Un amor posible, Digi Mart USA News: The South Korean film Un amor posible marks the return of filmmaker Lee Chang-dong to directing after eight years away from the screen. The production reached Netflix after winning the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival and securing South Korea’s representation for the Academy Awards.
The film’s path to the global screen was marked by serious financial difficulties in its home country. After returning a state subsidy of 1.5 billion won when it could not attract private investors to complete the 8 billion won budget, the director turned to the streaming platform, which guaranteed him full artistic autonomy.
Inspired by real incidents of mass layoffs in South Korea’s automotive industry, the story contrasts two married couples from opposite socioeconomic worlds. It follows Mi-ok and her unemployed husband Ho-seok, who agree to be filmed by Ye-ji, a well-off filmmaker making a documentary about labor struggles with her wealthy spouse Sang-woo.
As filming progresses, living together reveals repressed tensions and a hidden attraction between the characters. Reflecting on how human relationships have changed during his absence from cinemas, Lee Chang-dong said: “I felt that our lives were changing rapidly in the eight years since Burning.”
The cast includes central figures of Asian cinema such as Jeon Do-yeon and Sol Kyung-gu, along with Cho Yeo-jeong and Jo In-sung. Despite the story’s emotional complexity, Jeon Do-yeon praised the atmosphere on set, saying “the laughter never stopped, in an astonishing way.”
With outstanding critical reception at international festivals, the film reflects on the dignity of workers in the face of deep contemporary economic inequality. For its director, the film’s central search goes beyond material structures, affirming that “what allows humans to transcend life is the thought of freedom in our hearts.”
