Gyeonggi-do

The 2023 Celine Song film “Past Lives” was shot in Korea and New York City. Early in the film, Nora and Hae Sung are seen playing together as children at MMCA Outdoor Sculpture Park, located just outside of Seoul, Korea, near Seoul Land amusement park. Their mothers are seen sitting at this bench as the children play. The sculpture next to the bench is known as Visual Point-Opener by Kwon Dal-Sool from 1984.

LOCATION: MMCA Outdoor Sculpture Park, 313 Gwangmyeong-ro, Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea (GPS coordinates: 37°25’49.5″N, 127°01’08.8″E)

The sculpture the children play in front of is known as Singing Man by Jonathan Borofsky from 1994. The jaw only moves at select times of the day and was shut down for the season during our visit, but you can still see it behind the scaffolding in the image below. This area is not difficult to find, if you approach MMCA Outdoor Sculpture Park from the main entrance, you’ll see it immediately to your right. We’ve also provided GPS coordinates.

The kids are next seen playing on the New Gazing at Being sculpture by Lee Il-Ho from 1994. This one is slightly more tricky to find. If you follow the path above and behind the bench where the mothers sit, past the main pedestrian entrance and towards the eastern parking lot, you’ll find it. We’ve also included GPS coordinates.

LOCATION: MMCA Outdoor Sculpture Park, 313 Gwangmyeong-ro, Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea (GPS coordinates: 37°25’50.3″N, 127°01’14.2″E)

The stairs where young Nora and Hae Sung go their separate ways is a bit of a walk from any nearby train or bus stations. Depending which direction you approach, you may need to walk down several narrow roads to reach it, with the stairs located on a hill. We’ve provided GPS coordinates below.

LOCATION: 22 Geumhosan 2na-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, South Korea (GPS coordinates: 37°32’57.9″N, 127°01’25.3″E)

Nora and Hae Sung are seen walking on another set of stairs on their way home from school. These stairs are not located near the above location. It is located up a long stretch of hills. If you plan to visit, we’d recommend a taxi to reach this spot, unless you’re looking for a bit of a hike.

LOCATION: Near 24-52 Bon-dong, Dongjak District, Seoul, South Korea (GPS coordinates: 37°30’36.9″N, 126°57’21.3″E)

The kids continue walking this direction.

After Nora moves to New York City, she eventually reconnects with Hae Sung, who comes to visit her after many years. The two visit the Statue of Liberty, which has of course been seen in countless films, such as “Splash,” “The Godfather Part II,” “Superman,” “Escape from New York,” “Home Alone 2: Lost In New York,” “Ghostbusters II,” “X-Men,” “Comrades: Almost a Love Story,” “Baby It’s You,” “The Abyss,” “Lords Of Dogtown” and more.

LOCATION: Statue of Liberty, New York, NY 10004

Nora’s apartment can be found at 50 E 1st St, New York, NY 10003, while the garage they stand in front of at the end of the film is located just a few buildings down at 40 E 1st St, New York, NY 10003.

Many people have taken tours of the Hollywood film studios, such as Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal, etc. However, many other countries offer tours around their studios and backlots as well. Here we’ll take a look at Namyangju Film Studio in South Korea, located in Gyeonggi-do, about an hour outside of Seoul.

LOCATION: Namyangju Film Studio, 138, Bukhangang-ro 855beon-gil, Joan-myeon, Namyangju-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea

The road to the studio. You can find bus rides from Seoul that will take you straight to the studio.

Inside this building is the studio and several exhibits. You can go above this building to the outdoor grounds where many sets stand.

The reverse view from atop of the same building, which is pretty spectacular. As you can see, the studio is tucked away in the Korean countryside, far away from the city lights.

One of the most internationally famous films to shoot at the studio was Chan-Wook Park’s “Joint Security Area.”

The production built an entire, full scale recreation of the Joint Security Area, a highly militarized section of the border between North and South Korea, intended to hold discussions between the two sides. Obviously filming a movie in the real J.S.A. would not be possible. Even though the Chan-Wook Park film was completed decades ago, to this day, the set on Namyangji remains the go-to spot for pretty much all South Korean productions looking to film scenes set in the J.S.A. We did a separate article on this particular set here.

A tank and some military vehicles from the 2015 film “The Long Way Home” (a.k.a. “Seoboojeonsun”).

A full scale ship from the 2014 film “Pirates” (a.k.a. “Hae-jeok: Ba-da-ro gan san-jeok”).

There is also a set for an entire old, traditional Korean village at the studio, but it was being used for filming the day of our visit, so unfortunately our views of this area were limited.

Some train cars.

Some interesting paintings along the walls as you head into the interior portions of the studio.

This contraption was sitting outside of the studio.

A rope bridge in front of a blue screen, where visitors can simulate crossing a treacherous passing.

Some film costumes. The military costumes to the left are from the 2007 film “May 18” (a.k.a. “Hwa-ryeo-han-hyoo-ga”), while the costume on the right is from the 2007 film “Hanbando.”

Some excellent models and miniatures.

This photo does not do justice to how beautiful and intricate this miniature shipwrecked city is.

The prop room.

Some props and costumes from old Korean films.

Some old Korean awards and honors.

If you’re a film lover and find yourself in South Korea, it’s worth taking a visit out to Namyangji Film Studio. We of course realize most people reading this will likely never make it out there, so we hope this post is the next best thing.

Film Oblivion

Movie and TV locations, points of interest.

Past Lives (2023)

Namyangju Film Studio