The Breadwinner Devoured by Capital, but Love Remains Unconquered [Slate]

"Possible Love" by Director Lee Chang-dong
A Capitalist Gradually Usurps the Laid-off Worker's Role
An Incomplete Attempt at Conquest, Unable to Swallow Love

Still cut from the movie 'Possible Love'.

Modern capitalism substitutes a man's value of existence with his economic utility. When a man loses his labor power, he forfeits more than just his wages—he is also forced to relinquish patriarchal authority and masculinity. Director Lee Chang-dong's film "Possible Love" starkly exposes this brutal reality where capital threatens the status of the family breadwinner. Through the physical and psychological downfall suffered by the laid-off worker Hoseok (played by Sol Kyunggu), and the gradual usurpation of his place by the capitalist Sangwoo (played by Zo In-sung), the film demonstrates how immense capital deprives the lower class of its power.

Immediately after being laid off from SP Heavy Industries, Hoseok begins to suffer from panic disorder, losing all control over his body. He can only fall asleep with the help of strong liquor, and his body has long since lost the strength to protect his family. Memories of being trampled by the special police unit have trapped both his body and mind in a perpetual state of defeat. His sense of loss manifests as inferiority and self-destructive rage. He tails a former coworker who managed to avoid dismissal and observes him buying a birthday cake for his child, all the while identifying himself as an "empty ghost." Even in group therapy, he dismisses the voices condemning the abuses of capital as nonsense, ultimately destroying any possibility for solidarity himself.

Capital swiftly and elegantly fills that void. Possessing both financial and cultural capital, Sangwoo replaces the masculine roles that Hoseok can no longer perform, all with an air of refinement. At a group dinner at a barbecue restaurant, Sangwoo expertly grills meat for Hoseok’s son Cheol. In a luxurious villa, he personally teaches taekwondo forms and instructs the boy in blowing a whistle—a symbol of inherited power—asserting his dominance as a surrogate patriarch. Both Miok (played by Jeon Do-yeon) and Cheol, helpless before the reality of Hoseok’s powerlessness, are quickly conditioned to submit to Sangwoo’s authority, which offers immediate problem-solving and luxurious comfort.

Still cut from the movie "Possible Love".

For a man who has hit rock bottom and lost his ability to communicate with words or logic, the only choice left for resistance is a beastly, primal form of transgression. Director Lee visualizes the despair of the emasculated man in the basement restroom of the villa. In a drunken stupor, Hoseok indiscriminately urinates all over the bathroom, which is decorated with the finest materials. It is a desperate act to regain lost control by leaving his scent in another male’s territory. Yet, instead of being angered by this invasion, Sangwoo chuckles and urinates on the floor himself. In that instant, the lower-class man's desperate rebellion is reduced to nothing more than a light diversion for the upper-class capitalist's boredom.

The contrast between the two men is further accentuated with the metaphor of water. At dawn, Hoseok screams in the forest creek, only to fall face-first into the water. In contrast, Sangwoo swims gracefully, naked, across the sea at his private beach. While the creek is depicted as a place of despair and struggle for Hoseok, Sangwoo’s sea represents a space of conquest and the display of control.

The class-based dominance over masculinity is also evident in the underground home bar. On a lit stage, Miok sings a popular song with a seductive demeanor, while Sangwoo stands close behind, playing the clarinet and forming an ensemble resembling that of a married couple. Below them, a drunken Hoseok, unable to control his movements, dances clumsily, reduced to a sad clown whose only function is to entertain Sangwoo after losing his wife. When Cheol wakes up and comes downstairs, he witnesses this scene. Confronted by the reality of a powerless father and a mother charmed by capital, the child shies away and averts his gaze. The family's economic downfall as the result of job loss thus leads to the moral and structural collapse of the family.

Still cut from the movie 'Possible Love'.

In capitalist society, the thickness of a wallet equates to masculine muscle and paternal authority. Through Hoseok's defeat, Director Lee demonstrates that love and authority, allotted to lower-class men in a world ruled by capital, always remain precarious. However, Sangwoo's conquest is never quite complete. Even as he spends the night at the now-empty villa with his wife Yeji (played by Cho Yeojeong), his attention lingers on the spot where Miok once was. Meanwhile, Hoseok, under the full moon, recalls his pure younger days and resolves to start anew. In the end, capital may replace the figure of the family patriarch, but it cannot take away love itself.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.