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Ifs, Buts, and Maybes: Celine Song’s Past Lives
There’s a word in Korean: 인연 [in-yeon]. It means ‘providence’ or ‘fate’. But it’s specifically about relationships between people. I think it comes from Buddhism and Reincarnation. It’s an in-yeon If two strangers even walk past each other on the street and their clothes accidently brush, because it means there must have been something between them in their past lives. If two people get married, they say it’s because there have been eight thousand layers of in-yeon over eight thousand lifetimes.
If you leave something behind, you gain something too. Probably my favorite quote from a script that is by all accounts, almost entirely poetic. It’s a blanket statement with applications in so many aspects of life, notably the three central themes of this romantic drama: the immigrant experience, lost soulmates, and a good ol’ love story. It stuck with me because it’s obviously contradictory; when Ji Hye Moon’s character says it, it’s meant to be a throwaway comment to make her family’s decision to emigrate from a place they’ve called home, sound better. But I couldn’t shake it off, and a few days after I realized it’s because when you leave someone or somewhere or something, you’re opening yourself up to a world of possibilities and new opportunities to fill that void that would otherwise have been closed. Which is why the immigrant theme most strikes me in Celine Song’s Past Lives.
A first-gen immigrant myself, I am all too familiar with a lot of the tropes portrayed in the film. Most gave me good lighthearted chuckles, like learning a new language and the only thing you know is “I’m fine, and you?” It’s fascinating how being a long distance away from home is a universally shared experience amongst immigrants regardless of origin or destination. Because this American semi-autobiography, written by a South Korean, who emigrated to Canada, is able to transcend borders and is relatable to audiences across the world. The hour long calls with your parents where you talk to each other about nonentities…
