Past Lives: Writing With Unbiased Empathy

Past Lives is one of the best films of the year. I was thoroughly impressed by its charitability towards the characters, particularly Arthur played by John Magaro. Also, I recognize that calling it a "romance" film might be a bit reductive all things considered.

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[TruestPicture]

Thanks for watching! There's no way Greta and Teo aren't nominated for this movie right?

[babytheman]

I really like that she burst into tears at the end! she's content in her life but I saw it as a release of the tension that had been building for the last however many years. maybe she didn't realise how much it weighed on her until it was gone

[viniciusariel]

Arthur handled everything perfectly, depiction of an emotionally mature person.

[Argie]

It pains me that the actor who played Arthur hasn’t received more attention. He was incredible. The emotion he was able to convey without saying anything felt so pure and poignant. He deserved all the awards and his character and performance truly elevated the film

[victoryv]

Making Arthur like this adds more tension to story because in romantic stories, audiences unconsciously look themselves in the protagonist but in this movie many people relate with Arthur too .His character is pivotal to make a point that how being stuck in past is not something romantic or need to be glorified rather it's just a trap ..one need to let it go in order to live their lives

[DCYTB]

I didn’t realize how poorly men have been depicted in recent films until I saw how beautifully they were written in Past Lives.

[AllTheArtsy]

I was dumbfounded to learn that most of the people I knew who saw this movie.... were rooting for Nora to cheat and for her to end up with Hae Sung. I thought I was going insane. It really shows the kind of brainrot that most people expect from romance movies when a happy, stable relationship is seen as not good enough, and it just has to be this great love between childhood friends, who, let's just remember-- never actualy went out. They had childhood crushes and the distance and time away made Hae Sung build it up into something more, when Nora clearly has assimilated into a different life altogether.

[aerontehan]

What impressed me mostly was in the part where the 3 of them go out to dinner. You could see Arthur’s feeling of disconnect and alienation through the amazing placement of shots and staging in the scene.

Another example for this is when at a point the shots only move between hae sung and nora having their conversation in Korean. While the dialogue between them is pure and soulful, I constantly had this worry about Arthur and him being sort of neglected showing how much we’ve began to care about Arthur as a person.

This movie excelled in writing extremely matured and grounded characters since they could’ve ended by making Arthur an unlikable character and portray hae sung almost as if he’s a savior but no. The writers made the characters very emotionally mature with how they react and come to terms with their situations which needs a lot of appreciation …

[maegantrice]

We are not allowed to hate him, he literally calls the viewer out by laughing at the fact that in a story, he would be the villain getting in the way of true love. I realized I was definitely adopting that view and immediately after being called out, Arthur offers an incredible amount of vulnerability in regards to his own fears and compassion and acceptance for Nora. Each of these characters is so dependable for me as a viewer and I really appreciated that

[DDRMR]

Nora is such a beautifully written character. She knows what she wants and has, and isnt ever tempted to lose it.

She merely chooses to grieve and seeks the closure she needed for 20 years. She basks in the moment of seeing him again, but does not feel like shes tempted to throw it all away.

They very much would not have worked out in a relationship. Hes an idealist and she's a realist. Neither of them are wrong but their romance specifically is just a 'what it could've been' sort of scenario and like they mentioned the multiple possibilities they could've been a couple who cheated on each other.

And don't dare get me started on Arthur. That man is an absolute fucking angel and welcomed her childhood sweetheart with open arms and kindness. That man was the definition of big dick energy and didn't at all get in the way and gave her the full opportunity to prove that she 'chooses him'.

This is one of the single greatest movies I've ever seen.

[Arrrrrrrrrrbbbbbbbbbb]

"unbiased empathy" is a great way to describe this movie. I empathized with literally every single character -- it's not easy for a film to do that!

[felmonmadronio]

This dude for me was subjectively the most perfect portrayal of an emotionally mature person. You could visibly tell throughout the movie that he disliked Nora being with Hae Sung from his facial expressions -- in the scene before they went to bed, in the bar, and after Nora came back from her first meeting with Hae Sung; Despite this, he still let her do what she wanted because he knows how much of an impact Hae Sung has made on Nora's life and how much unreleased tension she had about her past relationship with Hae Sung (even though she probably didn't even realize it herself). Great underrated character.

[rain_down_]

I didn't realise that the two male leads hadn't met each other until that scene - that's brilliant info and explains why that moment was so special. I haven't seen another film like this - so much clarity and space in it, yet also an emotional build up which is finally released at the end. It wrecked me, and it'll stay in the mind for a very long time, like the very best films do.

[belenlg]

This made me relate to my own sad love story. I met once in university a guy I really liked from the first instant. We both were dating someone else so nothing happened. Years later we met again doing our masters in a different country, Sweden, this time both single. We started a romance and I had never loved and been in love as with him. But I couldnt find a job after two years there when the masters ended, and I really didnt see myself giving up on my family and friends back home. He broke up with me because he liked his job there and didnt mind being an inmigrant, but knew I wasnt feeling the same. The breakup was devastating. We met again by chance on a trip a year later and we confesed we still missed each other, and he told me he was having second thoughts about staying in Sweden. We started a long distance relationship and he started looking for jobs back home, but he changed his mind and he broke up again with me. Ten years later, I still dream once in a while he decides to come back. Last time I was travelling to Sweden I contacted him to meet again, but I cancelled the plans because it was too painful to see him again and maybe repeat the cycle.

[amissingno]

We know exactly how Arthur is feeling without the 'angry outburst leads to a fight' trope.

[zambigamz]

It is actually insane to me that these videos get so little views but have such high production value

[yiumiu]

I couldn't help but to cry at the last 50 or so mins of the film, especially when Arthur interacted with the other characters. Every minute felt very vulnerable and raw and it just tugs at the heart so hard. Doesn't help that the cinematography was so beautiful as well :')

[Cris-jiqo]

I am not going to deny the strangeness I felt when identifying with Arthur, when normally one understands the protagonist. This phrase of his killed me in the cine:
"You have been transcendental in my life... I wondered if I am the same for you."

[Monique-rnlg]

Yeah, I too was impressed with the writing of the character "Arthur". It would have been easy AND lazy to make him someone the audience dislikes, as is done in most films involving a love triangle. That always makes me question the intelligence of the main object of desire. Why would she be with someone we, the audience, dislike? This film is far more realistic. Love is strange and unpredictable - a mix of great joy and sadness.

[hoyageorge]

I thought Arthur was the glue that held this beautiful story together. He's a beautifully written character, and John Magaro does a fantastic job in this supporting role. What a spectacular film. I sobbed such cathartic tears that were building up all film.