This review may contain spoilers
The main focus is not primarily on the action but the intervals. Intimate play. Highly committed.
The story is told quite sensitively, calmly, just a few dialogues. It is almost studio theatre that relies on the two main protagonists and thus on the haunting performance of Bae Yong-joon and Son Ye-jin.´He' is typical male, who feels like he owns the world - and now being confronted with his pride being hurt , whereas 'she' represents everything that makes a "good" wife: devoted, caring and - in case of doubt - convinced that she herself is to blame. However, for both of them as their former worlds fall apart their encounter sets processes in motion. They start questioning their lives. Quietly the chance for new orientation, for a new self-image and changed standards when it comes to relationships open up.
The title "April Snow" refers to the fact that the two protagonists love different seasons: he loves winter and she loves spring. Snow in April thus symbolizes a bridge that leads the two together. In the original, however, the title reads something like "Excursion" and refers to 'his' wife and 'her' husband who, as part of their affair, go on a secret trip on which their serious car accident brings everything to light...
(At first the story somehow reminded me a bit of the US movie "Random Hearts" from 1999. The KMovie "April Snow" from 2005, however, is not a remake, just a similar story.)
Yes, it is not a funny movie. Yes, it is intimate play on high studio theatre level. No effects. Just intense play. The main focus is not primarily on the action but the intervals in between. It´s different. Highly committed. Intense.
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I picked this one up because I liked Bae Yong Jun in Winter Sonata and Hotelier. This is an artistic movie about forbidden love, morals, betrayals and friendship. It reminds me so much of Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood in "The Bridges of Madison County" or Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung in "In the Mood for Love".
There is hardly any dialogue; the pace is methodical and purposefully slow, subtle background music, and flashbacks but excellent acting by the two leads and very restraint directing.
This movie is all about the little things; the gazes, the touches, the unspoken words, the guilt and the what ifs.
The love scenes were tastefully done and actually quite beautiful. The music plays a secondary but important role to set the mood but there isn't something that is memorable that I would download to my playlist.
Is it a re-watch? Not likely given the abundance of choices we all have before us. But if you can appreciate its artistic value and do not expect a heart wrenching melo, or cute romantic plots then this may be worth your time.
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This review may contain spoilers
A Sleeper That Should Become A 'Masterpiece'!
First of all, one reviewer said that there was nudity; the worst thing shown in this movie was the back of a female's body and her side in bed view; definitely not enough to complain about nudity as a reason for not watching this masterpiece!Actually, in my opinion, the first two times they make love are two of the most erotic moments in Korean cinema!
And, as another reviewer stated it, "The mild sexual content was tasteful and beautifully filmed, as well as was there for a purpose not just for thirsty eyes." I agree completely!
The two act as if they are scared of each other and are still cheating on their hospitalized spouses; they seem to be in high school and afraid to get caught 'doing it' for the first time, but their "need" for sex forces them to continue the taboo act...sex, and psychological release, from their forced-upon-them ordeal.
Each of them would have never thought of cheating on their spouse had they met in the same situation and their spouses' actions had not been discovered.
Also, the version most people had access to cut out important pieces of the rest of the story; what happened to In Soo (Bae Yong Joon) was cut from the readily-available version on YouTube. I was told that in the director's cut In Soo did divorce his wife, Su Jin (Lim Sang-Hyo, the female who survived the crash) and marry Seo Young (Son Ye Jin).
Since I only had the edited version to watch I thought the two were just cheating on their spouses again - the director's version makes the two going out on a road trip during a snow in spring (April) more acceptable.
I personally would have also divorced Su Jin after her action following her realization about her lover, Kwang-il {Kim Kwang-Il).
For this movie, you have to think like the wronged spouses here:
Both surviving spouses found out about their partner's being in a hospital through someone else calling them; they had no idea that his/her spouse was cheating on them!
Can you imagine the thoughts, doubts, and questions that were going through each other's minds
as they read the text messages of their partner's cell phones (as the hospital turned the cell phones
over to each of them?
