Past lives, a film review.

This movie was produced by Celine Song and features the story of Nayoung, a Korean girl who emmigrates to America in search of recognition and scholarship. Her childhood friend Hae-sung meets up with her after she moves away, and is captivated once again by the sweet girl next door. The honesty and characteresque cheekiness of the intimate Korean language is not lost in this film, in which it is partially subtitled and partially scripted in English. Nayoung's husband is a little lost to the dreamland of Korean fairytales and folklore,but he loves Nayoung, and he wants Hae-sung to have a good time in the States when he decides to visit. The key topic of their conversation is Inyun, or destiny, as they ponder what might have been, or could have been, or what couldn't have been. This movie does a good job of balancing the identity of Korean-American and a Korean-Korean. The cinematography was subtle, in ways where decor and setting are accurate to the time & place. For example, the streets of New York complete with graffiti, and the soju tents of Seoul complete with bbq tables. Overall, this film tugged at my heart strings, and was a joy to watch.