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According to interviews he did prior to the release of his third feature, Hur Jin-ho doesn't want us to talk about his "previous works" when addressing April Snow. But when he repeats so many of his previous themes, the development of an ambivalent relationship, a male character who works in another sensory-dependent profession (photographer, sound man, and now lighting director), a male character who is again mother-less (but this time he's mother-in-law-less), and a title that invokes seasonal irony, how can we not compare it to the ones that came before?

In-su (Bae Yong-joon - Untold Scandal and the internationally popular TV drama Winter Sonata) and Seo-young (Son Ye-jin - The Classic, A Moment To Remember) meet when their respective partners are in a car crash that leaves them in mutual comas. The remnants of this car crash - condoms, text messages on cellphones, camera video of them in bed together - confirm their suspicions that their partners were having an affair with each other. Having rented rooms in the same hotel to remain near the hospital, In-su and Seo-young decide to begin an affair themselves, which results in the Hur trope of a hesitant relationship emerging between these two halves of broken wholes. The sex scenes in particular demonstrate quite well the trademark Hur uncertainty between his characters. Although this film has been getting poor reviews, I personally don't think it's that bad, although it is nowhere near the quality of his first two explorations of the ebb and flow of relationships.

Early on, when Seo-young demurely tells In-su that she does housework and chores for a living, she feels a need to add that she guesses career women are more attractive. In-su answers with a definitive, "Actually, no." It is this interchange that is the intersection of all that makes April Snow a commercially successful film and a troubling one.

There is the obligatory note that must be made when speaking about this film, and that's about Yonsama. As you should know by now, Bae is HUGELY popular in Japan and his films will, until that popularity wanes, be positioned with the Japanese market in mind. In this way, the film did not need to be successful in South Korea (and it wasn't), because it was bound to rebound in Japan, (which it did, ending up setting the box office record for a South Korean film in Japan). Several reporters on the Asian film industry have noted how this represents further maturation of the South Korean film industry in that it represents a broadening of its market beyond its own borders. That specific line about housework and chores can be seen as an awareness of the particulars of Yonsama's Japanese market since it is middle-aged Japanese women, many of them housewives, who are so fond of him. By stating his preference for housewives, Bae, through his character of In-su, further solidifies his connection with this demographic. That said, I also feel a need to state that I think Bae is a decent actor and I can see why the ladies think he's a hottie. I also don't want to slam the middle-aged Japanese women who are so fond of him, for such desire for their idol is not necessarily a gender and age variation on Otaku-ness, but perhaps a medium for something more progressive about the wants, needs and demands of these women.

But this bit of dialogue also validates what I've found seeping underneath Hur's films: a problematic catharsis for the so-called 'nice guy'. This all goes back to what Hur said during a discussion after a screening of One Fine Spring Day at the San Francisco Asian-American International Film Festival where he claimed from his privileged male position that South Korean women have forgotten the importance of family. This proclamation had me receive the ending of One Fine Spring Day with less finery. It had me noticing how, to represent this 'family forgetfulness' in his women, each of his films includes a male character who is mother-less. And when I looked back at Christmas In August for the umpteenth time, I noticed something I had missed during all my previous viewings. The ex-lover who jilted our main character was placed into an abusive relationship within the narrative, leaving it open for the reasonable argument that she was receiving her 'just' punishment for not receiving the 'nice guy' when he desired her. Through his narratives, Hur demonstrates the revenge that simmers underneath every jilted nice guy, except rather than holding that anger and letting it dissipate, Hur continues to provide catharsis for the bad-guy-within that shadows the nice guy, the bad guy within the nice guy who seeks to lash out at the women who, for whatever reason, choose not to be with them. This desire for revenge comes full surface in April Snow when Seo-young asks In-su what he wants to do when his wife awakes form her coma. His answer is simple, "Get Revenge."

Hur can think whatever he wants about women who either expect more from their men and families or desire all the privileges afforded men, but by insisting on presenting this view as a Vengeance For Mr. Sympathy, I have to say that this is a gift I'd refuse regardless of the time of year when it's presented, in August or in April. It is this cathartic need that ends up tainting all the beauty that otherwise abounds in Hur's oeuvre. As a result of this underlying theme, what were otherwise touching stories about unattainable love risk becoming the opposite, tales about subtly executed revenge.

I truly didn't want this theory about Hur's films validated. I was hoping that April Snow would diverge from Hur's previous works in this regard. But sadly, like the seasons, this is a harmful theme that Hur keeps cycling back to.      (Adam Hartzell)

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