'Past Lives': This Is What Makes the Romantic Drama Feel Real
There's a moment early in Past Lives where protagonist Nora is so excited about an impending Skype chat with childhood sweetheart Hae Sung that we see her swing her left arm around and around up in the air. It’s her dominant gesture as she walks back to her apartment, a process captured in a wide shot emphasizing the larger bustling metropolis, New York City, Nora calls home. Even in this expansive shot, Nora's swinging arm is emphasized.
However, such portrayals of romantic yearning are not the only ways to explore those emotions on the big screen. Plus, needless to say, many modern romantic dramas that aim for bombastic portrayals of heartache, like Life Itself, lack all the virtues and visual chops of masterpieces like Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans.
That earlier Nora and Arthur scene doesn’t just encapsulate the masterful subtle physicality that makes Past Lives so great, though. It also makes for an effective contrast to a subsequent important scene taking place more than a decade later. Here, Nora and Hae Sung reunite in person for the first time in over 20 years. It's a momentous occasion peppered with tiny pieces of realistic awkwardness.
The subtle physicality of Past Lives is displayed once again in one of its most moving scenes, in which Arthur and Nora share an extended conversation about their relationship in the dead of night. Because they’re in bed, the duo can’t move around much, which is the point. Here they’re forced to confront one another’s worries, dreams, and personalities. John Magaro’s quiet dialogue deliveries as Arthur are utterly devastating in such intentionally restrictive confines.
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