Past Lives - a Korean "96'

 Past Lives - Korean / English , Drama - 100 mins - Lionsgate

Nominated for Best Film and Best foreign language film at the Golden Globes- "Past Lives" follows the evolution of a childhood friendship to an long distance romance and heart break over a span of 24 years.  The movie is said to be semi biographical by first time director Celine Song and has been a critic's favourite Drama in 2023. 

The actors Greta Lee (Na Young / Nora Moon) and Teo Yoo (Hae Sung) are lovely!  Lot of the movie is very slow dialogue, which means that the camera spends a lot of time on their faces. The silences, the expressions - wonderful acting. 

Couple of  sequences in the movie really stand out - a video call after the first 12 years, the "break up", the meeting  in New York after 12 years, the scene at the bar with her husband being a third wheel 😀. 

Oh yeah - at the very end - the camera horizontally moves on the screen - first left - as they walk together  and then panning right when Nora walks back to her apartment, with her husband waiting on the steps - classic! The cinematography shines - NYC 💓 is lovely.

I do not watch too many K dramas, but i am glad i picked this one and loved it - Yes, it reminded me of the Tamil classic "96" (VJS and Trisha) and maybe this one has an idea for a sequel:)