Fate As Culture As Film

Fate as Culture as Film

by Karenna Umscheid

From the incredibly racist Long Duk Dong in Sixteen Candles to Mr. Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, the road to proper Asian-American representation has been exhausting. But I’m not interested in talking about how harmful many American films have been to my community. Instead, I want to talk about the recent films that have made me feel represented. Raised on Ni Hao Kai Lan and idolizing Mia in Power Rangers: Samurai, I’ve always, consciously or not, searched for Asian-American women in media, people who looked like me. And though I still long for more Thai representation specifically, multiple recent films have celebrated Asian-American and immigrant culture so beautifully that I will never forget how special it is that I get to exist at the same time as them. 

One of my favorite films of the past year is Past Lives, the stunning directorial debut by Celine Song. The film follows Nora (Greta Lee) as she reunites with her childhood best friend Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) throughout her life, following her family’s immigration from Korea to Canada. It is more than a story of assimilation and cultural homesickness, but an examination of fate and destiny and specific life choices, the kind of routes life takes us on, specifically through an Asian immigrant lens. 

It is thrilling to me to see Asian immigrant and Asian-American stories moving beyond merely proving our existence and our importance, and instead celebrating the culture and stories that inhabit us. Some previous favorites of mine include The Farewell (2019) and Minari (2020), both indie awards darlings that demonstrated progress as Hollywood understands it. I also adore the rom-com Always Be My Maybe, cheesy as it is, and The Joy Luck Club, dated editing and all. Despite my intense adoration for all these films, I want to emphasize that Hollywood metrics of films will never encapsulate the power of true, beautiful representation through filmmaking, not just in characters added for diversity but for stories told by Asian-Americans and immigrants, for Asian-Americans and immigrants. 

Past Lives is so full of meaning, a deeply artful romance on par with Portrait of a Lady on Fire, it begs to be seen theatrically, where all of its beauty is enhanced. The depiction of Korean folklore through Nora’s explanation of In-Yun, the belief that interactions between two people in their present lives can be credited to encounters over their past lives, is so poignant and stunning. This is the representation I long for, traditional cultural beliefs as they exist in Asian immigrant narratives, dictating one’s life and philosophies in ways that are incomprehensible to those who don’t fully understand them, and who haven’t lived in them. 

Past Lives screens on January 17, 2024, at the Brattle Theater.

Until next Wednesday,

Karenna

Photograph: Pinterest