"I really found myself in this bar in East Village in New York City, sitting between my childhood sweetheart, who came to visit me from Korea - a friend - and my husband, who I live with in New York City. I was translating between these two guys in two different languages and also two different cultures. I really felt at one point that something special was going on because I realised I was actually translating between two parts of my own life, my own self. Something felt like, 'Hah, there's something extraordinary happening - or there's a story with an epic scale that is in my own life'."
That's how writer-director Celine Song describes the true story behind Past Lives, her feature debut - and one of the best films you'll see this year. Song and her cast (Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, and John Magaro) have worked their magic on many a misty eye, and the romantic drama could well find itself in the Oscars race if the stars align. Bigger things await them all. Better, well...
Below, Celine Song discusses the response to Past Lives - and artfully dodges the question of what's next.
Harry Guerin: Have you been surprised by the reaction to Past Lives?
Celine Song: It's just been such a wonderful thing to see the global audience sort of come to the film and feel connected to it and also feel very personally connected to it. I always talk about it as, like, it always makes me feel less lonely or something. It always makes me feel like, 'Oh, I'm not alone in feeling and experiencing the things I do'.
Do you think the pandemic has played into viewers' reactions in some way?
I wonder. I feel like that was something that I think we were thinking about when we were shooting this in the pandemic. For example, the sequence on Skype - I don't know if it would've hit as hard if it was before the pandemic. I knew that it was such an important story 'beat' because that's what a long-distance relationship has always been, which is video chat. But also, I wasn't sure if everybody was going to be able to relate to that. But I think because of the pandemic, everybody did.
It's very rare that you can get a film that you can recommend to someone that's 12 years of age or 80 years of age - and you could sit with them during it and not have any worries about what's coming next or who's going to say something, content-wise. It's very rare to get that right.
The way that we encounter the film is connected to timing as well. The 12-year-old is going to have a completely different experience than the 80-year-old, right? Because part of it is, 'Where are you in your life and where are you in your love too?' I'm sure the 12-year-old, either they're in a part of their first love or they have never been in love before compared to the 80-year-old - they have been in love many times perhaps and maybe it's a long time ago or maybe it was yesterday.
I think that, depending where you are, the way you're going to watch the film and experience the film is going to be so different. I think that's what's really important about the movie. That's the most important thing that I want from the movie.
Ten great romances you may not have seen
Have there been very different responses to the ending?
I think it is very complex and I think it is again connected to where you are in your life. I heard very different things depending on what's going on with the audience member, [the] individual audience member.
From people who are single, I heard both, 'Oh, I have to see about this person. I'm going to fly to another country and spend a week there to figure out if that person and I are meant to be together'. I also heard, 'You know, this movie made me get over my ex'.
Of course, of the people who are in relationships, it's sometimes like, 'This movie made me want to go home and hug my partner and kiss them and tell them I love them and appreciate them. It means so much to me that I'm going to grow old with them'. But also, I heard the other side, where it's like, 'Well, actually, I think I'm in a bad relationship. I think I need to leave'. (Laughs)
I think it depends on what kind of a love you have in your life and what is the timing in your life itself that is going to have a different reaction. Some people [watching the film] will be like, 'Man, follow the character to another country'. Or they'll be like, 'No, no, no - you need to say with your husband who loves you so much'.
What were the touchstone movies for you growing up?
I have a pretty traditional film-watching life. I just grew up watching, like, Fight Club and The Godfather, you know what I mean?! But, of course, I think there are also movies that are not quite like that that I was watching. I was also watching big blockbusters too. I was watching the Die Hards or the small films from Hong Kong or something. I was very much an omnivore.
So it wasn't all Brief Encounter and The Remains of the Day.
No, it wasn't it! I think some of it is because you're so voracious. And I think I am still pretty voracious when it comes to watching whatever is around. That really paints the right picture for where cinema is.
Could you see yourself returning to the characters in Past Lives?
No! (Laughs) I think we're going to leave the characters to go back to the life they have. The film is very much about the mark that they have left on each other's souls, right? So it's not something you can see. It's not going to mean that their lives are somehow going to change in a way that you can see. But we know that their lives are going to be changed completely when it comes to the level of their heart and their soul. And I think that really is at the heart of the movie.
Has making the film made you think of the past in a different way?
I feel like the biggest catharsis in all of it, or the biggest thing that I learned about in making the film, is that I'm a filmmaker! To me, it was so much more about the revelation about that - the atom-altering thing. It's kind of like meeting the love of your life! I know I'm going to be doing this when I'm 90!
I think it's that amazing feeling of learning about myself or discovering myself as a filmmaker more than anything. I think that really was the thing I learned and because that was such a powerful thing I learned, I think everything else paled in comparison.
And what's next?
I'm going to keep making movies!
Can you tell us about the next one at all?
No! I can't wait to talk with you again because, as you know, we're inyeon - if you see the movie, you'll know what it means! We're inyeon now and I think when it comes to the next movie, I hope I get to speak to you again about that movie. And then you're going to ask me about the movie that's coming after - and I will avoid answering the question again!
Past Lives is in cinemas now.
