(Venice = Yonhap News) Correspondent Kim Ji-yeon = Mi-ok (Jeon Do-yeon), the wife of laid-off worker Hoseok (Sol Kyeong-gu), meets Ye-ji (Cho Yeo-jeong), a documentary director who deals with the issue of laid-off workers, and her rich husband Sang-woo (Jo In-seong) at the funeral of Hoseok's former colleague.
Yeji actively approaches Miok to shed light on the life of Hoseok, who suffered hardships due to the general strike and forced suppression by public power. In order to close the distance between himself and Hoseok, who rarely opens up, he even invites Hoseok's family to Sangwoo's summer house next to a private beach.
'Possible Love', which was first released at the 83rd Venice Film Festival held on the 6th (local time) on Lido Island, Venice, Italy, is director Lee Chang-dong's first new work in 8 years.
As he did in 'Peppermint Candy', 'Oasis', and 'Secret Sunshine', director Lee talks about love by carefully touching up the deep, irreparable wounds that society has inflicted on people's lives.
Number 18 of Mi-ok, who tries to believe and get through a life that betrays her time and time again, is Shim Soo-bong's 'I Know Nothing But Love.' Hoseok says he is 'empty', but in reality, Hoseok is holding a heart full of pus and still struggles to survive.
Ye-ji, a documentary director who believes that one must love the subject of filming, and Sang-woo, a capitalist who helps his wife make a film independent of capital, also have their own desires.
The process of the unbalanced lives of two unbalanced couples twisting and colliding and coming together is quiet but intense. This is the case throughout this movie, which has a running time of 164 minutes, which is not short. The story, which flows slowly and over a long period of time, is calm but nerve-wracking.
Where the story is headed is quite clear. It is contained in the two-letter word that Mi-ok mutters, as well as in the director's words: "No matter how the structure of life changes, what allows humans to overcome it is the idea of 'freedom' in our hearts."
As Sangwoo says, it is a rough and rough life of people who 'may be obvious when you know it', but the dignity of life and people is upright in all the scenes of them stumbling in search of freedom and eventually standing up and walking away.
Director Lee said that he thought Jeon Do-yeon and Sol Kyeong-gu were 'just those characters' rather than 'very suitable roles' for playing Mi-ok and Hoseok. The two actors on screen do not act out the director's words, but live the lives of the characters.
Perhaps the most difficult roles to play were the documentary director and his wife. So this movie is an opportunity to see new faces of actors Jo Yeo-jeong and Jo In-sung.
The artistic and musical elements of this film raise not only immersion but also the enjoyment of watching and listening to a high level.
'Possible Love' was invited not only to the competition section of the Venice Film Festival, but also to the Special Presentation section of the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada and the Gala section of the British Film Institute (BFI) London Film Festival, and was also selected as an entry in the International Feature Film section of the American Academy Film Awards (Oscar Awards) next year.
When I watch Korean films submitted to competition at the world's leading film festivals, the question inevitably comes to mind: 'How will this film be viewed by foreign filmmakers and audiences?' The moment the ending credits started rolling, the answer to myself was, ‘We have such a master.’
In Korea, it will be released in select theaters on the 23rd, and on Netflix on November 6th.
