A still from “Past Lives” by Celine Song, an official selection of the Premieres program at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Jon Pack)
By Lucy Spicer
Back in November, the Sundance Film Festival programming team compiled a watchlist as a crash course for anyone who wants to familiarize themselves with the Festival’s history. Comprising a whopping 101 features spanning 41 years, such a list might look daunting to a viewer testing the indie film waters. But taking that list one double feature at a time? That sounds doable for anyone who’s got time for a movie night! So we’re bringing you ideas for Sundance Film Festival 101 Double Features, with film pairings inspired by genre, style, theme, and more.
Two films about evolving relationships, each by a writer-director early in her cinematic career — for our first 101 Double Feature, we’re recommending Kelly Reichardt’s Old Joy and Celine Song’s Past Lives. Celebrating the 20th anniversary of its theatrical release this coming August, Old Joy follows two old friends who reconnect over a quiet camping trip in the Oregon woods. Past Lives — still making audiences weep since its premiere in 2023 — tells the story of two childhood sweethearts who meet again as adults after being separated in their youth.
While distinct in many ways, Old Joy and Past Lives both employ their scripts — and often, silence over long takes — with care, allowing audiences to absorb the full weight of their words and to appreciate the emotional subtleties of the actors’ performances. Old Joy cemented Reichardt as a filmmaker whose œuvre we’ll gladly revisit over and over again (and indeed she would return to the Festival in 2011 and 2016 with Meek’s Cutoff and Certain Women respectively), and Past Lives undeniably marked Song as a filmmaker to watch. With this meditative double feature, we invite you to take a breath and enjoy some artfully quiet, intimate storytelling.
After premiering her feature debut, River of Grass, at the Festival in 1994, writer-director Kelly Reichardt returned to Park City in 2006 with a low-budget road movie of a different sort. Based on a short story by Jonathan Raymond, Old Joy follows old friends Mark (Daniel London) and Kurt (Will Oldham) as they reconnect over a short trip to some hot springs in the Oregon woods. The trip was Kurt’s idea — while the two men had more of a hippie lifestyle in common back in their youth, Mark is now married and living in Portland with a baby on the way. Kurt is still a free spirit, though aimlessness looks a little different now than it did a decade or so ago. As the two make their way toward their destination with Mark’s dog, Lucy (played by Reichardt’s own dog, who also stars in her film Wendy and Lucy), in tow, Kurt is still full of stories about transformative retreats and theories about the universe. But it’s clear the friendship can’t be what it once was.
Boasting a wealth of Oregon wilderness cinematography and a soundtrack by Yo La Tengo, Old Joy is a contemplative piece about the changes in a male friendship that slots right into the slow cinema movement. The film features several themes and techniques that would become signatures of Reichardt’s style, such as a focus on minimalism and characters living outside of financial comfort. Check here for viewing options.
In 2023 playwright Celine Song brought her directorial debut to the Sundance Film Festival. Inspired by actual events from Song’s life, Past Lives resonated widely with audiences and went on to receive Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. Beginning in Seoul in 1999, the story follows two childhood sweethearts, Na Young and Hae Sung, as they fall out of touch after Na Young’s family immigrates to Canada when the children are 12 years old. Played by Greta Lee and Teo Yoo as adults, Na Young — now calling herself Nora — and Hae Sung reconnect over video calls 12 years later when Nora is pursuing a career as a playwright in New York, but they lose touch once more until 2023, when Hae Sung comes to visit her in the city. By this time, Nora is married to Arthur (played by John Magaro, who coincidentally also starred in Reichardt’s First Cow and Showing Up), a fellow writer she met at a retreat in Montauk.
Despite taking place in big cities, Past Lives possesses an intimacy that draws the audience into the middle of its characters’ relationships. Earnest, memorable dialogue invites us to examine the what-might-have-beens in our own lives and how our choices change our relationships with ourselves as well as others. Meticulous direction on Song’s part masterfully builds romantic tension, and nuanced performances result in some unforgettable emotional screen moments. Check here for viewing options.
