Possible Love, director Lee Chang-dong’s first film in eight years, is worth the wait. The 83rd Venice International Film Festival marked the return of the acclaimed auteur (Burning, Secret Sunshine) as his relationship drama Possible Love made its world premiere. Now, the film is the winner of the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize, with Lee accepting the prize at the ceremony on Sept. 12.
Featuring four distinctive performances from Jeon Do-yeon, Sul Kyung-gu, Cho Yeo-jeong, and Zo In-sung, Possible Love is a meditation on connection, class, and desire. The film follows Mi-ok (Jeon) and her laid-off husband, Ho-seok (Sul), as they have a chance encounter with Ye-ji (Cho), a documentarian working on a project about labor and working people, and Ye-ji’s businessman husband, Sang-woo (Zo). Mi-ok agrees to be part of Ye-ji’s film, and the two couples, who are from opposite economic backgrounds, suddenly find their lives intertwined. The lines between the professional and the personal, between hidden desires and outward actions, and admiration and resentment begin to blur.
Director Lee Chang-dong, Sul Kyung-gu, Jeon Do-yeon, Cho Yeo-jeong, and Zo In-sung at the film’s world premiere.
The cast joined Director Lee, who also produced and co-wrote the film, on the Lido at Possible Love’s world premiere on Sept. 6, where the film was met with a six-minute standing ovation. The Venice International Film Festival prize-winning film has also been selected by South Korea as its submission for Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards.
The film, which will also premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and New York Film Festival, hits select theaters later this year on Oct. 23 before heading to Netflix on Nov. 6. Stay tuned to Tudum for more on Possible Love.
