Past Lives only came out in 2023, but it already has the masking of a classic movie people are going to return to and love for years to come. It was one of the most critically-acclaimed movies of the year (it’s “Certified Fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes and made WTW’s top 10 movies of 2023 list) and was nominated for two Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay by debut filmmaker Celine Song. Perhaps some of that success came from Song taking some inspiration from two all-time classics.
The story of Past Lives focuses on Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo). They were childhood friends in South Korea before Nora and her family emigrated to North America. Though they were separated by an ocean, there is a sense of fate, described as In-Yun in the movie, that brings them back together years later in New York, even though Nora is now married to another man, Arthur (John Magaro). Eventually, Past Lives ends with Nora and Hae Sung realizing that despite their bond, their lives have taken them to different places.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization behind the Oscars, released on their Instagram account a reel of Song discussing how her ideas were inspired by the movies Casablanca and Roman Holiday.
In the clip, Song is shown press packets and other materials from the Academy’s Margaret Herrick Library in Los Angeles. After gushing over the historical Hollywood artifacts, Song talks about how the ending of Casablanca, where Rick (Humphrey Bogard) lets Isla (Ingrid Bergman) go with her husband Viktor (Paul Henreid) rather than stay with her, has a similar idea to Nora and Hae Sung. The importance of letting someone you love go because you know “this person is going to be better loved elsewhere in a different way,” Song explained.
Song says when she was pitching Past Lives and the question of the movie’s seemingly sad ending came up, she would use Casablanca‘s ending as a reference point, explaining that like Paris with Rick and Isla, Nora and Hae Sung will always have Seoul.
It wasn’t just themes of classic movies that Song used for inspiration in Past Lives, but also specific scenes to inspire her actors, in particular Roman Holiday. Song sent Lee the scene of Gregory Peck’s Joe Bradley walking down the hallway in the final moments of the movie after saying goodbye to Princess Ann (Audrey Hepburn) to give her a feeling of what she wanted from the scene when Nora cries as she walks back to her apartment after saying goodbye to Hae Sung.
You can watch the full reel directly below, and it is definitely fascinating to hear Song talk about how she took aspects of these great movies and applied them to her own.
If this has inspired you to watch any of these movies right now, Past Lives is streaming on Paramount Plus with Showtime, Casablanca is available on Max and Roman Holiday can be rented via digital on-demand.