Lee Chang-dong’s Venice prize winner picks up early nominations as Oscar talk grows
Jeon Do-yeon’s awards season seems to be off to a strong start.
The veteran Korean actor earned a nomination for outstanding lead performance at the Gotham Awards on Wednesday, one of three nods for Lee Chang-dong’s “Possible Love.”
The Netflix-backed film made the cut for best international feature and best original screenplay, which Lee shares with co-writer Oh Jung-mi.
Jeon is the only Korean performer nominated in this year’s acting races. The lead performance category, which does not separate actors by gender, includes Mahershala Ali (“Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother”), Gillian Anderson (“Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma”), Julianne Moore (“The Debut”), Ian McKellen (“The Christophers”) and John Malkovich (“Wild Horse Nine”).
The long-awaited return of the director behind “Secret Sunshine” and “Burning” follows two couples, one working-class and the other wealthy, whose paths cross during a documentary shoot. Jeon plays the wife of a laid-off factory worker (Sul Kyung-gu) who agrees to tell the family’s story on camera.
As the earliest major event of the awards season, the Gothams are widely seen as a bellwether for the Oscars. Last year’s top nominee, Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another,” went on to win best picture the following year.
Park Chan-wook’s “No Other Choice” also picked up three nominations that year, including one for star Lee Byung-hun, who later earned a Golden Globe nomination for the role.
“Possible Love” premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September to strong reviews. It went on to win the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize, the festival’s second-highest honor.
Since then, the film has emerged as one of the top contenders for best international feature at next year's Oscars, where it has been submitted as Korea’s official entry.
Much of that buzz has centered on Jeon’s lead performance, which many viewers described as layered and deeply affecting. Jeon had previously won best actress at Cannes in 2007 for Lee’s “Secret Sunshine.”
Awards watchers have suggested that the role puts her in real contention for a best actress nomination at the Oscars. If that happens, she would become the first South Korean performer to ever compete in that category.
“Possible Love” begins streaming on Netflix on Nov. 6. The winners of this year’s Gotham Awards will be announced on Nov. 30.
moonkihoon@heraldcorp.com
