From Sims 4 theater to Latin club: Celine Song shares her past lives at master class
Director Celine Song paid a visit to Chapman on Feb. 21, where she discussed her playwriting endeavors and how she injected her own life into the story of her Academy Award-nominated film “Past Lives.”. The film is nominated for Best Picture. Photos courtesy of Matt Harbicht
Two days into the COVID-19 pandemic, Celine Song’s play, “Endlings” was brought to a sudden halt. Song’s theater approached her about a potential Zoom performance, but she had seen enough attempts from others to know she would decline.
Soon after, the experimental theater director would develop her most ambitious piece yet to adapt to the times, combining one of her favorite pastimes with one of her favorite works by playwright Anton Chekhov.
“I told them that I would like to do a Twitch stream of me playing The Sims 4 and doing a performance of ‘The Seagull,’” Song said. “I always felt that The Sims 4 was very Chekhovian. It’s about living — the pain of living… When I was explaining how I was going to do it, I was actually formulating it as I was talking about it.”
Two nights. Four hours each. Song had brought together lovers of video games, lovers of Chekhov and, like Song, lovers of both.
Song is no stranger to bringing worlds together. Her semi-autobiographical film “Past Lives” follows Nora (Greta Lee) as she’s reunited with her childhood sweetheart from South Korea, Hae Sung (Teo Yoo), after starting a life with her American husband, Arthur (John Magaro).
On Feb. 21, Song joined an audience of Chapman students, alumni and faculty for a master class where she discussed her transition from theater to film, her process for writing and bringing her own story to life. The conversation was moderated by Scott Feinberg, the executive editor of awards at The Hollywood Reporter and the host of the Awards Chatter podcast.
After dabbling in poetry at the age of seven — specifically poems about spiders — Song wrote her first play in high school during a Latin club classics conference where she adapted the myth of Prometheus. This eventually snowballed into a master’s degree in playwriting from Columbia University in 2014. There, she learned valuable lessons from her professors like the importance of writing for oneself instead of an audience.
Song got her start at the age of seven when she began writing poems. She later pursued her master’s in playwrighting at Columbia University which led her down the path of theater.
“If I am the number one fan of the thing that I’m writing, then that thing is going to be something that somebody likes,” Song said.
Some of Song’s works include “The Feast,” about a cannibal dinner party, “Tom and Eliza” about book burning and “Endlings,” about elderly pearl divers in South Korea — the last of which was canceled prior to her Sims 4 rendition of “The Seagull.”
The director shared the struggles of being creative without structure outside of college. She refers to her writing process as not-so-glamorous, although the steps are simple. First, she procrastinates for a few months. Next, she lets the guilt of not having written catch up to her. Finally, she plants herself in front of her laptop for what is known as the “demon state,” where she voraciously pens her next piece, forgoing proper food and sleep.
Whether the piece turns out good or bad, Song emphasized that the real progress is simply putting words on the page.
“We all have to accept the process that we have. The only thing that matters is that it does result in something that is made. What’s amazing about bad writing is that you don’t have to show anyone. You can do it in secret. So much of it is about falling over and getting up… The courage to do that is the only thing that’s going to make you better at (writing).”
Hailing from South Korea, Song moved to Canada and then to New York City — the same arc as Nora in “Past Lives.” Many moments in the film are pulled directly from Song’s life, such as meeting her husband, a fellow playwright, at an artist residency.
During a pivotal scene in the film, Nora, Hae Sung and Arthur share a drink in a bar. Nora translates the conversation to Hae Sung, who doesn’t speak English, and Arthur, who doesn’t speak Korean. Fellow patrons look upon the trio and gossip about the potential relationship dynamics. Song recalled the real-life scenario that inspired the scene.
“It felt like my past, my present and my future were all sitting in the room at the same time having a drink,” Song said. “It was such a special feeling… Each of them holds a key to my story that the other person doesn’t have, and they’re both so dear to me.”
In her debut feature film, Song found unconventional methods to enact the necessary emotions from her actors. For instance, she kept Magaro and Yoo separated until the day of filming when their characters met. She also banned Greta and Yoo from touching so that a natural longing would build before their first on-screen hug.
In terms of casting the right individuals, Song had a unique way of thinking about the process.
“The truth is, it is just like falling in love. There’s no rhyme or reason to it. Sometimes somebody just walks in and you know that person is the right person,” Song said.
The student Q&A portion was kicked off by Ben Kaplan, a first-year master’s student studying directing. Kaplan had seen the film three times prior to Song’s master class and had recently viewed “Past Lives” as a reference for his own film. He spoke to The Panther about how much the film meant to him.
“This movie came at a very special time in my life. It spoke to me in a way that a movie hasn’t really spoken to me all year, especially the moment about in-yun (or the belief that encounters in this life are connected to encounters from previous lives). The definition it gives in the film just meant a lot to me. It’s the type of movie I want to make as well as a filmmaker.”
Song will follow up “Past Lives” with her romantic-comedy sophomore film “Materialists.” When asked about the potential of returning back to theater, Song made her future intentions clear.
“It’s going to be film from here on out,” Song told the audience. “I can’t wait to get behind the camera and make this movie. And then I’ll talk to you guys again.”
Dodge College of Film and Media Arts Master Classes are available to all Chapman students and alumni. Seats are available either on a first-come, first-served basis or by lottery system, depending on the Master Class. Dates, times, upcoming guests and additional information can be found in the lobby of Marion Knott Studios or on the Dodge College Instagram account.
