Past Lives (film 2023)

I have imagined and dreamt about reunion with an old friend many times. Different reunions, with different friends. It could be a planned get-together, or a surprise encounter. I wonder how we would behave, what facial expressions we would have, and what would be said, what would happen later…

First time we re-united at the baggage claim of Fiumicino terminal, I thought a hundred ways of how we would react seeing each other, but it turned out to be an awkward one, simply holding each one’s own luggage and some eye contact. “We should have kissed and hugged,” we agreed later. There was a learning curve, later reunion moments, like after lockdown and after Leuven, turned out to be more natural.

There’s also that day K and I finally going to meet after more than two years. I arrived first at the square in front of Buffalo city hall, wondering if there was going to be a hug, or a handshake, or whatever seems dramatic or passionate.

And dreams, all dreams about happy, surprised faces of two old friends meeting on the street, long tight embracement, exclamation, and other stereotypical movie stuff.

Also, long goodbyes. Wave hands? Shake hands? Hug? Kiss? What kind of kiss? What kind of hug? Just smile? What words? In what tone? Would someone turn and look back while leaving? Perhaps one would return because some belongings were accidently left behind?

However, no matter what imaginations are, in reality, in most of the times, they almost never occur. Many times people like us are just afraid to express, but the happiness is genuine.

Surprising or planned, there are going to be endless reunions and goodbyes ahead of you. You gonna change, others gonna change, and probably there’s only a handful of people that you would have that strong stream of emotions prepared to be released. My point is that, the movie catches this quite “east Asian” type of feelings quite well, and it happens often, not just on friends with some intimate history, simply on good friends. And gender does not matter, there are ones who are pursuing dreams in a cool or painful way, and ones who are stuck in traditional ways of living and trapped by traditional values.

Anyway, the auditorium was quite full today. I felt related, but I did not cry.