Tombe La Neige !
From madmike – April 25th 2006
http://www.ciao.fr/April_snow__Avis_914957
Translated from French to English by camille
Author’s evaluation : 3 stars
Advantages : A beautiful story…
Disadvantages : … a slow rhythm
Complete opinion :
There isn’t any season now, my lady, and from now on we don’t have to be surprised any more that snow falls in April, it’s what happened on the French screens by the grace of a Korean movie, with an English title April snow (snow of April), which I will not venture myself to judge the translation quality comparing to the original Korean title Ocheul.
This Korean movie of a certain Jin-Ho Hur, very very hard, the Korean names, released discreetly in about forty French theatres on Wednesday April 12th 2006, and so with some appropriate way regarding its title “April Snow”.
They should never meet.
In-Su worked as a lighting engineer, Seo-Young was a housewife, the beautiful dark-hair man and the brown sylphid had each one a spouse, and only the destiny, and a drama, will bring them together, after a car accident implicating their two spouses, not supposed however knowing each other.
The husband of Seo-Young was with the wife of In-Su, without the knowledge of everyone, and only the accident revealed this clandestine affair. In-Su and Seo-Young are confronted to the same drama, learn the same day their common misfortune, and come closer…
The film is very Asian.
The rhythm has a slowness cleverly distilled, and sometimes a little excessive for a Western spectator, we find in this Jin-Ho Hur movie the same slowness as in those of his compatriot Kim-Ki Duk (Locataires, L’arc), the scenes are filmed quietly, peacefully, the camera is fluid and zen, without an ounce of haste, an Asian temporality which can sometimes confuse the spectator accustomed of more vitaminized settings.
The dialogue is reduced to its minimum, the unstated things are multiple, the sentences apparently trivial, the protagonists didn’t talk a lot, and the sudden and direct confession of their attraction is a little surprising, dropped like a swear word or a joke, irruption of the feelings in a very organized world, very polish. We feel a very conventional society, almost rigid, a society which it is not good to show unexpected loves, inevitably rejected by the ambient conformity…
The story is beautiful.
It is simple and universal, the meeting of a man and a woman, the circumstances are strange and the continent far away, but the heartbeats are international, they are those which made chabada bada in a still inspired Lelouch (camille : French director Claude Lelouch who made the movie A man and a woman), and showed here with an accuracy and a rather splendid delicacy.
The emotions are never underlined, indicated just a nuance in the attitude or in a discrete tear, any useless pathology, just the truth of two sensitive persons, joined together by a love which transcends them and make them forget the past and the conformity, a quite beautiful story as we would like to see more often, even if I don’t shed any tear, but I must admit that as having a true black-heart I seldom cry in cinema, the last time it was for Mathilde, in the superb “Un long dimanche de fiançailles” of Jeunet… (camille : French director Jean Pierre Jeunet who made the movie Amélie Poulain which was quite famous)
The interpretation is perfect.
Ye-Jin Son plays the beautiful Seo-Young, very right in her discreet emotions, and having an irreproachable body, so much that movie-goers who love beauty will regret the Korean prudishness which makes her keeping her underwear in love scenes beautifully filmed but a little elliptic.
Yong-Jun Bae plays In-Su, her accomplice, he also all in subtlety in his appearance of a wise child, like Harry Potter as some would say, masking the effervescence of his feelings, with a very great accuracy too, in an acting all in reserve and discretion.
Snows in April delights movie-goers.
This Korean film suffers obviously from a very Asian temporality, a rhythm whose slow speed is sometimes a little irritating for a Western spectator, but it is worth watching by the universality of its love story. The acting all in delicacy of the actors and the subtle and serene realization of Jin-Ho Hur make an extremely interesting movie, otherwise hectic…
To bb : in contrary with the precedent review, this author likes the story.
posted by Toujours_BYJ @ 8/08/2006 08:05:00 AM
19 Comments:
hehe, there's an even a little footnote in there for me! thanks camille!
you know, having read so many french reviews, hee, as i had read them in the french language! a few words kept cropping up: beautiful, quiet, taste, delicate...
and when talking about the actors, most of the reviews saw the effort, the control of emotions. i love the deliberate reining in of emotions displayed by the characters.
and like i've shared with tiff, in all honesty, in the unfortunate event such a thing happens to me, chances are i wouldn't be wailing or screaming either. i believe i would be quiet like them, just going about life, taking care of business and people, and all the while, questions were swimming in the head... so the actors have, imho, been very realistic, true to life.
it's just that we've conditioned by the usual dramas and movies that characters have to scream in anger, cry loudly... that's why some of us could not understand the movie, or even thought the acting lacklustre.
i would imagine it takes much much much more to perform in such a controlled manner, in that even a tiny hand gesture, a line on the face would matter... surely it's easier to just wail loudly to express anger and pain...
so once again kudos to the actors. i honestly think this is yong joon at his best. although i thought his facial expression needed abit more during the intimate scenes. not the bodily contact, but the facial expression.
anyhow, i digress... i meant to just say thank you, camille :)
It's been more than 3 months since AS premiered in your country but the beautiful reviews are still trickling in. I'm always touched whenever your people get to appreciate the nuances in the actors approach to their respective roles.
