Why So Blu?

Past Lives (Blu-ray Review)

A24 scored big at the Oscars last year, and I feel like they have a nice sleeper here in this year’s Past Lives. Maybe not dominating the awards like last year, but having a pretty solid presence. After a short theatrical and digital run, its now come to the disc land for us collecting enthusiasts. Releasing on September 19th, it opted for standard Blu-ray (boo, no 4K!) and included a featurette, deleted scenes and a commentary with its writer/director and stars. You can order yourself a copy now to check out one of the year’s finest offerings by clicking on the paid Amazon Associates link at the bottom of the page.

.

Film

Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are wrested apart after Nora’s family emigrates from South Korea. Two decades later, they are reunited in New York for one fateful week as they confront notions of destiny, love, and the choices that make a life, in this heartrending modern romance.

Past Lives tells an oddly specific tell that oddly found myself connecting with it on my own personal level. Celine Song’s film is one connecting intimately from different corners of the globe. The film explores the “what if” of seeking to catch up with a past love from long ago and the difference of being in love with a person and the idea of that person. Said idea maybe just being the past version that only existed in that time.

Song’s film sounds like one that could be uncomfortable to watch, but has this calm, cool demeanor that allows you to ease through it knowing the film is in capable hands. This is almost the healthy version of a grounded film where a character decides to make the romantic comedy decisions in real life. The opposite side of Past Lives being 2011’s Young Adult. And really, the difference here is that the people involved are quite different. And what this film carries is a nervous, timid honesty that is almost heartwarming and charming when you see it come out.

There are a trio of performances here that are all quite amazing. The two leads of the film, Greta Lee and Teo Yoo, are adorable and really absorb the screen with such warmth and vulnerability. These parts have to really slide into a specific niche to get these characters right and they both just push every scene out so naturally. Also earning great honors is John Magaro who is outstanding as well. His part is written to be beloved, but his nervous charm just works in spades.

I’m probably going to finish the year with Past Lives arguing for a top spot on my list, as well as pushing for 3 performances to be recognized as well. The film is unique and definitely a love story for our time and technology. This is one that flips the romantic comedy on his head but also is here begging you to recognize the deconstruction. It also speaks to many of us who have ever lived far away and found connection with someone from the past in a deeper way.

Video

Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Layers: BD-50

Clarity/Detail: Past Lives debuts on standard Blu-ray with a really nice transfer that hits about the best highs you could ask for in a Blu-ray. The picture is crisp and sharp. Fine details are pretty strong with a nice looking, natural color scheme that resonates throughout the film and well displayed here.

Depth: Depth of field is solid. There is a very nice sense of scale and some good pushback in the interiors that make for some good dimensional work. Movements are smooth and natural with no issues coming from blur or jitter caused by rapid action.

Black Levels: Blacks have that shot on digital slightly lighter, touch of gray tone to it. No issues abound with any information going missing with hair follicles, patterns and textures showing up cleanly. No crushing witnessed.

Color Reproduction: Colors are natural and consistent all around. The areas where they tend to pop a bit more and are lovely to look at come in some of the bars and the South Korea scenes in the opening.

Flesh Tones: Skin tones are natural and consistent from start to finish of the film. Facial features and textures are discernible from any reasonable distance in the frame.

Noise/Artifacts: None

Audio

Format(s): English 5.1 DTS-HD MA, English 2.0 Descriptive Audio

Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

Dynamics: There’s not a lot of big, grand stuff to sing about here on the 5.1 track for Past Lives. Heck, this probably would’ve worked with just a nice stereo track. Nonetheless, it fills the room and does the job in carrying a dialogue driven movie that is mostly populate with people in a single space having a conversations in person or over Skype.

Height: N/A

Low Frequency Extension: Nothing too deep and pulsating for the subwoofer to chew on in this mix. It mainly hums with music and score and does some nice touches with doors closing or an engine humming.

Surround Sound Presentation: This is a really front heavy mix. The rear channels add some light ambiance and maybe help with the score, but not much more than that.

Dialogue Reproduction: Vocals are clear and crisp.

Extras

Past Lives comes with a redeemable digital code. For a look at the packaging, click on the video just above this section.

Audio Commentary

• with Writer-Director Celine Song and Actors Greta Lee and Teo Yoo

Bound by Fate: Exploring Past Lives (HD, 17:36) – With this little featurette, Celine Song talks about basing this on her life and culture she grew up in how she translated her very specific experiences to the script. The actors in the film also talk about how they related to the material.

Deleted Scenes (HD, 7:17)

Theatrical Trailer (HD, 2:27)

Summary

Past Lives is a film that’s gonna live rent free in this reviewer’s head the rest of the year. Its also going to live on my shelf and maybe yours if you so choose! This release comes with a terrific standard Blu-ray presentation as well as a decent set of extras to carry on the film after you view it. Currently running at $15.99, its an easy pick up for one of the year’s best films.

This is a paid Amazon Associates link