The Korean maestro’s first movie since ‘Burning’ reunites him with stars Jeon Do-yeon and Sul Kyung-gu and arrives as Korea’s international Oscar submission and Netflix's leading awards contender.
One night after Liam and Noel Gallagher conquered Venice with rockstar swagger and 90s nostalgia, Korean auteur Lee Chang-dong swiftly restored the atmosphere at the world’s oldest film festival to its usual, ideal tenor — feverish discussions of the immaculate craft and powerful import of a potential cinematic masterpiece.
Lee’s latest searing drama Possible Love, his first since Burning in 2018, premiered to a rapturous seven-minute standing ovation inside Venice’s Sala Grande cinema Sunday evening. And the film’s first wave of reviews — released by the trades just as the screening was getting underway — also appear to comprise a unanimous rave.
Possible Love reunites Lee — South Korea’s reigning auteur’s auteur — with two of his most gifted early collaborators. The film stars Jeon Do-yeon, who won Cannes’ best actress prize as the shattered lead of Secret Sunshine in 2007, and Sul Kyung-gu, the unforgettable face of the director’s early masterpieces Peppermint Candy (1999) and Oasis (2002). They are joined by rising star Zo In-sung (Hope, Moving) and Cho Yeo-jeong, best known globally as the gullible rich wife of Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite.