Thanks for sharing them camille.
Hi, Camille.
It’s a very good review. I’ll start translating it after I come back from work. I believe tomorrow is the day you could find out whether April Snow is still screening in France. And If you don’t’ mind, I’ll post it in KOB with this new review. Thanks again.
suehan
Hi bb, as I told you before, I choose this review to translate for you because this author seems to like the storyline, unlike the previous ones.
And bb, you see, you will be used to French language soon too.
Btw, I love reading your analysis, so please digress anytime you want.
Hi Marissa,
I hope AS will be screening in France as long as possible, it's such a beautiful movie and I think the acting, the setting are very closed to French movie.
Thanks for dropping by.
Hi Suehan
Thanks for the love relay again, please post your translation on KOB to share with our Korean family.
Tomorrow I will know if AS is still screening here or not, Anyway I will post my reviews on Quilt and KOB tomorrow too.
Hello,
It's me again.
I have a question for you.
Is "chabada bada" the name of a movie or
does it have a certain meaning?
Sorry to bother you.
suehan
Ce commentaire a été supprimé par un administrateur du blog.
Hi suehan
chabada bada is in the lyric of the song sung by Nicole Croisille in the famous movie "A man and a woman" of director Claude Lelouch.
This song is quite famous too and the movie is released in 1966.
Thank you for your prompt response.
I almost finished the translation.
Thanks again...
suehan
thanks camille for sharing this review. Just curious, is he a film critic since he's giving out stars? (I know some of your reviews come from individual viewers.) There seems to be a large population in France who are receptive to foreign films. I don't even know where to find foreign film viewing in Toronto.
Thanks for the translation, camille!
Hi Jaime
He's just a movie-goer but almost every movie portal ask us to give a note to the movie, it's why you saw the number of star or a number/10.
You don't have any movie portal in Toronto ? We have a lot in France, maybe you can try by just searching in Google (you type the name of the movie and you will see all the articles related to it).
Hope it helps.
Wow! AS is still going strong in France. I'm really glad the French movie critics and movie goers like this movie so much. ^^
Thanks so much Camille for bringing us this to read. I am so glad it is doing well in France. It shows me French viewers have de bon gout! (good taste)
Hi Tiff, I'm very happy AS is still being screeing in France, 3 montha already !
Hi mrs a, I think AS is much alike a french movie than a Korean movie, and a beautiful ones, isn't it ?
Actually Camille. You have nailed it! It is more like a French movie. Very deep feeling, romanctic and realistically sensual.
Bonjour Camille,
I echo everyone's thanks for your monitoring of BYJ and AS-related information, especially those coming from France.
I noticed that many reviewers felt that AS moved very slowly and some even attributed that to the way things are done in Asian cinema. I think it is a little more complex than that. For example, Hong Kong action movies move at as furious a pace as anything made in the West. Personally, I think that many recent movies are edited like music videos and this doesn't give the viewer time to appreciate the images -- often created at enormous cost, let alone the emotions.
Contrary to what the reviewers say about excessive length, I think, like many in the bae-family and like you have shown in another post, that there are a few segments missing, especially the falling-in-love segment. Also, there were segments in the movie previews and teasers that I hope will be incorporated in the Director's Cut, especially that amazing prelude to a kiss. You can almost hear the unspoken dialogue, his unshakable conviction, her long hesitation, then her inability to resist and, to cap it all off, the breath he takes before he takes the plunge. Elsewhere, there are a few seconds in the love scene that I did not see in the DVD, when she runs her finger down his face and across his lips making a slight depression that bounces back and emphasizes the sensuality of said lips -- such a simple gesture but so effective, arguably as effective as much more explicit footage anywhere. This is followed by a view of In-su where the light reflects in his left eye in just that peculiar way it does when you get at that intimate distance with someone -- I call it the diamond-in-the-eye effect.
Looking at the movie and trying to approach it like someone who is not a fan, there is only one segment I might shorten: the driving to and from the funeral home. Ah, but as a fan, any extra screen time with Him is absolutely justified.
Call me an incurable romantic...
Gosijo
Hi Gosijo, welcome to my blog !
Wow, I love your comment! Do you know that I almost hold my breath when I read it ?
Thank you very much for dropping by and for this beautiful description.
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