Director reflects on the limits of empathy as Netflix drama "Possible Love" sets its sights on the Academy Awards
"The more I made films, the more I realized how hard it is to truly connect with another person," Lee Chang-dong said as he accepted the TIFF Ebert Director Award in Toronto, in remarks from the ceremony revealed by Netflix on Wednesday.
"In an age when AI is taking the place of people, and people themselves seem to be losing their sense of self, I believe cinema still needs to talk about the people we can't quite reach. 'Possible Love' was a small attempt at that."
The 72-year-old auteur had just received the honor at the festival's Tribute Awards gala on Sunday at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel. Named after the late American critic Roger Ebert, the award recognizes pionerring filmmakers who have brought an original vision to the screen.
The honor puts Lee alongside the likes of Chloe Zhao, Denis Villeneuve, Sam Mendes, Spike Lee, Mike Leigh and last year's honoree, Guillermo del Toro. Three of them have won the Oscar for best director: del Toro for "The Shape of Water," Zhao for "Nomadland" and Mendes for "American Beauty."
Presenting the award to Lee was Sul Kyung-gu, who was a relative unknown until the director cast him in the lead role in "Peppermint Candy" (1999). That movie made Sul an instant star, and the two teamed up again three years later on "Oasis" and now, 23 years after that, on "Possible Love."
"He hasn't changed one bit," the actor said of Lee during a Q&A following the film's screening on Monday. "I kept trying to get back to who I was 23 years ago, and found myself missing those days."
Toronto was the latest stop in what has been a remarkable couple of weeks for the director.
"Possible Love," his first film in eight years, about two couples at opposite ends of Korea's class ladder, premiered to rave reviews at the Venice Film Festival and won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize on Saturday.
The film had its North American premiere in Toronto on Monday, and Lee is set to receive the Auteur Award at the Mill Valley Film Festival in Northern California in October.
While Lee has never had a mainstream crossover hit on the order of Bong Joon-ho's "Parasite" or Park Chan-wook's "Oldboy," his restrained, novelistic dramas about ordinary working people have been a constant presence on the festival circuit. Venice previously handed him the Silver Lion for best director in 2002 for "Oasis."
At Cannes, Jeon Do-yeon won best actress in 2007 for her lead role in "Secret Sunshine." "Poetry" won best screenplay three years later and "Burning" took home the critics' prize in 2018.
The Oscars are the one big stage Lee has yet to reach, and eyes are now on whether "Possible Love" will finally put him in the running.
A spot in the best director race isn't entirely out of reach for Lee, given the honor from Toronto on top of the Venice prize. The more realistic target for now, however, seems to be the best international feature, where the film has been submitted as Korea's official entry.
To qualify for best international feature, the Academy requires a film to play for at least seven consecutive days in a commercial theater in its home country. Netflix has set a limited theatrical run for "Possible Love" in Korea from Sept. 23 ahead of the film's Nov. 6 global launch on the streamer, getting it in just ahead of the Academy's Sept. 30 cutoff for qualifying releases.
Three of Lee's earlier works have been Korea's submission to the category. Only "Burning" made the shortlist in 2018.
If "Possible Love" makes it, it will be up against a field that tends to lean heavily European despite some breakthroughs from Asian cinema of late.
The last two Asian films to take home the prize also managed to break into the major categories. "Parasite" swept four Oscars in 2020, including best picture, best director and original screenplay, while "Drive My Car" was nominated for best picture, director and adapted screenplay two years later.
Among this year's likely contenders are "La Bola Negra," the best director winner at Cannes that Spain chose as its entry, and "Woman Unknown," Danish-Egyptian director May El-Toukhy's drama that beat "Possible Love" to the Golden Lion at Venice and qualifies automatically under new Academy rules.
moonkihoon@heraldcorp.com
