''April Snow'' () is a 2005 South Korean romantic

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

co-written and directed by

Hur Jin-ho Hur Jin-ho (; born August 8, 1963) is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. Career Hur graduated from Yonsei University with a degree in philosophy and went on to study filmmaking at the Korean Academy of Film Arts. His first steps as ...

, starring

Bae Yong-joon Bae Yong-joon (; born August 29, 1972) is a South Korean businessman and former actor. He has starred in numerous television dramas, including, notably, ''Winter Sonata'' (2002), which became a major part of the Korean Wave. Bae retired from a ...

and

Son Ye-jin Son Eon-jin (; born January 11, 1982), better known by her stage name, Son Ye-jin (), is a South Korean actress who rose to fame in 2003 in ''The Classic (2003 film), The Classic'' and ''Summer Scent'', which were followed by the commercially ...

Plot

In-su and Seo-young meet in a hospital after their respective spouses were both seriously injured in an accident while traveling in the same car. This leads them to discover that their spouses had been having an affair. As In-su and Seo-young stay at the same motel near the hospital to care for their comatose partners, they grow closer while sharing their grief, anger and fear for their loved ones' recovery. Gradually, they find themselves falling in love with each other. But when In-su's wife Su-jin regains consciousness, she tells him that she regrets her past actions, forcing him to make a decision.

Cast

as In-su *

as Seo-young * Im Sang-hyo as Kang Su-jin * Kim Kwang-il as Kwang-il * Jeon Guk-hwan as Su-jin's father * Yoo Seung-mok as Doctor * Kim Se-dong as Insurance company employee * Chun Dae-byung as Policeman *

Ryu Seung-soo Ryu Seung-soo (born August 12, 1971) is a South Korean actor. Ryu made his acting debut in 1997 with a minor role in Park Chan-wook's film ''Trio'', and has been active as a supporting actor on film and television since. Among his notable films ...

as Yoon Kyung-ho * Lee Young-hee as Kyung-ho's mother *

Leessang Leessang () was a South Korean hip hop duo, composed of Kang Hee-gun ("Gary" or "Garie") and Gil Seong-joon ("Gil"). Formed in 2002, the duo has released eight albums to date: two self-titled records in 2002 and 2003, ''Library of Soul'' in 2 ...

as themselves *

Loveholic Loveholics (), previously known as Loveholic () was a South Korean modern rock group founded in April 2002 who released their first album in 2003. The band successfully released six albums, including a short compilation album and a reissue of th ...

as themselves *

Clazziquai Project Clazziquai Project (), also known as Clazziquai, is a South Korean electropop band that combines several genres including electronic music, acid jazz and house. The band's first short unofficial albums were released online in 2001, spreading its ...

as themselves

Production

Filming began on February 4, 2005 in the seaside town of

Samcheok Samcheok (; ) is a city in Gangwon Province, South Korea. To the west are the Taebaek Mountains, which form a high flat plain of more than 1,000 meters, and to the east the coastal plain slopes sharply. Samcheok borders Donghae in the north, ...

, Gangwon Province. A four-hour live concert was held on April 24, 2005 at the open-air theater in

Yonsei University Yonsei University () is a Private university, private Christian university, Christian research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Yonsei is one of the three most prestigious universities in the country, part of a group referred to as SK ...

; some scenes were included in the film. ''April Snow'' wrapped shooting on June 18, 2005 in

Gwangju Gwangju (; ), formerly romanized as Kwangju, is South Korea's list of cities in South Korea, sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated Special cities of South Korea, metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home ...

Gyeonggi Province Gyeonggi Province (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Seoul, the nation's largest city and capital, is in the heart of the area but has been separately administered as a provincial-level ''special city'' since 1946. Incheon, ...

Reception

The film grossed in South Korea on 809,191 admissions. ''April Snow'' was also released in 10 other Asian countries. Due mainly to actor

Korean Wave The Korean Wave, or ''hallyu'' (; ), is a cultural phenomenon in which the global popularity of South Korean popular culture has dramatically risen since the 1990s. Worldwide interest in Korean culture has been led primarily by the spread of K-p ...

popularity, it became a box office success in Japan, Philippines and China. It became the highest-grossing Korean film in Japan, grossing or (this record would later be broken by another

film, ''

A Moment to Remember ''A Moment to Remember'' () is a 2004 South Korean romantic drama film based on the 2001 Japanese television drama ''Pure Soul''. It stars Jung Woo-sung and Son Ye-jin and follows the theme of discovery in a relationship and the burdens of loss c ...

'' with ). A director's cut with 30 minutes extra footage was released in Japan in 2006, which also did well commercially. Son Ye-jin received a Best Actress nomination at the

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

Blue Dragon Film Awards The Blue Dragon Film Awards () is an annual awards ceremony that is presented by ''Sports Chosun'' (a sister brand of the ''Chosun Ilbo'') for excellence in film in South Korea. The Blue Dragon Film Awards considers only blockbusters and popula ...

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{Hur Jin-ho 2005 films 2005 romantic drama films 2000s Korean-language films Films directed by Hur Jin-ho South Korean romantic drama films 2000s South Korean films