SEOUL, Sept. 14 -- In a Venice Film Festival filled with Hollywood stars and high-concept cinema, South Korean director Lee Chang-dong took home one of its top prizes with a film that does something strikingly simple - it looks squarely at the pain of ordinary people.

Possible Love won the Grand Jury Prize on Saturday, Korea's first in the category, which is officially the festival's second-highest award after the Golden Lion, Korea JoongAng Daily reports.

There are no genre tricks here - no thriller machinery, black comedy or science-fiction conceit - as Lee turns his gaze to a world reshaped by immigration, artificial intelligence and mass layoffs.

At its centre is Mi-ok, played by Jeon Do-yeon, whose husband Ho-seok (starring Sul Ky...