Sul Kyung-gu, Jeon Do-yeon, Jo In-sung, Cho Yeo-jeong Unpack Desire in Lee Chang-dong's 'Possible Love'

Director Lee Chang-dong is back after eight years, and he returns with one of Korean cinema's strongest ensembles alongside him. His new film "Possible Love" runs 164 minutes and follows two married couples as each character quietly reaches for something they do not have. The film opens with the line "Do not covet what belongs to others."

A press screening was held Sept. 21 at CGV Yongsan I'Park Mall in Seoul's Yongsan district. Lee attended alongside actors Sul Kyung-gu, Jo In-sung and Cho Yeo-jeong. Jeon Do-yeon joined the press conference via video call from an overseas schedule.

"Possible Love" centers on two couples who meet through a documentary project and slowly confront the desires they have kept hidden. Ho-seok (Sol Kyung-gu), a laid-off worker, and his wife Mi-ok (Jeon Do-yeon) come into the orbit of documentary director Ye-ji (Cho Yeo-jeong) and her husband Sang-woo (Jo In-sung). The film won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival and the Ebert Director Award at the 51st Toronto International Film Festival.

Lee said he was "happy and honored" by the Silver Lion, but added that "how audiences receive this film matters much more." He continued, "This is not an easy or flashy film, but I felt grateful that audiences understood what the film was trying to say and responded to it."

Asked what he wanted to say through the work, Lee said, "The reality we live in hides many complicated layers, and I wanted to open those up with the audience." He added, "In one way, it looks like a story about a laid-off worker, or a story about class conflict. It can also be read as a question about the ethics and attitude of filmmakers, or as a story about the relationships between people."

Sol Kyung-gu plays Ho-seok, whose layoff leaves him carrying shame, guilt, anger and a deep private wound. "Ho-seok is a man who feels inferior to Sang-woo," Sol said.

Sol has been open about how much the film means to him. He teared up at the official Venice screening, drawing attention at the festival. "When I saw the audience applauding, I felt a lot of things at once," he recalled. "Everything we shot in Goheung flashed by like a panorama. That is when I broke down." He added with a smile, "Jo In-sung cried with me, and that was a comfort."

Jeon Do-yeon plays Mi-ok, Ho-seok's wife. She described the character as "a woman trying to protect her family's worth and her own against class and money." "Possible Love" is her reunion with Lee 19 years after "Secret Sunshine."

She said Lee rarely called "OK" on set during "Secret Sunshine." "I always thought a director was someone who had the answers, and back then I felt he was not giving me one," Jeon said. "I was not married and did not have a child yet, so I had a lot of doubt about the role. That is why the shoot was hard for me."

This time was different. "On this film, he called OK without hesitation," she said. "I went in expecting the work to be tough again, but the set was so comfortable it almost felt healing. It surprised me."

Cho Yeo-jeong plays Ye-ji, a director making a documentary about workers. "For Ye-ji, marrying Sang-woo, who could give her financial stability, was the biggest choice of her life," Cho said.

On the surface Ye-ji lives a wealthy, settled life, but she begins to feel her own emptiness as she watches Ho-seok and Mi-ok. "I played her thinking about the emptiness in her relationship with Sang-woo, and about a woman who has not yet found herself," Cho said. "Watching Ho-seok and Mi-ok, she realizes that a full life and a fullfilling relationship are not always tied to financial security."

Jo In-sung plays Sang-woo, Ye-ji's husband, who grew up with money and quietly supports his wife as she films her documentary about laid-off workers. "I thought a lot about how people who have something in today's society are actually close to us, beyond the older image of the capitalist," Jo said. "I tried to show a new kind of wealthy character."

"Possible Love" opens in select theaters on Sept. 23 and arrives on Netflix on Nov. 6. It will also be screened at next month's Busan International Film Festival.