Lee Chang-dong returns to Venice after 24 years with 'Possible Love,' Korea's Oscar submission

24 years back in competition

Lee Chang-dong is in Venice. Ganeunghan Sarang (Possible Love) entered the competition section of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival. His last time in the main race was Oasis in 2002—a 24-year gap. That run ended well: Lee took the Silver Lion for Best Director, and Moon So-ri won the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Actor.

It's also his first feature in eight years, following Burning (2018). At the official press conference on September 6 on Lido Island, Lee said: "Over the past 8 years, I felt that our lives themselves were changing very rapidly." He wrestled with "fundamental concerns about what kind of power cinema has and whether it can still connect people to people."

The cast and the story

Possible Love follows two couples whose paths cross. Ho-seok (Seol Kyung-gu) is a laid-off worker married to Mi-ok (Jeon Do-yeon). Ye-ji (Jo Yeo-jung) is a documentary director trying to film their lives, and she's married to Sang-woo (Jo In-sung). All four attended the Lido press conference alongside Lee.

Jo Yeo-jung said she had long wondered whether she would ever work with Lee Chang-dong. "I was so happy to be cast that I couldn't even imagine it," she said. On set she felt "free and happy." Jo In-sung called the experience of working with Lee and "two legendary senior actors" something that left a deep, lingering feeling of missing the set.

(Seol Kyung-gu's name is in the seed headline—the film is very much his comeback to this kind of prestige-drama weight.)

What's next for the film

Possible Love was selected as South Korea's official submission for the International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards. It opens in Korean theaters on September 23, then arrives globally on Netflix on November 6.