Celine Song’s first feature has been nominated in two of this year’s Oscar categories (Best Motion Picture category and Best Original Screenplay \u2013 but criminally not Best Director). It’s the story of a modern romance; Na Young\u2019s family emigrated from Seoul to Canada when she was 12, she lost touch with her childhood sweetheart Hae Sung, and a decade later they find each other again …<\/p>\n
Past Lives<\/em> is a deeply romantic love story that also embraces destiny, nostalgia and the immigrant experience. The result is a masterclass in how you have to make a story specific for it to be universal. It’s also (almost incidentally) a portrait of a very specific form of masculinity, one that’s about decency, selflessness, understanding and fear \u2013 not something you see very often, and perhaps a portrait that could only have been realised by a woman.<\/p>\n “A divine cinematic experience; this is what we go to the movies for” says Cinema Space, which has programmed this brilliantly realised film for us at no charge.<\/p>\n Very highly recommended.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"