'Possible Love' Unveiled at Venice to Seven-Minute Standing Ovation, Unanimous Critical Acclaim

World premiere at Venice draws rapturous response

Lee Chang-dong's return hailed by international press and critics

Time calls it a film with 'a gentle and generous spirit'

Director Lee Chang-dong and actors Sul Kyung-gu, Jeon Do-yeon, Jo Yeo-jeong and Jo In-sung pose on the red carpet for "Possible Love" at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Sunday (local time). [Reuters]

"On a night when Liam and Noel Gallagher ('Oasis: Knebworth 1996') had conquered Venice, Lee Chang-dong instantly restored the world's oldest film festival to its ideal atmosphere," the Hollywood Reporter wrote.

"Possible Love," director Lee Chang-dong's entry in the main competition at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, had its world premiere Sunday afternoon (local time) to a thunderous seven-minute standing ovation at the Sala Grande theater. The cast, sharing the moment with audiences around the world for the first time, responded to the outpouring with tearful applause of their own.

The Hollywood Reporter described the scene, noting that Lee "bowed his head and waved" as the ovation continued, and that "festival staff had to cut it short for the next screening, but the cheers were still warm."

The "first reaction" Lee had been most curious about ahead of Venice proved overwhelmingly positive. International outlets and critics have been unanimous in their praise for the master filmmaker and "Possible Love" — his return eight years after "Burning" (2018).

A still from "Possible Love." [Provided by Netflix]

"Possible Love" follows Ho-seok (Sul Kyung-gu), a laid-off worker, and his wife Mi-ok (Jeon Do-yeon), alongside Ye-ji (Jo Yeo-jeong), a documentary filmmaker who wants to capture their lives on film, and Ye-ji's wealthy husband Sang-u (Jo In-sung).

At Venice, Lee described the film as one that holds "questions about cinema itself, and about the fundamentally changing nature of human relationships." He said he wanted to explore how people should navigate a world in transformation — and to show that, at the core of it all, there is love.

Variety, under the headline "Beautifully Mature and Quietly Enormous Relationship Drama," called Lee "one of the greatest directors of our time," praising the film for seamlessly weaving the weighty themes of class and labor exploitation into a relationship drama, and for a narrative structure that strikes a perfect balance between surprise and inevitability.

"On the surface it's a drama following the relationship between two couples on opposite sides of a social divide, but each moment feels like it's telling you something you always knew but had never thought about," the outlet said. "The shimmering, resonant work he has crafted maps the landscape of human interaction with singular elegance, arriving at an ending that is both regretful and generous."

Director Lee Chang-dong poses on the red carpet for "Possible Love" at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival on Sunday (local time). [AP]

Time described "Possible Love" as a work that "tracks the ways people come to care for one another, platonically and romantically," calling it "a film about figuring out how to function in the world — one with a gentle and generous spirit."

The magazine noted that Lee drew deep inspiration from the final episode of Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski's 10-part TV film series "Dekalog" (1988) — the commandment "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods" — and said the film "explores the desperation that comes when we cannot meet our basic needs."

Time added that "Possible Love" may prove even more widely appealing than Lee's previous film "Burning" (2018), at a moment when more people around the world are anxious about holding onto stable jobs, even as a small number of individuals control most of the world's wealth. It called the film "altogether calm, bittersweet and graceful."

Deadline noted that the roughly three-hour running time "feels a bit long at times," but said the film "finds its focus in an almost hypnotic way" once the tensions between the two couples begin to surface.

Actor Jeon Do-yeon, who plays Mi-ok in "Possible Love," signs autographs for fans at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival. [Reuters]

Deadline noted that "Possible Love" can be placed alongside Bong Joon-ho's "Parasite" (2019) in its treatment of class conflict, but focused more on the film's own distinct message — an earnest longing for love and desire in a world made more fractured by the pandemic.

"As the lives of these two couples intersect across the divide between the wealthy and the struggling, human desire and the need for love emerge on multiple levels," Deadline said. "The class conflict and indifference toward workers depicted here are problems occurring not just in Korea but with increasing frequency around the world."

The Guardian said "'Possible Love' unfolds with confidence over three hours, depicting Mi-ok and Ho-seok's struggle to hold together their family's crumbling spirit," and noted that Lee "once again, following 'Burning,' explores the unsettling and mysterious terrain of class and desire."

The Guardian paid particular attention to what the film says about the nature of storytelling today. "The film asks how filmmakers steal the suffering of real people to create art, dehumanizing individuals in the process as ruthlessly as corporations and the wealthy do," it said, adding that the story ultimately builds to "a shocking exchange born of the characters' unspoken hostilities and covert desires."

The cast also drew widespread praise. Variety called Jeon Do-yeon's interpretation of her character "one of the most nuanced performances of the year," while Time said Sul Kyung-gu is "explosive — the aching heart of 'Possible Love.'"

Deadline said "every actor is so well cast that they perfectly embody the director's vision," while the Guardian called Jo Yeo-jeong's Ye-ji "the most compelling figure in the film" and praised Sul for delivering "a remarkable performance that adds new layers to the character of Ho-seok."

balme@heraldcorp.com