Lee Chang-dong's "Possible Love" Wins Silver Lion at Venice, Reunites Sul Kyung-gu and Jeon Do-yeon
Lee Chang-dong's latest film, his first since "Burning" (2018), debuted at the Venice International Film Festival, where it was awarded the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize. Co-written with Oh Jung-mi, the narrative unfolds in a town that experienced a severe workforce reduction of forty percent by SP Heavy Industries two years earlier, resulting in a harsh strike. Choi Ho-seok (Sul Kyung-gu), a welder, has found new employment, while his wife Mi-ok (Jeon Do-yeon) is employed at a mask factory; they have a son named Cheol. During a memorial for a colleague who took his own life, they encounter documentarian Lee Ye-ji (Cho Yeo-jeong). Mi-ok consents to an interview, with flashbacks complicating the narrative's ownership. The film is inspired by a 2009 restructuring in Korea's automotive sector.
Key facts
- "Possible Love" is Lee Chang-dong's first feature since "Burning" (2018)
- The film won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize at the Venice International Film Festival
- Lee wrote the script with Oh Jung-mi
- SP Heavy Industries laid off forty per cent of its workforce, prompting a strike that was brutally suppressed
- Sul Kyung-gu plays welder Choi Ho-seok and Jeon Do-yeon plays his wife Mi-ok
- Cho Yeo-jeong plays documentary filmmaker Lee Ye-ji; Zo In-sung plays her husband Sang-woo
- Kim Ji-yong is the cinematographer
- The story draws on a 2009 automaker restructuring in Korea that threatened thousands of layoffs
- Sul and Jeon previously played a couple in "I Wish I Had a Wife" and "Birthday"
- Sul starred in "Peppermint Candy" (1999) and Jeon in "Secret Sunshine" (2010), both directed by Lee
Entities
Artists
- Lee Chang-dong
- Oh Jung-mi
- Sul Kyung-gu
- Jeon Do-yeon
- Cho Yeo-jeong
- Zo In-sung
- Kim Ji-yong
- Bong Joon Ho
- Jo In-sung
- Krzysztof Kieślowski
- Park Chan-wook
- Steve Jobs
- Jung Seop
Institutions
- SP Heavy Industries
- Venice International Film Festival
- The New Yorker
- London Film Festival
- Netflix
Locations
- South Korea
- Korea
- Venice
- Italy
- London
- United Kingdom