made me watch the trailer again and be reminded how much I love this movie.

 

[SomeTameGazelle]

5 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

Good catch.  It definitely sounds like what they were saying, and very definitely makes sense in the context.

But if they'd subtitled it "wah," that wouldn't help English speakers understand the meaning of what they were saying, because it would just be a sound to us--more like a transliteration than a translation.  Sometimes subtitles can be literal and work okay, but sometimes not.  I've seen a lot of Asian cinema and I know I miss a lot because all I have is subtitles, e.g. Stephen Chow movies are famously very different if you can understand the language as opposed to relying on subtitles. 

I remember many years ago an episode of I Love Lucy had Ricky saying "Igual Pascual," which was obviously his way of saying "even Steven" in Spanish.  And I remember thinking "I thought Esteban was Spanish for Steven, not Pascual."  I put it in the "whatever..." category at the time, but a light went off in my head many years later after I'd watched many many subtitled movies.

"Whoa" in this case is kinda sorta like wah.  I think it's close enough to the meaning, and benefits from being very close to the sound so it's not distracting.  And I do think it is better than "wah" because to us, that wouldn't have any meaning other than its sound, which is actually not a terrible description of the emotion, but I think "whoa" does add something.  Nowhere near enough to explain the concept of wah, but that's not really its job.

Speaking of subtitles, I watched the "wah" video with captions on and the bot needs to brush up on its Korean--it called it "wall" once and "war" once ("nobody does war like we do" 😮 ).

And BTW, I noticed the second time I saw the movie that they did subtitle it "whoa" one time.  Which might be even more maddening than getting it wrong every time.

Anyway, thanks for pointing out the Korean concept of wah.  It's one of those things that shows that everything is more complicated than it ever seems at first glance.  And it also made me watch the trailer again and be reminded how much I love this movie.

 

All very good points. I haven't seen the movie but I am always interested in concepts that get treated as untranslatable and because of the Hyundai campaign and the treatment of "In-yun" in Past Lives I wondered if "wah" could be getting a similar treatment. But in order for that to work I think it would probably have to be articulated within the script as well, not just in the captions. 

[arc]

Funny thing is, “wah” in Cantonese is basically the same as the Korean “wah”.

There was a lot going on under the surface of this movie and I look forward to revisiting it after some time to let it all sink in.

On a much more superficial level I’m absolutely tickled at how this is a lightly fictionalized version of writer-director Song’s life, inspired by a real event… and meanwhile, her real life husband wrote “Challengers”, out this fall, which looks to also be a love triangle ish story, but very very different. Also, his version is about tennis players and not writers. But still!

[arc]

Elle has a thoughtful and heartfelt interview with Greta Lee and Teo Yoo.

[hendersonrocks]

I saw this today and it totally blew me away. I just kind of sat there with tears streaming down my face as it ended, even though I wasn’t entirely sure why. 

[StatisticalOutlier]

3 hours ago, hendersonrocks said:

I just kind of sat there with tears streaming down my face as it ended, even though I wasn’t entirely sure why. 

Exactly the same for me, both times I saw it.  I had to think about it a bit afterward.  I'm not sure the ending is conclusive, and when I put myself in her shoes I just feel...melancholy?  We all make choices in our lives that result in closing off the other path permanently, but for some reason I really feel it in this movie.

[arc]

‘Past Lives’: how Celine Song made the year’s best indie movie

Quote

The strangest and most transporting thing about talking to Song about all of this is that it feels like rewatching her movie – not in the sense that she’s recounting it scene by scene or quoting her own work, but in her infectious enthusiasm for what that work evokes: a heightened awareness of how our memories shape our perception of time. That sense of perspective comes across when she describes something as simple as an old haunt or apartment long after leaving it: “It’s probably gone in every meaningful sense of the word, but it lives in me. That can make you feel powerless in some ways, but you can also think of it as a very powerful thing. This is eternal, this is forever. It can all go away, and you can die, and the experiences you have in it are forever.”

 

[ProudMary]

I finally had the opportunity to see this as it's now streaming on Paramount+w. Showtime.

What a beautiful film! Incredibly well written. I hope it wins the Original Screenplay Oscar for Celine Song. I've seen 4 of the 5 films nominated in that category--I've yet to see Anatomy of a Fall--but the writing here is head and shoulders above the others, IMO. It touches your soul.

[Camera One]

I was very intrigued by the concept and was happy at all the buzz and praise it was getting.  I finally got to watch the movie, and while I usually like quiet movies like this, the story just didn't affect me in any way.  The characters didn't click with me, and the script and the dialogue just felt very average and uninspired.  Maybe my expectations were too elevated.  It wasn't bad per se, but disappointingly not special in any way.

[cpcathy]

On 2/24/2024 at 10:09 PM, Camera One said:

I was very intrigued by the concept and was happy at all the buzz and praise it was getting.  I finally got to watch the movie, and while I usually like quiet movies like this, the story just didn't affect me in any way.  The characters didn't click with me, and the script and the dialogue just felt very average and uninspired.  Maybe my expectations were too elevated.  It wasn't bad per se, but disappointingly not special in any way.

I completely agree. I thought the dialogue was actually bad. I keep seeing people saying that the movie moved them, and made them cry, but it didn’t make me feel anything.

[meet trouble]

On 7/19/2023 at 5:32 PM, StatisticalOutlier said:

Exactly the same for me, both times I saw it.  I had to think about it a bit afterward.  I'm not sure the ending is conclusive, and when I put myself in her shoes I just feel...melancholy?  We all make choices in our lives that result in closing off the other path permanently, but for some reason I really feel it in this movie.

I love movies that let you watch the characters experience life and then you get to make your own decision. I agree with you that the ending doesn't feel conclusive, and doubt it was meant to be. It felt right.

I saw Greta Lee on the Graham Norton Show and couldn't wait to see this movie. Fast forward a month, and it was an option on the flight I was taking! It's not my preferred way to watch a movie, but since we don't get out to the theater as often as we used to, I'll take it.

[AngieBee1]

Absolutely floored that this was nominated for Best Picture considering the range of films it's up against. It's a nice film, but very slight.  I didn't find it as profound as others. 

Seeing as this, tonally IMO, feels like ALL OF US STRANGERS, I can't see how that lost out in Original Screenplay and Best Picture.

Performances great, but underwhelming film.

[ProudMary]

Via The Hollywood Reporter 2/25/2024:

Film Independent Spirit Awards: Full List of Winners

Past Lives was named best feature at the 2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards, which were handed out Sunday afternoon in Santa Monica.

In addition, Celine Song was named best director for her work on the film.