Lee Chang-dong returns to Venice after 24 years with 'Possible Love'

Lee Chang-dong's 'Possible Love' invited to competition

Auteur cinema dominates as veteran directors return

Danny Boyle's 'Ink' opens festival; 21 films compete

Global stars including George Clooney set for red carpet

Director Lee Chang-dong's "Possible Love" [Netflix]

The Venice Film Festival, the oldest of the world's three major film festivals, opens its 83rd edition Wednesday (local time) in Venice, Italy. South Korea's veteran director Lee Chang-dong — known for "Peppermint Candy" (2000), "Oasis" (2002) and "Miryang" (2007) — enters the Golden Lion race with "Possible Love," his first film in eight years.

This year's festival is defined by the return of veteran directors who have long been absent from Venice, and by a pronounced tilt toward auteur cinema.

The 83rd Venice Film Festival runs through Sept. 12 — 11 days in all — at the Palazzo del Cinema on the Lido island, kicking off with an opening ceremony Wednesday evening.

The opening film is "Ink," the new work by Danny Boyle, director of "Trainspotting" (1996), "28 Days Later" (2002) and "Slumdog Millionaire" (2008). The film is set in 1969 and follows media mogul Rupert Murdoch and editor Larry Lamb as they launch the British tabloid The Sun.

The festival described it as "an explosive, rollercoaster film about a bunch of visionaries and mavericks who had an idea for a new kind of news."

Lee Chang-dong back in Venice competition: 'I'm curious to see the first reaction'

A man cleans a billboard bearing the logo of the 83rd Venice Film Festival on the Lido island. [AFP]

The undisputed highlight of this year's festival is Lee's return to the competition section. His latest film marks the first time a Lee Chang-dong work has competed at Venice since "Oasis" in 2002 — a gap of 24 years. For Korean cinema as a whole, it is the second consecutive year in the main competition, following Park Chan-wook's entry last year. Park had returned to the Venice competition for the first time in 13 years but did not take home an award.

"Possible Love" will have its world premiere Saturday at 7 p.m. (local time). The film follows two couples — a laid-off worker and his wife, and a documentary filmmaker and her husband — who meet during the making of a documentary and find themselves confronting each other's hidden desires. Long-time Lee collaborators Jeon Do-yeon and Sul Kyung-gu star alongside Jo In-sung and Jo Yeo-jeong.

"Possible Love" is a Netflix original, and the industry is watching closely as a test case for pairing a global streaming platform with art-house cinema. As the Korean film industry went through a slump and Lee struggled to secure adequate financing for a theatrical release, he accepted Netflix's backing from the earliest stages of production.

At a press event last month, Lee said he was eager to see how audiences would receive the film. "I'm curious about the first reaction — how people will take it," he said. "I have great expectations for how that initial response will carry across the world," he added, reflecting on the film's selection for the Venice competition.

Director Lee Chang-dong attends the press conference for the Netflix film "Possible Love" at Hotel Naru Seoul MGallery in Mapo-gu, Seoul, on Aug. 25. [Yonhap]

Kore-eda, Herzog, Moretti: veteran directors converge on Venice

A total of 21 films have been invited to this year's feature-length competition, including "Possible Love."

The lineup is stacked with anticipated titles. Alongside Boyle's opening film "Ink," highlights include Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda's "Look Back," a live-action adaptation of manga artist Tatsuki Fujimoto's "Chainsaw Man"; Martin McDonagh's "Wild Horse Nine"; "Bucking Fastard" by Werner Herzog, who received the festival's lifetime achievement award last year; "Succederà questa notte" by Nanni Moretti, who won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2001 for "The Son's Room"; and "Bunker," a psychological thriller directed by Florian Zeller. With so many new works from world-class directors gathered in one place, competition is expected to be fiercer than in any recent year.

Danny Boyle's "Ink" [83rd Venice Film Festival]

Florian Zeller's "Bunker" [83rd Venice Film Festival]

A particularly striking feature of this year's lineup is the dominance of auteur cinema — films defined by a director's personal vision rather than commercial appeal. Last year at Venice, Jim Jarmusch pulled off a surprise Golden Lion win with "Father Mother Sister Brother," a quietly observed portrait of emotional estrangement within a family. Ben Hania's documentary "The Voice of Hind Rajab" was also among the frontrunners, and films prioritizing artistic integrity stood out across the board.

Reuters noted that "Hollywood has taken a step back from Venice this year," adding that the lineup "marks a clear shift toward independent and auteur films, in contrast to the studio-driven selections of recent years."

However, the roster of stars expected to attend is shaping up to be more dazzling than ever. George Clooney, who will receive the festival's lifetime achievement award, leads a lineup that includes Robert Pattinson, the couple Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem, Alicia Vikander, Susan Sarandon, John Malkovich, Al Pacino, Oasis members Liam Gallagher and Noel Gallagher, and Russell Crowe.

A man walks past the Palazzo del Cinema in Venice, Italy. [Xinhua]

Actor and director Maggie Gyllenhaal serves as jury president for this year's competition. Best known for her role in Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight," she also has deep ties to Venice through her directorial debut, "The Lost Daughter." Joining her on the jury are Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania, French director Xavier Giannoli and Hong Kong director Johnnie To, among other filmmakers of diverse nationalities.

The winners of the 83rd Venice Film Festival will be announced on the closing evening of Sept. 12 and broadcast live on the festival's official YouTube channel.

balme@heraldcorp.com