Can you imagine the self-doubts of each of the leading cast members as they probably questioned
their self-worth as a partner, knowing that they (both) were being cheated on, and then to have to
meet the spouse of that person who was doing the cheating with their partner as well?
Can you imagine both partners wanting to (as I would have been prone to do) take a pillow and simply
smothering their spouse, solving a cornucopia of future problems that would have come about with
the cheating spouse recovering? In Soo even suggested this to his wife that she just die!
Can you imagine living in a guest house or nearby hotel/motel to a hospital as your spouse is (hopefully)
recovering, with nothing to do except ask yourself questions over and over again; and the only other
person who understands what you are going through is the spouse of the person your loved one was
cheating with in the first place?
These type questions are being asked by the two main leads minute by minute, and the answers to these questions form the basis of this wonderful movie!
As this movie slowly develops, we are shown that these very, and other, questions are plaguing both main leads, and ultimately, they only have each other to turn to in trying to find and maintain some form of sanity while waiting for their individual spouses to survive...or die!
Both leads are not sleeping; and both leads need someone desperately to talk to about their situation, someone who understands what they themselves are going through.
Both leads want to understand what was going on in the minds of their spouse, and how long it had been going on; this 'need' to find out more drives them to overcome their initial wariness of talking to each other and asking each other to see whatever records they may have to help them understand what their cheating spouse was thinking.
I saw much respect in the approach of the two toward each other as they knew the other may have information about the affair which the other didn't: In Soo was very polite and courteous to Seo Young as he initiated the request to share the cell phone text of her injured husband; Seo Young was equally respectful of In Soo in sharing this info...and her giving him property which she knew didn't belong to her husband.
This is not a movie that kills a person every 5 minutes, but it is about the psychological process of each of the wronged spouses is what makes this movie special!
Woven intricately by the director is a metamorphosis of the main characters' understanding of the situation they are dealt and how that affects them, the cheated-on spouse: you can see their bodies and actions "change" and become more stressed as these revelations take their toll on them, they become more pessimistic, cannot sleep and desperately need someone else to share their feelings; in In Soo's case one of the support cast sees these changes and how it affects him early on.
You also are dealing with two spouses who are in the prime of their life, especially Seo Young; had their spouses not wrecked a vehicle on their cheating vacation, the cheating spouses probably would have gone home and had sex with their waiting spouses, leaving the at-home spouse ignorant of their activities on their 'business trip.'
Sex is also a great way to relieve stress as you watch these individuals become more disillusioned, they NEED to relieve that built-up stress somehow; you can almost see it in their eyes as they find out that their partners' affair may have been since their college years.
Seo Young holds off her tears until after the funeral of the young man whose death was caused by the vehicle used by her husband and In Soo's cheating wife...you can almost feel the tension being released as she gets the build-up stress out of her system finally. Her exceptional ability to show emotion also came out in her portrayal of both the mother and her daughter in The Classic (2003)
It is shown over a time-lapse shot of the interval needed of her tension being released.
Each time I watch this, I see more of the carefully-placed emotional gestures of the two grieving, and wronged, spouses.
Only after Seo Young finally starts to accept what had happened, can she start being human again; her character is very quiet until this moment!
What follows is the remainder of the movie as these two draws closer to each other, out of necessity and desperation!
This is a movie that needs to be watched several times to pick up the nuances embedded by the director/screenwriter Hur Jin Ho, and I recommend the long list of several other hits he has been a part of in the past...and hopefully in the future!
The main cast makes their characters come alive and makes you forget that you are watching a movie; the sign that every great movie has in common with each other.
The support cast act professionally and in the background as they should, giving the two main leads the limelight and thus doing their part in supporting the movie's story.
The music, cinematography and props all make you feel you are in the presence of everyday people living their lives as tragedy strikes!
RE-WATCH VALUE: Don't get me wrong, you can watch this once only if you desire, but I believe that it would be a mistake only to watch it once! It definitely gets my vote for a re-watch!
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Does It Really Snow In Spring?
