Best Pictures #101: 2023 (96th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee: Past Lives

by A.J.

Best Pictures #101: 2023 (96th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee

Past Lives

“It's an In-Yun if two strangers even walk by each other in the street and their clothes accidentally brush. Because it means there must have been something between them in their past lives.”

Past Lives opens with a curious prologue. From a distance we see three people (a Korean man, a Korean woman, a Caucasian man) sitting together at a bar late at night. Anonymous voices off camera wonder, “Who do you think they are to each other?” and speculate on possible scenarios and situations. In this brief scene writer-director Celine Song, with her amazing debut feature, dramatizes in short form what is at the core of every movie. We as the audience are here to know who these characters are and what they mean to each other. The answer to that question drives everything in this delicate story about life, relationships, and fate. This is one of the best movies of 2023 and one of the most moving stories I’ve seen in years. 

The Korean woman at the bar is Nora (Greta Lee), a playwright living in New York with her husband, the Caucasian man, Arthur (John Magaro). The Korean man is Hae Sung (Teo Yoo), who is visiting. In the film’s first chapter we see Nora and Hae Sung at age 12 living in Korea where they are friends and young sweethearts. We see their first and only date in a park before Nora’s family moves to Canada. Twelve years pass and Nora moves to New York for graduate school. Hae Sung is doing his mandatory military service. They reconnect over Facebook and video calls which both look forward to, for a time. Twelve more years pass and Nora still lives in New York and is now married to Arthur, a fellow writer. Hae Sung, now an engineer, decides to take a vacation to New York. His friends aren’t fooled. They know he is going to see Nora. 

Past Lives shows a love triangle unlike any other that has been on film. This is not about romantic conflict or physical attraction; it is not concerned with sensational scenes or dramatic outbursts. In a key scene Arthur tells Nora that she and Hae Sung have a better story than their own: “Childhood sweethearts who reconnect 20 years later only to realize they were meant for each other… In the story I would be the evil white American husband standing in the way of destiny.” He is also describing a more conventional, lesser version of the film. There are no contrivances or misunderstandings that lead to familiar scenes of melodrama. These people have a connection and are trying to make sense of it; their conflict is with themselves. 

Nora brings up the idea of “In-Yun”, a Korean word for providence or fate but specifically regarding relationships between people. Reunited in New York, Hae Sung and Nora wonder who they were in each other’s past lives. There are shades of melancholy, of the wistfulness that comes with ruminating on the past, contemplating other possible lives, but this is not a sad movie. The ultimate result is a story that is comforting and even uplifting. 

Perhaps because Song’s screenplay was inspired by her own experiences–Song’s family immigrated from Korea, she became a playwright in New York, and later reconnected with a childhood friend–she took great care to keep her movie from turning into a typical Hollywood movie, or a typical indie movie. Stylistically, she finds places for artistic touches here and there while keeping the film widely accessible. She and cinematographer Shabier Kirchner keep the camera back using mostly wide and medium shots which gives us the feeling of being a fly on the wall, lucky witnesses to intimate moments. The score by Christopher Bear and Daniel Rossen, low-key and gentle just like the story and performances, perfectly underscores the emotions at play. Sometimes real art–a painting, a poem, a movie–can convey ineffable emotions that we recognize and then we feel seen and there is a small but powerful joy in being seen.

13 Nights of Shocktober: Cat People (1942)

by A.J.

This is my favorite time of year, second only to Christmas. Autumn has arrived, the weather is cooling down, and October becomes the month long celebration of scary movies called Shocktober. There are a lot of horror movies out there, but as a genre, horror is still looked down upon by some mainstream critics and moviegoers. It doesn’t help that, admittedly, there are so few quality horror movies made but, like comedy, it’s a very difficult and subjective genre. So, in the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some recommendations for scary movies to help you celebrate Shocktober.

Night 5: Val Lewton Night

“She looks like a cat.”

Cat People (1942)

In the early 1940’s RKO Pictures created a low budget B-horror movie unit to compete with, and capitalize on the success of, Universal Studios’ B-horror movies like Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man and their many sequels. Producer Val Lewton was put in charge of the unit and tasked with churning out horror movies with sensational titles, miniscule budgets, and left over sets from other movies. The result was a series of horror films that were the opposite of what the studio was expecting, but were still box office hits. Today they remain spooky and interesting films and Val Lewton is one of the few producers that critics, film historians, and cinephiles consider to be an “auteur,” or the author of a film. The first of these low budget horror movies was Cat People, released in 1942, which deserves to be included alongside horror movie classics like Dracula (1931) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935). If you are someone that doesn’t like graphic violence or bloody horror, or even if you are, or if you want to become more familiar with classic horror cinema, Cat People is a great film to watch any Shocktober night.  

Cat People stars Simone Simon as Irena, a Serbian immigrant in New York City who meets and falls in love with Oliver, played by Kent Smith. Irena lives in an apartment close enough to the zoo to hear the animals at night and finds the roar of the big cats comforting. She and Oliver fall in love and marry, but Irena’s belief in a superstition of her homeland keeps her from becoming intimate with him, or even kissing him. She fears that any passion or jealousy she has will change her into a jungle cat and she will kill her lover. At a restaurant, a woman that some characters say “looks like a cat” greets Irena by calling her “my sister.” When Irena walks into a pet store with Oliver, animals go into a wild frenzy and become calm once she leaves. Oliver is a good, decent husband and believes Irena will overcome her superstitions with the help of a psychiatrist played by Tom Conway, who exudes a cool, debonair, and condescending aura (not unlike that of his brother, actor George Sanders). Oliver confides his marriage troubles in his friend and co-worker Alice, played by Jane Randolph. Though Alice is in love with Oliver her only intention is to be a friend and offer advice, but Irena resents their closeness and becomes jealous and dangerous.

