Lee Chang-dong returns to Venice with 'Possible Love,' a 164-minute reflection on labor, cinema and freedom

A master's return to the Lido

South Korean director Lee Chang-dong ended an eight-year filmmaking silence with the world premiere of "Possible Love" at the 83rd Venice Film Festival. The film was shown on the island of Lido on September 6 local time, running 164 minutes and following two intersecting couples as it probes the dignity and freedom people have lost in contemporary society. At an official press conference, Lee framed the project as an outgrowth of his "intense consideration of 'human relationships' — fundamentally severed after the COVID-19 pandemic — and cinema's role as a mediator," extending the social critique that shaped earlier works such as "Peppermint Candy," "Oasis" and "Secret Sunshine."

The director's stated starting point: a documentary about labor

Lee said the origin of "Possible Love" lay in the urgency to intervene in the social debate that arose after a strike by factory workers ended in a very violent police action, framing the film as a starting point about "simple appearance." A film director, working within a cinema-within-cinema framework, approaches laid-off workers to shoot what is intended to be a documentary, and the viewer is invited to witness the very construction of a film that doubles as the reconstruction of a specific event. From that premise, the film shifts into a sharp reflection on representation itself, weighing its emancipatory and submissive mechanisms and the hierarchy between creator and subject.

Class conflict as the emotional engine

The drama turns on the encounter between two couples: laid-off worker Ho-seok and his wife Mi-ok, and documentary filmmaker Ye-ji and her capitalist husband Sang-woo, whose off-kilter first meeting at a colleague's funeral leads to a stay at Sang-woo's private summer villa and sets off subtle discord. Mi-ok hums Shim Soo-bong's "Love Is All I Know" even as life betrays her, while Ho-seok radiates a desperate vitality; Ye-ji's blind devotion to her subjects and Sang-woo's desire to support his wife within "the logic of capital" heighten the tension. The collision of those two disparate worlds over 164 minutes is described as carrying a quiet yet explosive energy, with the film ultimately seeking to reach the point of "freedom."

Jeon Do-yeon and Seol Kyung-gu carry the weight

Starring Jeon Do-yeon and Seol Kyung-gu, with Jo Yeo-jeong and Jo In-sung rounding out the ensemble, "Possible Love" leans on performances that aim to transcend the limits of the acting aesthetic. Jeon and Seol are described as doing more than play their roles, breathing as the characters themselves, a craft consistent with the director's stated pursuit of characters who stumble and rise again amid structural contradictions and whose rough paths affirm the dignity inherent in human beings. The lead actors appeared alongside Lee on the red carpet at the Venice premiere, with Jeon signing autographs at the event.

A standout day on the Lido

Lee's film was grouped with two other European competition entries as a "dazzling day to remember at the Mostra," placing the Venice Film Festival at what reviewers called its best and most unforgettable moment. The other titles cited in the same day's lineup were Andrea Pallaoro's "The Echo Chamber," described as a heartbreaking tragedy of desire and dependency and presented with stars including Alicia Vikander, Susan Sarandon and Luca Marinelli, and Danish director May el-Toukhy's "Woman Unknown," which addresses the portrayal of collective guilt after World War II in Denmark.

Release path from Venice to Netflix

Following its Venice world premiere, "Possible Love" is scheduled to open in select theaters on September 23 and to arrive on Netflix on November 6. The film thereby moves from a festival showcase, where it serves as the vehicle for Lee's return to major international competition, into a wider theatrical window before transitioning to the platform.