Bae Yong Joon was my first love in Korean Drama. He is the very reason why I started watching Korean drama in the first place when he starred in Winter Sonata. When I read the casting , I didn't realize that it was Son Ye Jin as his partner in this movie so I was intrigued.I know this drama is old and to think Bae Yong Joon is no longer active on screen but I was intrigued with the story. While watching the movie, I wondered how thick the script must have been and was there ever a script reading to begin with. This movie is all about emotions, betrayal, world-of- the- married kind of story.
When there are no more words to say to each other as a married couple, when there are no more tears to cry and when the heart is tired and when questions like "why" and "where did I go wrong" or why am I not enough" no longer matter...two people decided to console each other in the most intimate way one can express feelings.
April Snow is a powerful story acted by two professional and finest actors. Hats off!
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This review may contain spoilers
unlike most movies about cheaters (i've seen) got a different perspective here - the aftermath and how the cheated-on spouses have to literally pick-up-the-pieces, those two idiots left behind. including themselves.because of who we were "dealing" with - from the get go, was rooting for them to get it on lol, ironically - very childish (cause revenge f*cking is idiotic, u just leave people who cheat on u, trying to get back isn't worth the trouble). but as i kinda read how sh*t was gonna go down (in the description), was rooting for them to get their "revenge".
this could've been very intense and angry, especially given how for both of them, it was out of the blue - they were blind-sided with the fact that their spouses were cheaters, and given the fact that they both (the cheaters) knew each other in college - when this sordid affair started and how long it was going on behind their backs, was anyone's guess.
add to the sh*t pile that they had to now be their caretakers, physically take care of them, put their anger, frustration, betrayal on a back burner - cause what else could they do??. talk about a frustrating situation (me - would leg it. as would worry that i would unplug or try to smother the f*cker in a fit of rage/anger. but that's me).
but both of them turn out to be freaking saints, they manage to put their anger and affront to the side and care for those pieces of crap.
even their relationship - was more kindred-spirits coming together (even though they spoke of sleeping-together as means of getting "back"). not only do they share "being-cheated-on" but that they now had to nurse their comatose spouses. that isn't easy for people in normal loving relationships (that takes a toll) when their loved one r comatose or worst.
so their getting together and then it evolving to something sexual - was not revenger, but two people leaning on each other. it was ironically a love story.
the ending was left open, which i didn't get. read in comments that he left his wife. where/ i must have lost something in translation. same as them both smiling at the springtime snow storm, meaning them coming together. wishful thinking??
usually the ones that r cheated on, especially the docile type tend to forgive and try again. so the pessimist in me doesn't know which way this is gonna go. but enjoyed this - well written and acted.
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Very gray and slightly depressing
This movie is most certainly not a feel good type of thing, but it was the perfect little break form happy fluffy stuff I needed. To be honest it was a bit slow so the entertainment value is not very high but the story itself is pretty interesting, showing a slightly different side to having a spouse badly injured in an accident... When finding out the spouse is injured is followed by, was having an affair and may or may not have been the driver of the car that was responsible for the accident and killed someone... And well this movie does a great job showing the different thoughts and stages the spouses left behind to take care of the mess their cheating "##¤#¤%% of spouse left for them to handle..." At firs I wished I could take her place" this sentence was never finished but we all know he probably changed his mind on that one..,,
The mild sexual content was tasteful and beautifully filmed, as well as was there for a purpose not just for thirsty eyes.
All in all a pretty okay movie, even if it was slightly depressing at times.
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SPOILER FREE REVIEW AS AN SOUTH ASIAN
I will keep this review short and worthy.So,I randomly stumbled upon this while scrolling for something to watch and I DO NOT REGRET IT.The movie you will feel would not be relevant today considering its release time however its an all time movie .Its a very realistic one and truly shows how the matter of adultery can be handled in different ways and story is simple,pure yet unique.
The lead actors and supporting cast too did their roles justice however I feel the male lead could have been a little more clear with his expression.
The bgm was not something outstanding but still mixed with scenes very well.
This movie is the perfect watch if you want a warm, fuzzy forbidden trope romance and want a quiet watch.
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