Past Lives ★★★½

IMAGINE how hard it is to make a feature film at all, let alone a great one on your first attempt.

Has there been a better recent directorial debut than Celine Song’s Past Lives? I doubt it.

This beautiful South Korean film is a joyfully painful look at relationships, in particular those that remain unfulfilled.

The plot, which is partly based on events in Son’s own life, takes place in three time periods each separated by 12 years.

Na Young and Hae Sung are childhood friends growing up in Seoul. We are introduced to them in the year 2000 when they are only 12 years-old but have already become attracted to each other to the extent they even go on a date organised by their parents.

They are separated during the same year when Na’s parents decide to emigrate from South Korea to Canada and almost immediately lose contact as a result.

Twelve years pass and Hae Sung makes a comment on social media about looking for his childhood friend. Na, who has moved to New York and is now known as Nora Moon, sees the comment and the pair are reunited over the internet.

The relationship grows further through many video calls but Nora, perhaps thinking their love for each other will remain unrequited and is becoming too much of a distraction, suggests they take a pause for a while.

Hae reluctantly agrees and another 12 years passes. Both are now in relationships and still living in different countries, but Hae is determined to visit New York for a meeting.

Greta Lee and Teo Yoo are terrific in the lead roles, embodying Song’s characters with a perfect balanced depiction of awkward longing and measured realisation of the nature of relationships.

John Magaro is also very good as Arthur, Nora’s partner who also plays the difficult role of somebody realising the fickle and random nature of life and our relationships within it.