Lee Chang-dong's 'Possible Love' Rated Restricted; Running Time Is 164 Minutes

Director Lee Chang-dong's new film "Possible Love" has received a Restricted rating.

The Korea Media Rating Board announced that "Possible Love" "deals with the lives, loss, trauma, recovery of human relationships, and love of laid-off workers, and directly depicts physical exposure and sexual acts in a sexual context. It has been given a Restricted rating due to its sexual content."

"Possible Love" tells the story of a laid-off working-class couple and a wealthy female documentary director and her husband who meet to produce a documentary. It stars Jeon Do-yeon, Sul Kyung-gu, Zo In-sung, and Cho Yeo-jeong. It is the first new film in eight years from director Lee Chang-dong, who made "Green Fish", "Peppermint Candy", "Oasis", "Secret Sunshine", "Poetry", and "Burning", and is drawing intense interest from the domestic and international film industries.

This is the fifth time a film by director Lee Chang-dong has received a Restricted rating. His debut film "Green Fish", along with "Peppermint Candy", "Oasis", and "Burning", were all rated Restricted, while "Poetry" was released with a 15-and-over rating.

With a running time of 164 minutes and 2 seconds, it is the longest among director Lee Chang-dong's films. Director Lee has long contemplated life and humanity through his signature deep cinematic grammar. His new work is also expected to deliver a heavy story and message with its grand running time.

While "Possible Love" was initially developed with a theatrical release in mind, it faced investment difficulties and ultimately partnered with Netflix. However, because it was not made under the strict premise of a theatrical release, it clearly has the advantage of being less restricted by running time constraints.

In an unusual move for a Korean-produced Netflix film, "Possible Love" will be released in theaters first before being made available on the streaming platform. It will screen in theaters for about two weeks in the third quarter of this year before being released in 180 countries worldwide via Netflix.

This is both a gesture of respect for the master filmmaker, who has dedicated his career to theatrical cinema, and a strategic move to qualify for the Best International Feature Film category (formerly Best Foreign Language Film) at next year's Academy Awards. To be submitted for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, a movie must first be released in its country of origin and then screen in commercial theaters for at least seven consecutive days.

In addition, "Possible Love" has reportedly been submitted to the Venice International Film Festival. Unlike the Cannes Film Festival, which bans streaming-only films from competition, the Venice Film Festival has kept its doors open to OTT films. Director Alfonso Cuarón's Netflix film "Roma" competed at the 2018 Venice International Film Festival and won the Golden Lion, the festival's top prize. Director Lee Chang-dong has a special connection with the festival, having won the Silver Lion for Best Direction for "Oasis" in 2002.

As the release of the new work by the master representing Korean cinema approaches, anticipation among domestic audiences is rising. Although it is director Lee Chang-dong's first streaming film, the fact that it can be seen in theaters first is also welcome news for moviegoers.

 

Reported by Kim Ji-hye
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.