Director Lee Chang-dong has shared his views on the ethics of creators, which is one of the key themes of his film "Possible Love".
Attending a press conference for "Possible Love" held at CGV Yongsan in Seoul on the afternoon of September 21, Director Lee candidly addressed the issue of creator ethics, reflected in the film's character Yeji, saying, "It is difficult to tell you what kind of standards I have, because I myself do not know where a creator should draw the line."
He went on to explain the background of how the film began, why it was halted, and the process by which it was resumed.
Director Lee stated, "I was deeply shocked when events like mass layoffs, strikes, and forced suppression by a major conglomerate broke out a decade or so ago. Of course, this was a shock not just to me, but to Korean society as a whole." He added, "I wanted to tell this story, so I started preparing for it. Then I dropped it. That was because I lacked confidence in my own answers to questions such as, 'Do I have the right to tell that story honestly?' and 'How close am I to them?'"
He added that he decided to take on the project again as perspectives on "labor" itself were shifting. Director Lee shared, "As a long time passed and we reached a situation where the issue of labor was no longer just about simple strikes and layoffs, but a fundamental shift in the perspective on labor itself, I was finally able to retell this story when the story of a documentary filmmaker couple came into play. I thought that through the identity of the documentary director Yeji, I could tell my own story. Rather than just telling their story [the laid-off worker couple], I thought that by combining it with my own story, I could discuss to some extent my ethical issues or the issue of my attitude as a filmmaker."
Previously, in his acceptance speech for the Silver Lion at the Venice International Film Festival, Director Lee revealed, "I pondered on how to portray the pain of others in a movie." He confessed candidly that while such contemplation remains ongoing, he has yet to reach a conclusion.
Continuing his cautious remarks, Director Lee said, "For creators like me, the fundamental question is 'How much can I tell their story truly as them?'" He added, "Whether we can properly tell their stories without consuming them is a question I have carried throughout my life. It is a question to which I still haven't easily found an answer."
He explained that he sought to capture these concerns and attitudes in "Yeji," a character reflecting himself. Director Lee remarked, "I don't think Yeji's attitude in the film unilaterally uses and exploits the subjects. In a way, Yeji is the character closest to me as a filmmaker. Most of the lives and stories of the people I target when making films contain pain, because that is what makes a story. However, finding the boundary between whether that pain is simply consumed as material for cinematic narrative or whether it is discussed and conveyed alongside something else is extremely difficult. Just as Yeji lives with a husband who has capital and struggles to become independent while receiving production support, yet cannot escape the absolute power of her husband's capital, I am the same. It is also an inescapable destiny that artists and creators cannot tell their own stories without the help of capital."
He further noted, "Even amidst that, there must be a heart that genuinely and truly tries to love without preying on someone else's pain or exploiting it as one's own," adding, "I think we have no choice but to ask the question of whether it is truly possible to actually try to love, rather than just acting it out through method acting."
"Possible Love" tells the story of two couples—a laid-off worker and his wife, and a documentary director and her husband—who meet to produce a documentary and confront each other's different lives and hidden desires. Starting from the story of a laid-off worker, the film expands its scope beyond labor issues to class divides and creator ethics, offering a glimpse into the deep and broad perspective of a master.
Having won the Silver Lion (Grand Jury Prize) at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, "Possible Love" is set to open in select theaters on September 23 before being released on Netflix on November 6.
(SBS Entertainment News, reporter Kim Ji-hye)
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