Lee Chang-dong's 'Possible Love' premieres in Venice, leaving a profound 164-minute impression

A master's return, a searching gaze into an age of loss

At the 83rd Venice Film Festival, director 'Lee Chang-dong' broke an eight-year silence with his new film 'Possible Love,' which made its world premiere. Over 164 minutes, the film closely follows the intersecting lives of two couples and probes the essence of the dignity and freedom people have lost in modern society.

At an official news conference held on the island of Lido in Venice, Italy, on the 6th local time, the director said the film reflects his intense consideration of 'human relationships'—fundamentally severed after the COVID-19 pandemic—and cinema's role as a mediator. His sharp insight into the wounds of an era, evident in earlier films including 'Peppermint Candy,' 'Oasis' and 'Secret Sunshine,' remains fully intact in this work.

Solidarity born amid the cracks, a strange ensemble of two couples at odds

At the center of the story are Ho-seok ('Seol Kyung-gu'), a laid-off worker, and his wife Mi-ok ('Jeon Do-yeon'), along with Ye-ji ('Jo Yeo-jeong'), a documentary filmmaker seeking to capture their lives through her lens, and Sang-woo ('Jo In-sung'), her capitalist husband. Their off-kilter encounter, which begins at a colleague's funeral, leads to Sang-woo's private summer villa, where it sets off subtle discord.

Mi-ok hums Shim Soo-bong's 'Love Is All I Know' even in the face of life's betrayals, while Ho-seok, crying out for survival as he carries the festering wounds within him, radiates a desperate vitality. By contrast, Ye-ji's blind devotion to her subjects and Sang-woo's alien desire to support his wife within the logic of capital heighten the drama's tension. The 164-minute journey, in which two disparate worlds collide and merge, holds a quiet yet explosive energy.

Personas that command the screen, an acting aesthetic that transcends limits

The point 'Possible Love' ultimately seeks to reach is 'freedom.' The rough paths of characters who stumble and rise again amid structural contradictions affirm the dignity inherent in human beings. 'Jeon Do-yeon' and 'Seol Kyung-gu' do more than play their roles; they breathe as the characters themselves. They achieve such complete embodiment that the director himself calls them simply “the characters.”

The unfamiliar yet mesmerizing faces of 'Jo Yeo-jeong' and 'Jo In-sung' as a documentary-director couple elevate the film's aesthetic accomplishment to another level. The meticulously woven production design and music also serve as powerful tools that draw viewers in, delivering an overwhelming sense of immersion.

A masterpiece drawing global attention, a grand journey toward the Oscars

'Possible Love' has been invited to the Toronto International Film Festival and the BFI London Film Festival after Venice, signaling a potential global sensation. The film was also selected as South Korea's entry for the Best International Feature Film category at next year's 'Academy Awards' (Oscars), demonstrating the strength of a well-crafted Korean film.

On the day of its premiere, the director and four leading actors stepped onto the red carpet at the Palazzo del Cinema in coordinated black-and-white ensembles, responding to a barrage of flashes from around the world with relaxed smiles. The masterpiece marking the master's return will open in select South Korean theaters on the 23rd before arriving in homes worldwide through 'Netflix' on Nov. 6.