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Past Lives (2023)
exceeded my expectations (no big spoilers)
I don't know the specific reason why, but I had low expectations for 'Past Lives'. Actually, I had been delaying watching this movie for months. Yet, due to some good reviews, I couldn't resist and finally watched it. And oh boy, I wasn't expecting this.
In the first couple of minutes, I realized it would be an emotional ride. The sound design was on point, every shot was deliberate, and eventhough I had some ideas beforehand, the storyline remained intriguing. At some point, I felt overwhelmed by how every single shot was so well-crafted, and the music flowed seamlessly with every scene, surpassing my expectations. The only question in my mind was, would it continue impressing me like this? I still kept my expectations low.
And it did, with some small flaws accompanying it. Firstly, I loved the use of the metaphor "in-yun." The meaning of "past lives" isn't just a platonic love story that happened when our characters, Na Young or Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo), were children; it had significance, suggesting a spiritual connection in their many past lives. I found this detail especially touching.
The main weakness in the writing was with the dialogues being a bit dull in my opinion. But it didn't bother me much. Moreover, the character of Hae Sung was somewhat one-dimensional compared to Na Young, in the sense that I would've liked to see his other motivations in life beyond his strong feelings of love. Also, Na Young's husband Arthur (John Magaro) could've been more reactive to the situations around his wife; I found the writing of his character a bit weak likewise.
All in all, I found the ending as expected but fitting for this story. The movie's production, including cinematography, sound design, and other aspects, were so on point that the weaknesses in the writing seemed trivial next to it.
Overall, solid writing, better production, and a near-perfect movie. I definately enjoyed it more than I thought I would and thus I highly recommend it to anyone who has prejudices about this film.
Poor Things (2023)
Poor Thing
I'm a fan of Lanthimos but this film was ironically the "poorest" of his among those i've watched. I thought of the idea and the style to be very interesting from the trailers and inevitably i was very excited to see this film in the theater after a long wait (thanks to the great marketing efforts). Yet, i was very disappointed to find myself disliking it throughout the viewing.
I don't have much to say about the production design and cinematography other than I found those parts of the film mesmerizing and unique, as expected. What I didn't expect was the writing and storytelling to be so cheap and at some points annoying. I understand that there is an intent to create wittiness and absurdness to give a light tone to the movie but it really felt forced and predictable to me most of the time. Honestly, i didn't laugh more than 2 or 3 scenes in the movie and they weren't even that memorable.
I also found Bella's character development rushed and out of nowhere at the ending bits of the film. I really don't want to get into the other characters because non of them i found to be interesting nor well written sadly. Also, the topics this film takes on and the themes it tries to delve into were stayed on the surface in my opinion. About what it is like to become an adult from a child's perspective, about choices of women and how they are treated in the society, about the poor and the rich, about being a human in the modern world, and many more.
Moreover, I would've loved delving deeper into the sensitive sides of Bella and her connection with her mother. Maybe we could've seen some parts of what ignited and caused her mother's suicide rather than seeing a maniac ex-husband holding a gun all the time and then we say "Aha! It makes sense now about her mother jumping from the bridge". Maybe it could've been a cliche but i think i would've rather seeing Bella to realize who she was at the end of the movie rather than in the beginning, just for the sake of witnessing her realization and reaction when she grew up as her surgery would be kept as a secret from her would be more emotional in my opinion.
Sorry for this long review but there were many thoughts i wanted to let it out. Maybe among the points i made, some were a glimpse of positive things, but sadly and mostly it was more about the poor things...