Lee Chang-dong's 'Possible Love' Tops Venice Reviews — SkimNews
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- Lee Chang-dong premiered "Possible Love" at Venice on Sunday — his first film since 2018's Cannes winner "Burning," dedicated to Krzysztof Kieślowski and released globally by Netflix.
- "Possible Love" earned the best reviews of the Venice competition so far, matched only by Rachel Szor and Yuval Abraham's genocide documentary "NAZA," following two couples whose lives entangle during a documentary about laid-off Korean workers.
- Jeon Do-yeon plays Mi-ok, a mask-factory introvert supporting a jobless, traumatized husband — a performance the source describes as "a kaleidoscope of emotions" that includes a nude beach scene where her character uses "the whole entirety of her body" to protest capitalism.
- Jeon Do-yeon became the first Korean actor to win Best Actress at Cannes in 2007 for Lee's "Secret Sunshine" and could repeat the feat at Venice — or see the film take an even bigger prize like the Golden Lion.
- Netflix plans to campaign "Possible Love" in multiple Oscar categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay (shared with "Burning" scribe Oh Jung-mi), Best Actress, and Best International Feature.
- Lee Chang-dong's directorial method involves no required viewing and minimal rehearsal — he tells actors "Don't act. Just speak the words as if you're in character," and asks them to treat every take as the first.
Why it matters: The film marks Netflix's bid for a Best Picture slot with a deliberately unflashy Korean labor drama — far from an obvious international contender — while Jeon Do-yeon emerges as a live Best Actress candidate whose prior Cannes win for Lee's "Secret Sunshine" gives the campaign a track record to lean on.
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