Possible Love, the first film from Korean filmmaker Lee Chang-dong since 2018’s Burning, earned a 6½-minute Sunday evening following its debut screening at the 83rd Venice Film Festival.
Director Lee helmed the film from a screenplay he co-wrote with Oh Jung-mi, having worked together on Burning. The story follows two married couples whose lives become uniquely intertwined. There is Mi-ok (Jeon Do-Yeon), who lives a quiet life with her husband, Ho-Seok (Sul Kyung-gu), and their young son, Cheol.
Ho-seok has been laid off from his job following an incident that has stunted his life and his ability to communicate with his family. We only learn what that incident was after the family meets Ye-ji (Cho Yeo-jeong), a documentary filmmaker engaged in a project about the lives of laid-off workers, and her ultra-wealthy husband Sang-woo (Zo In-sung). When Mi-ok agrees to be filmed, she grows close to Ye-ji, creating an uncomfortable friction that shakes both of their households.
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Speaking with Deadline ahead of his trip to Venice, director Lee said the film’s story was inspired by a Korean conglomerate that went through mass layoffs some years ago.
“At the time, I remember thinking it would be a transformative event in the Korean labor market. I also knew it probably meant the beginning of a normalization of such restructuring of conglomerates that would greatly change the lives of these laborers,” he said, adding that he initially shelved the project, fearing he wasn’t the most suitable messenger for a film about labor rights.
“I started to ask myself: Am I worthy of telling a story like this? I mean, do I have the right? Documentaries had already been filmed about the subject,” he said. “Could I really justify turning this into a dramatic film? I couldn’t get a clear answer to that question, so I shelved the project.”
The Korean Film Council already has selected the title as Korea’s official Oscar entry for the Best International Feature category. Netflix, which financed and has international rights to the film, recently confirmed it will receive an Oscar-qualifying theatrical release in Korea, the U.S., and other select territories following its premiere at the Venice and Toronto film festivals.
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Co-produced by Anonymous Content, Korea’s NOWFILM, and Pinehouse Film, Possible Love features a strong ensemble cast including Jeon Do-yeon, who previously worked with Director Lee on Secret Sunshine, and Sul Kyung-gu, who starred in Chang-dong ‘s Peppermint Candy, alongside Zo In-sung and Cho Yeo-jeong.
