A Deep Dive Into ‘Possible Love’: Lee Chang-dong on His Searingly Acted Study of Class and Filmmaking
Lee Chang-dong’s Possible Love marks the acclaimed Korean director’s first film in eight years and explores class division, job insecurity and the ethics of representing suffering on screen. Developed over a decade, the drama follows two couples whose lives intersect after one is devastated by mass redundancies, using a filmmaker character to examine both contemporary resentment and the responsibility of artists.
Sul Kyung-gu plays Ho-seok, a traumatised laid-off worker, opposite Jeon Do-yeon as his optimistic wife Mi-ok; Cho Yeo-jeong and Zo In-sung play a documentary filmmaker and her wealthy husband. Inspired by labour protests and violent state repression in Korea, the film will premiere at Venice, open in US cinemas through Netflix on 23 October and begin streaming on 6 November; it is also South Korea’s Oscar submission for best international feature.
In short
- Lee Chang-dong returns with a class-conscious relationship drama.
- The film examines layoffs, inequality and filmmaking ethics.
- Possible Love premieres at Venice before its Netflix release.
Explained simply
South Korea has a large gap between secure, well-paid work and jobs that can disappear with little warning. When companies make mass redundancies, workers and their families can face financial strain as well as a loss of identity and trust. Labour protests over such decisions have sometimes met a forceful response from the state.
Lee Chang-dong is a South Korean filmmaker whose work often examines social pressures and personal choices. In this drama, one couple faces the effects of job losses, while another includes a documentary maker and her wealthy husband. Their intersecting lives raise questions about how people from different classes understand one another.
The story also considers what happens when artists film other people’s hardship: whether showing suffering can help audiences understand it, and what responsibilities filmmakers have towards those they portray. These concerns connect the characters’ private decisions to wider debates about work, inequality and representation.
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