Lewton was a hands off producer when it came to shooting movies, but there is a distinctive style to his RKO horror movies despite working with different directors. The Lewton style was born out of necessity due to budget restrictions, but he and his directors turned this handicap into creative advantages. Cat People is shot with stark shadows and low lighting resembling the look of a Film Noir. In fact, the director of Cat People, Jacques Tourneur, perhaps Lewton’s best collaborator, would go on the direct the lauded Film Noir Out of the Past.

It’s a well-established horror movie trope that you can scare the audience more by showing them less; what you show them will never be as scary as what they create in their own imaginations. Lewton and Tourneur fully exploit this idea to great effect. They knew they did not have the budget for decent special effects so the movie avoids showing the audience what they might expect to see, namely a monstrous cat-person, and instead fills its spooky scenes with shadows, dim lights, and darkness. Shadows are as important to Cat People as its characters, and they are used along with a clear and effective sound design for maximum effect. They hide the film’s low budget and put the audience at unease by denying them a full picture and thus a full explanation. You may not see a lot of horror in Cat People but it builds a moody atmosphere that primes the viewer for scares which the movie delivers, but never quite how you are expecting. In one of the most memorable scenes Alice is walking home through a park at night in shadows and small pools of light from the street lamps. There is complete silence except for the clicking of her heels and… another set of heels behind her. For just a brief moment, so purposefully quick it’s easy to miss, we think we hear the growling of a big cat, but the growl morphs into the rumble of a city bus. A few moments later, however, large paw prints are found in the soft ground of the park.

Cat People plays with the preconceived notions the characters and audience have about superstitions and the supernatural. The movie begins in a thoroughly real world in which there is no chance of anything supernatural. Then, slowly, it shows us scenes to suggest otherwise and make the characters second guess their rationale. Is Irena really a cat person of old world legend or does she just believe she is so much that the people around her begin to unconsciously believe so as well?

Cat People is the antithesis of the Universal monster movies, in which the monster is the star of the movie. It holds back showing you any horror or scenes of violence for as long as it possibly can. The characters feel like full-fledged people, a rarity in horror movies of any era, and their world feels like a real, lived in place. Cat People does all of this and more in less than 75 minutes.

Cat People airs on TCM early Halloween morning at 6:15AM CT

Not-So-Fresh New Releases

This week I looked over the offerings at the local movie theater and, to my disappointment, most of the new releases seemed, well, not so fresh. (And any titles that did look interesting were films I had already seen.) But what did the critics have to say? Perhaps a good review could inspire some enthusiasm. However, a peek at the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes confirmed my suspicions. So, in the interest of saving the $10 you might spend on one of these stinkers, why not seek out a good movie at the video store or queue one up on Netflix? Below is a list of some high-profile current releases, their "freshness rating" as calculated by the Tomatometer, and the films I'd recommend watching instead.

Clash of the Titans - 29% freshness rating

• This one is a remake, so why not just watch the original Clash of the Titans (1981). While it is perhaps not a great movie, it is remembered fondly by many, particularly for the special effects by legendary stop-motion artist Ray Harryhausen.
  


• For an upgrade in all-around quality, check out Jason and the Argonauts (1963), another tale of Greek mythology featuring effects by Harryhausen, including the famous battle between the Argonauts and a skeleton army.

The Last Song - 15% freshness rating

• Nicholas Sparks has been ripping off Love Story (1970) for years. So if you're in the mood for a romantic weepie, skip this fugazi based on a Sparks novel, and go for the real thing. You deserve it.
  


• Young lovers, parental conflicts, sandy beaches - it's all here in A Summer Place (1959), starring teen dreams Sandra Dee and Troy Donahue. And whatever the "last song" is, it surely can't hold a candle to the haunting "Theme from A Summer Place" by Max Steiner which topped the pop charts in its day.

Alice in Wonderland - 52% freshness rating

• Disney's original animated version of Alice in Wonderland (1951) has been delighting audiences for over 50 years, and in only two dimensions! So, why not celebrate a very merry un-birthday by revisiting this classic.
  


• For a decidedly trippier take on Lewis Carroll's tale, there's Alice (1988) by Czech filmmaker/artist Jan Svankmajer.
  


• Or, for a completely unrelated film about someone named Alice, I recommend Woody Allen's modern fantasy Alice (1990), starring Mia Farrow.

The Bounty Hunter - 8% freshness rating

• I've seen the trailer for this ostensible romantic comedy starring Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler: manly man, woman on the run, the chase ensues, and sparks fly. Obviously this film wants to be It Happened One Night (1934). (In fact, it wishes it were even half as good!) However, The Bounty Hunter lacks the crucial components of Frank Capra's direction, Clark Gable's chest, and Claudette Colbert's leg.
  


• If you prefer less romance and more bounty hunting, may I suggest Midnight Run (1988)? I feel confident calling it the ultimate bounty hunter-embezzler buddy / road comedy.