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Acclaimed South Korean director Lee Chang-dong returned after 24 years to the Venice Film Festival, where he was warmly embraced with a 6-minute standing ovation for his romantic drama “Possible Love.”
Directed by Lee
and co-written by Oh Jung-mi, “Possible Love” follows the intertwined lives of two married couples whose lives intersect after a funeral. The movie brings together familiar faces from the director’s prior work, including Jeon Do-yeon (“Secret Sunshine”), Sul Kyung-gu (“Peppermint Candy”), Zo In-sung (“Escape From Mogadishu”) and Cho Yeo-jeong (“Parasite”).
As the credits rolled and the lights came up in the Sala Grande theater, the cast started to sob and wiped away tears with napkins. They took turns hugging each other and giggling at their emotional response to the audience’s enthusiasm for the film. The claps and cheers would have possibly continued a lot longer, but at the six-minute mark, the actors and director were guided toward the exit and headed out of the Palazzo del Cinema.
“I’m not the type of filmmaker who can make movies easily,” Lee said previously of the lengthy gap between projects. “Before I begin a film, I must be certain of what it means — to me, to the audience, and to cinema itself. That is why ‘Possible Love’ took so long to make.”
“Possible Love” marks Lee’s return to Venice competition in nearly a quarter-century, following his Silver Lion win for “Oasis” in 2002. This is the director’s first feature film in eight years, since 2018’s psychological thriller “Burning.” His other major works include “Green Fish,” “Peppermint Candy,” “Secret Sunshine” and “Poetry.”
Netflix is releasing “Possible Love,” which is making stops at Toronto and New York film festivals ahead of its theatrical rollout. The movie opens on the big screen in the U.S. on Oct. 23 before streaming globally on Nov. 6. Netflix opened this year’s Venice Film Festival with director Danny Boyle’s “Ink,” an explosive drama about the rise of Rupert Murdoch’s tabloid empire.
