It’s been eight years since Lee Chang-dong‘s previous film, “Burning,” wowed audiences at the Cannes Film Festival and won the FIPRESCI International Critics’ Prize. Will the South Korean director’s latest, titled “Possible Lives,” also win a prize when it has its world premiere at Venice next month?
Don’t be surprised if it does, or if “Possible Lives” wins the top prize, the Golden Lion, altogether. That’s because Lee Chang-dong’s features an ensemble of South Korea’s most notable current acting talent in a film that may be the most multivalent look at the country’s society and class relationships of the director’s career. Read on for an official synopsis for the movie, courtesy of Netflix:
Possible Love follows the intertwined relationship of two married couples facing different paths and hidden desires. Mi-ok (Jeon Do-yeon) lives quietly with her laid-off husband Ho-seok (Sul Kyung-gu) and their young son Cheol until a funeral brings them into the orbit of Ye-ji (Cho Yeo-jeong), a documentary filmmaker chronicling laid-off workers, and her husband Sang-woo (Zo In-sung) — a couple whose affluent lifestyle stands in sharp contrast to their own. When Mi-ok agrees to be filmed, she grows close to Ye-ji, and finds herself uneasily drawn to the unreadable Sang-woo. As their worlds collide, fractures begin to appear in their daily existence.
“Possible Love” stars Jeon Do-yeon, Sul Kyung-gu, Zo In-sung, and Cho Yeo-jeong.
Along with directing, Lee Chang-dong also co-writes “Possible Love” with Oh Jung-mi. Production companies on the film include Pinehouse Film Co., Ltd., Anonymous Content, LLC, and NOWFILM Co., Ltd.
“Possible Love” hits select theaters on October 26 before it streams exclusively on Netflix on November 6. Watch the trailer below. Also, stay tuned for The Playlist’s coverage of the film out of Venice next weekend, when it’ll become clear if Lee Chang-dong’s film, South Korea’s entry for the Best International Feature Film Oscar, may be at the Academy Awards this awards season (something “Burning” astonishingly didn’t achieve).
