Reading Time: 7 minutes

By Chandrasekaran Shreya (24S06A)

Missed Part 1 of this series? Access it here!

Missed Part 2 of this series? Access it here!

Technical musings: parallels in visual and verbal narratives

This, without a doubt, is one of my favourite techniques in filmmaking: where intentional, deliberate cinematographic choices are made to drive the narrative forward, complementing the story’s verbally-driven narrative.

When Hae Sung and Nora meet in person for the first time, they walk to the bay area, overlooking a sea. Surrounding them are many duos–except, they’re not just duos, they’re couples. To the unassuming eye, one might assume Hae Sung and Nora, too, to be a couple, blending in with the crowd. But that’s merely wishful thinking, a what-could-have-been more fitting for, perhaps, another lifetime of theirs. In this life, they are simply two distant friends.

Continue reading ““Past Lives”: Reminiscences on being human–in motion, and in love (Part 3)” →

Reading Time: 10 minutes

By Chandrasekaran Shreya (24S06A)

Missed Part 1 of this series? Access it here!

Confronting one’s past, twenty-four years later

Twelve years pass. 

Nora–twelve years older, pin-straight hair now a mess of waves–is an accomplished writer. She’s married to Arthur, a fellow creative she’d met at an artists’ residency. He is presumably born and raised in America, and in a tender gaze he casts at Nora from across the street, we know from the get-go that he adores her.

As per an earlier request to meet Nora during his vacation in NYC, Hae Sung finds himself in a public park in the city: backpack securely strapped to his shoulders, pacing back and forth, brushing his hair back as he waits. He waits, footing faltering in this foreign land, till a familiar voice–one he’d been anticipating–calls out his name. 

It’s Nora, smiling, as she walks forward and embraces him. 

In this moment, for the second time, the present and past collide.

Continue reading ““Past Lives”: Reminiscences on being human–in motion, and in love (Part 2)” →

Reading Time: 4 minutes

By Chandrasekaran Shreya (24S06A)

But let’s not talk of love or chains and things we can’t untie

Your eyes are soft with sorrow

Hey, that’s no way to say goodbye.

Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye, Leonard Cohen

When I first stumbled upon this film’s premise, I immediately bought a ticket for its next screening. That led me to Level 5 of Golden Mile Tower on a Tuesday evening, right after my last lesson for Term 3, still donning my school uniform.

Two childhood sweethearts–who’d grown up in South Korea–meet each other in person in New York City twenty-four years later. 

Continue reading ““Past Lives”: Reminiscences on being human–in motion, and in love (Part 1)” →