The South Korean director's long-awaited return, starring Jeon Do-yeon and Cho Yeo-jeong, premieres on Netflix after winning the Silver Lion at Venice.
The Ghost in the Trees
Lee Chang-dong’s return to filmmaking after an eight-year silence arrives with quiet intensity. 'Possible Love,' his latest drama, will stream on Netflix starting November 6, following its Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize win at the Venice Film Festival. The film, which centers on two couples from opposing economic worlds, is South Korea’s official submission for the International Feature Oscar.
Cinematographer Kim Ji-yong, known for his work on 'Decision to Leave' and 'Squid Game' Season 2, detailed the painstaking effort behind the film’s visual language during a masterclass at the Busan International Film Festival. The climax, set in a still forest by the sea, was originally written without wind. But when real summer storms hit the location, the team didn’t just wait — they created their own.
With crew members tying ropes to trees and shaking them manually, the production engineered wind where none existed. "The film ghost did not appear," Kim said. "But our staff ghosts on set created this." It was one of the most memorable moments of his two-decade career.
Light, Location, and Limits
Every frame of 'Possible Love' was built around natural light. Day scenes used film fixtures only where sunlight fell short. Night sequences relied on streetlamps and existing ambient sources. The team even designed Sang-woo’s vacation home from scratch over two months, down to window orientation and size, based on a real estate YouTube video Lee found.
"This is the one where we worried, debated and planned the most," Kim said. "To make it appear that way, you need calculation beyond belief."
The handheld camera style, used throughout except for two dialogue scenes, kept the distance between viewer and character intimate but never intrusive. "Too close feels exaggerated. Too far feels like peeping," Kim explained.
Blurring the Lines
The film features footage from a documentary made by one of the characters, Ye-ji. Instead of sharply distinguishing it from the main narrative, Kim and Lee chose to blur the boundary. "Is making that distinction really necessary?" Kim asked. "We decided not to set it in stone."
As the film progresses, shots from the documentary team’s cameras become indistinguishable from the main cinematography. "It was an intuitive sense that it felt right," he said.
Kim hasn’t given up on the elusive film ghost. "If I get another chance to work with the director in the future, I hope we can definitely meet it then," he added.
The film screens in BIFF’s Icons section before its global Netflix rollout. No Indian release date has been announced yet.
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