Take IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE but have the protagonists meet when their spouses are in a serious car crash, don't be so bloody obtuse about the whole thing, and you're on way to making APRIL SNOW. Writer/director Hur Jin-Ho is certainly not a cheerful chap, with his trilogy of seasonally-named films each taking a depressing scenario and quietly exploring the characters' pain... yet somehow his films don't end up actually being depressing. The situation could easily lend itself to melodrama (and the soundtrack seems like it wants to go there), but the characters and emotions feel too real and natural.Although the plot of the film is essentially very predictable, it's all about the details... the unassuming direction places the actors in the spotlight - a light that pierces right into the characters, and requires superb performances from the cast. Luckily Bae Yong-Joon and the gorgeous Son Ye-Jin are capable of delivering exactly that.Very well crafted and enjoyable, though not so innovative as ONE FINE SPRING DAY.

"April Snow" is only the fourth Korean film I have seen and it has transformed my budding interest in that country's cinema to outright obsession. The simplicity and intimacy of the camera work piqued my interest and the two leads -- the movie's only significant characters -- held me there. Ye-jin Son and Yong-jun Bae moved me effortlessly from one emotional swell to another as they found solace, revenge and perhaps more? -- in each other. The question of how they can care for their adulterous comatose spouses falls quickly away as they silently wonder if, through this tragedy and betrayal, they might have found something wonderful. Sad, lovely and surprisingly sensual, I highly recommend "April Snow" to those who have the slightest interest/curiosity in Asian cinema.

This is a rather simple movie that I'm not 100% sure works or not. When a man and a woman get into a car accident, their corresponding spouses go to the hospital, but trouble brews when they figure out that the two were having an affair. While they talk (and talk) about what happened between their spouses, they TOO start getting frisky with each other, and they have an affair. But then, one of their spouses wakes up from their coma.So what you have here is a weird hybrid of the 60's swingers movie. I really did like the premise of the movie, and the lead actors are all great, the main problem here was the story is handled in the most extreme schmaltzy way possible, with plot turns that you can see from a mile away. (eg this love is doomed from the start!)

With only two feature films, director Hur Jin-ho has won quite a huge following in Korea. Slow and quiet, his characters and stories gently let us the audience take a good look into the "things" of ordinary life. Actors and actresses in his films, no matter what level of movie-star status they may enjoy in the showbiz world, get to look and sound like your next-door neighbors in Hur's films...until this one.Mr Bae Yong-jun or 'Yon-sama' as they call in Japan these days, should probably be a good actor, capable of leading an average romance movie. Unfortunately, however, his 'larger-than-life' fame as 'Yon-sama' makes it almost impossible for me (at least) to empathize with the character he plays, which is supposed to be an ordinary man going through a life's ordeal in this movie. I couldn't help feeling very sorry about the casting choice they had to make. Throughout the movie, I kept wondering what if such and such played this role (anyone else would have been better for that matter). What I expected to see was a Hur Jin-ho film but alas...'Yon-sama' overshadows it way too much.