American melancholy: The real loss in “Past Lives” isn’t love

March 8, 2024April 6, 2024 Jae-Ha Kim

In the Academy Award-nominated film “Past Lives,” the Korean concept of inyeon is used to lead viewers into believing that Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae-sung (Teo Yoo) are destined to be together – if not in this lifetime, then in the future. Or perhaps they were together in a distant past that neither can recall. The introduction of the word leaves moviegoers hoping that these two can have a happily-ever-after ending, despite his living in Seoul, 7,000 miles from her apartment in New York City.

“Vagabond” (배가본드)

April 10, 2021April 19, 2023 Jae-Ha Kim

The action sequences in “Vagabond” are thrilling and the plot is fast-paced and engaging. But the ending seems rushed, incomplete and utterly unsatisfying.

“Seoul Searching”

October 11, 2020April 19, 2023 Jae-Ha Kim

Once “Seoul Searching” gets past the caricatures, the story delves into the deeper meaning of what it means to be Korean in societies that view you as a perpetual foreigner. Though the film concentrates on Korean Americans, two of the more memorable characters are Korean teens raised in Germany (Klaus, played by Teo Yoo) and Mexico (Esteban Ahn’s Sergio).