Two Films About Immigrants—Past Lives & Windows on the World

 

Past Lives: written and directed by Celine Song

Cast: Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro

Windows on the World: Directed by Michael D. Olmos

Screenplay by: Robert Mailer Anderson, Zack Anderson

Starring: Ryan Guzman, Edward James Olmos

Reviewed by Steve Halpern

I’ve viewed several films made by Koreans. For me, many of those films are compelling in ways we don’t see in films made in this country. The film Past Lives might be one of the best that portrays the Korean reality. 

The story begins with two children, Nora and Hae Sung, in Korea who are best friends. The girl’s father is a writer, and the family moves to Canada. The reason is to experience a different culture in the world.

When young Nora arrives in Canada, she is completely isolated. She has no friends and doesn’t even know the language. In her new home, she cries every day. 

Years later, Nora is an adult who works as a writer in English. On the internet, she connects with Hae Sung who continued to live in Korea. Right away, the sparks fly, and the two former childhood friends become children again. But there is a glitch.

Nora needs to pursue her writing career in the United States. Hae Sung is preparing to be an engineer and is going to China to learn Mandarin. China has become a manufacturing center in the world. Several Korean multinational corporations have manufacturing facilities in China. 

Because Nora and Hae Sung have conflicting career plans, they find it to be impossible to pursue a relationship. Nora asks that they stop communicating for a while. They are both depressed as they confront this reality.

Years later, Nora marries a writer who was raised in the United States. Her marriage entitled Nora to a Green Card in this country. Then, Hae Sung decides to visit her for one week in New York City. 

During that week, Nora and Hae Sung reestablish the bond they had as children. Nora is reminded of the culture she once had in Korea. However, she has changed from the Korean girl she once was. Now she is someone who has a Korean background, but in many ways has become integrated into the culture of the United States. 

At this point in their lives, it would have become impractical for Nora to return to Korea or for Hae Sung to move to the United States. While Nora has a clear attraction for Hae Sung, but she also loves her husband. 

For me, this story is compelling in many ways. Most immigrants come to the United States and Canada so they might get a better income. This might help their families escape grinding poverty. Nora’s family didn’t choose to move to Canada for economic reasons. However, in many ways Nora’s life changed as she adopted to Canada and then the United States. 

While Hae Sung became a competent engineer, there would have been numerous roadblocks preventing him from moving to the United States.

Windows on the World

In the film Windows on the World, we see different problems that face immigrants in this country. In this film the father of a Mexican family, Balthazar, goes to the United States to find work where he could make significantly more money. In this country, employers hire millions of immigrants to do some of the most arduous jobs. 

Balthazar worked at several jobs. One of those jobs was at the restaurant at the former World Trade Center known as Windows on the World. We see his family viewing the television news of the World Trade Center being destroyed on September 11, 2001. 

Balthazar’s son Fernando volunteers to go to New York City to discover if his father is alive. In New York, Fernando sees the opulent wealth of Manhattan in an art gallery. That evening he slept on cardboard in an alley. Eventually Fernando gets a job with immigrants from Africa washing windows. 

In his search for his father, he meets Lia and they fall in love. After finding his father, Fernando has to make a choice. Should he return to Mexico with his family, or should he continue his relationship with Lia and his friendships with the window-washers from Africa. Fernando understands that if he remains in this country, the government could deport him at any time.

How are these two films related?

Both these films are about immigrants who live in the United States. In both films we see how the culture of the countries immigrants come from is in many ways different from what they experience here. This country changes the lives of immigrants in many ways. We also see how their lives in this country enriches the culture here. 

Ever since the beginning of the capitalist system, we have lived in a globalized world. Today there are about 17 banks that control over $41 trillion in assets. The approximately 200 board members of those banks make decisions as to how all that money will be invested. Those board members continually decide to invest huge amounts of money all over the world.

Korean owned corporations manufacture cars, home appliances, and cell phones. Much of the work required to produce those commodities is done in China. Yet about 70% of the world’s population lives on ten dollars per day or less. The 200 board members who control trillions of dollars in assets invest in businesses where workers might be paid ten dollars per day or less.

While millions of immigrant workers do some of the worst jobs, Presidents Obama, Trump, and Biden have deported millions of immigrants. Most of those deportations are to countries like Mexico where most of the population is of Native American decent. In other words, the United States government makes it a routine policy to deport people whose ancestors lived here thousands of years before the Europeans arrived. 

The film Past Lives isn’t a story about economic hardship. However, this is a story of how we live in a world where the corporate drive for profits takes priority over the free flow of interplay between the cultures of the world. People of every ethnic background enjoy Korean and Mexican food. Yet corporations invest hundreds of millions of dollars every year in advertisements for MacDonald’s, Burger King, Coca Cola, and Pepsi.  

Instead of investing in deporting millions of immigrants, we need to celebrate the fact that the United States might be one of the most diverse nations in the world. While the government works to promote millions of deportations, we need to understand that most people are a part of the working class of the world. When we develop that consciousness, then we can begin to make this a planet where human needs of people all over the world, and not corporate profits are the priority.