The Real Basis of Past Lives: Where Fiction Meets Memory
Often, the strength of a script comes from its proximity to reality. Celine Song does not hide that the film is semi-autobiographical. The seed of the narrative was planted in a bar in New York, where the director found herself seated between her American husband and her childhood love who had come from South Korea to visit her.
In that moment, Song realized she was playing the role of translator not only of languages, but of worlds and versions of herself. This experience is transported to the screen through Nora (Greta Lee). The protagonist represents the duality of those who leave their homeland: to the world, she is a modern writer in New York; to Hae Sung (Teo Yoo), she still retains the traces of the girl who cried after classes in Seoul.
In Brazil, this feeling is familiar to millions of people who leave the interior in search of opportunities in capitals or who emigrate to other countries. There is always a "version" of us that was left behind, preserved only in the memory of those who did not follow the same path.
The Concept of In-yun: The Invisible Thread of Destiny
The central pillar that sustains the narrative and helps explain the film's ending is the Korean concept of in-yun. Although it can be simply translated as "providence" or "destiny," its meaning is much more stratified.
According to this philosophy, inspired by Buddhist roots, no encounter is accidental. If two people cross paths on the street and their clothes touch, this is the result of accumulated in-yun. For a couple to marry, it is said that 8,000 layers of in-yun were necessary across 8,000 past lives.
Hae Sung uses this concept to process the pain of separation. He reflects whether the current life they share — marked by distance and brief encounters — would not actually be a "past life" for a future incarnation where they can finally be together.
This view offers existential comfort. In daily Brazilian life, where we frequently seek explanations for life's missed connections ("it was meant to be" or "it wasn't the right time"), in-yun resonates as a poetic way to accept losses and value connections that, though brief, seem eternal.
The Impact of Immigration on Identity Construction
Past Lives is, essentially, a film about what we lose when we gain something new. Nora did not just change countries; she changed her name and language. By immigrating to Canada and then to the United States, she left behind the Korean girl Na Young.
One of the most touching moments in the film is when Arthur, Nora's husband, expresses his insecurity about her speaking Korean while she sleeps. He feels that there is a part of her, an entire "room" that belongs to a world he cannot access.
