Award-winning film Possible Love ‘about structural societal issues in Korea’
The movie directed by Lee Chang-dong has been selected as South Korea’s entry for Best International Feature Film at next year’s Academy Awards.
South Korean director Lee Chang-dong has said one of the characters in his latest film was inspired by his own experiences as a filmmaker.
Possible Love, which won the Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Venice Film Festival, explores the intertwined lives of two married couples: a laid-off worker and his wife, and a documentary filmmaker and her wealthy husband.
Lee’s first feature film in eight years stars Parasite actress Cho Yeo-jeong as Lee Ye-ji, alongside Zo In-sung as her husband, Sang-woo. Secret Sunshine actress Jeon Do-yeon plays Ahn Mi-ok, while Sul Kyung-gu portrays her laid-off husband, Choi Ho-seok.
The film examines the fine line between friendship and exploitation, while addressing wider structural inequalities in South Korean society.
Speaking to the Press Association during the London Film Festival, Lee said Ye-ji’s character, a documentary filmmaker making a film about laid-off workers, was partly inspired by his own experiences in the film industry.
“The character is someone who is very close to my own identity as a filmmaker,” said the 72-year-old.
“Ye-ji represents filmmakers and all storytellers who try to tell other people’s stories as if they were their own, and who seek to convey the pain and experiences of others.
“She tries to portray their lives, genuinely befriend them and even love them. But through the sceptical eyes of someone like Sang-woo, her actions may seem unrealistic, or simply a form of method acting.
“Even so, I don’t think those efforts are meaningless. The attempt to engage with other people’s stories and their pain, to love them and to tell their stories as if they were your own, has value, even if some people see it as hypocrisy or a kind of method acting.”
A number of Korean films have in recent years explored the class divide and laid-off workers, such as the Oscar winning Parasite and Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice.
Lee said: “I don’t know if I can speak for other filmmakers or tell them how they should approach their work. But for me, I think I must always ask myself what stories are most meaningful to my audience, what is significant and relevant to both my audience and myself, and what matters to the film itself.
“These are questions I constantly ask myself and struggle with, and I would say Possible Love is the result of that process.
“It’s true that, like Parasite and No Other Choice, my film also deals with issues of class division. However, I wanted to broaden the discussion and explore these issues more deeply, perhaps from a different perspective.”
Kyung-gu, 59, who has worked with Lee before on the 1999 film Peppermint Candy, said that while the film is set in South Korea, anyone can relate to it.
“The story begins with the structural issues in South Korean society and how they affect individuals and their families,” he said.
“However, as I attend international film festivals around the world and take part in interviews, I get the sense that, regardless of nationality or where people come from, many can relate to Ho-seok and his story.
“I believe his story has the power to resonate with audiences across different countries and cultures. After this film, I hope many more stories like this will emerge.”
Possible Love is available to stream on Netflix from Friday.