Denmark’s Bille August, an Oscar winner and among the select few filmmakers to twice win Cannes’ top prize the Palme d’Or, brings a haunting love story vividly to life in Friday’s “The Kiss.”

Set in rural Denmark on the eve of World War I, “Kiss” is adapted from one of prolific Austrian author Stefan Zweig’s best-known novels, “Beware of Pity.”

“It’s a beautiful, very complex, very clever love story, about this young man Anton who comes from a poor family,” August, 76, began in a Zoom interview from his home office.

“Back in those days, actually it was the upper class who went into the military. It was a sign of showing that they had class or became a step into manhood. Or something like that.

“Anton is definitely not from the upper class, and therefore he always has to prove himself that he can be good military person. That’s also his big problem.”

As he’s trying to have success in the cavalry, he meets beautiful wheelchair-bound Edith, the daughter of a Baron, who falls in love with him.

“Because of his social position, he’s not able at all to step into that kind of love relationship. Normally, the big obstacle is always something that the leading character has to fight against.

“In this case, it is his empathy. He is such a lovely person full of empathy — and that’s the problem: He feels empathy for this girl.

“If he was just a cool guy, then it would not happen. Because he feels sorry for her, he gets involved. That’s the whole dilemma of the story.”

Edith, paralyzed since she was 18, is a complex, often angry woman.

“That was also important to me,” August said, “because somehow, when she had the accident, it felt like, emotionally, she was a child back then. And emotionally, eight years later, she’s more or less in the same stage.

“She is, in a very childish way, angry and upset about the way people treat her. Where all she’s asking for is to be accepted for who she is.

“But it also is the way for Anton to feel sorry for her.”

Does he worry that distant events are difficult for an audience to relate to?

“I don’t want to make a period drama. I mean, even though it takes place in a different time, I want to make stories that are relevant.

“The only way is if the audience can connect emotionally with the characters in that relationship.

“Of course, there are different behaviors and so on. But I think the relationship is universal and the moment you connect with that, it doesn’t matter if it’s a costume story or not.”

“The Kiss,” in Danish with subtitles, is in theaters May 16