Actors Zo In-sung (from left) and Cho Yeo-jeong, director Lee Chang-dong and actor Sol Kyung-gu on Sept. 21 pose with the Grand Jury Prize (Silver Lion) trophy from this year's Venice International Film Festival at a media preview and news conference for the film "Possible Love" at the multiplex CGV Yongsan I-Park Mall in Seoul's Yongsan-gu District.

By Xu Aiying
Photos = Netflix

Director Lee Chang-dong has made a triumphant return after winning the Grand Jury Prize (Silver Lion) at this year's Venice Film Festival for his latest film "Possible Love."

At a media screening and news conference on Sept. 21 at the multiplex CGV Yongsan I-Park Mall in Seoul's Yongsan-gu District, Lee proudly held up his trophy.

"I'm delighted and honored," he said. "The award is just the result; what was far more important was how this film would be received after its release and the audience's first impressions."

"It's not an easy or provocative film, but I felt truly relieved and happy to see—through their expressions and demeanor—that the audience engaged with the questions the movie raises and the message it wants to convey."

Lee and and his cast Sol Kyung-gu, Zo In-sung and Cho Yeo-jeong attended the event. Actor Jeon Do-yeon, who is performing in the play "The Cherry Orchard" in New York, joined via videoconference.

Zo recalled an incident that grew into a hot topic at the Venice festival when foreign reporters asked for Lee's autograph.

"It was an official news conference so the atmosphere was solemn, but I was taken aback when foreign correspondents flocked to the podium," Zo said. "This year, I was lucky enough to attend both the Cannes Film Festival and Venice, but I didn't experience this scene at Cannes."

"I was delighted and grateful to see director Lee and the prestige of Korean films recognized in Venice."

Director Lee Chang-dong on Sept. 21 answers questions at a media screening and news conference for his film "Possible Love" at the multiplex CGV Yongsan I-Park Mall in Seoul's Yongsan-gu District.

"Possible Love" uses laid-off workers and class conflict as its central themes to evoke questions on human relationships, capital, and the ethics and attitudes of filmmakers.

Ho-seok (played by Sol), who recently got laid off from a corporation, and his wife Mi-ok (Jeon) cross paths with Ye-ji (Cho), a director who interviews the couple for a documentary she is making, and her wealthy husband Sang-woo (Zo). Each harbors unmet needs and desires and covet the other's life.

Ye-ji is portrayed as seeking independence from her husband's wealth but cannot break free.

"I wonder if as a film director, I'm also living a life where I'm also married to capital," Lee said. "I wanted to ask if it's truly possible—even within the constraints faced by creators who cannot tell their stories without capital—to genuinely love others instead of exploiting their suffering as mere material."

Scenes from "Possible Love"

The actors said that in portraying characters with different circumstances, they reflected on how capital and class influenced them.

"With his sense of self completely shattered, he likely harbored a complex mix of emotions like shame, guilt, anger and an inferiority complex," Sol said about his character. "I kept in mind the sense of intimidation and aversion he felt when meeting the affluent Sang-woo and his wife."

"Money and social class can undermine a person's values and strip them of their self-worth," Jeon added. "Mi-ok is someone who strives to protect her own worth and her family from that."

"I believe that the audience is what ultimately completes a film," the director said ahead of his work's premiere. "I hope that our movie can live on with even greater strength and meaning among its viewers."

Netflix will release "Possible Love" worldwide on Nov. 6.

xuaiy@korea.kr