October/November's OTMs- Check it Out!

Movie of the Month: Virgin Snow

Title: Hatsuyuki no koi: Virgin snow
Lenght: 102 minutes
Language: South Korean/Japan
Release Date: May 12, 2007 (Japan)
Release Date: November 1, 2007 (South Korea)

Virgin Snow is a co-production between Japan and South Korea. The movie was the directorial debut of Han Sang-hye and written by Japanese writter Kazuhiko Ban. It was produced by Jonathan Kim, who has produced various other famous movies such as Ditto and Silmido. The movie stars the talented Lee Jun-ki and Aoi Miyazaki.

The story starts with Min Kim. He is forced to move to Japan with his father, a scholar of pottery. Min visits a local shrine and meets a Japanese girl named Nanae Sasaki. Min fall in love with Nanae right away, being taken away by her stunning eyes. Min finds out that Nanae is in the same school that he is transferring to. The two become friends despite their inability to speak each others language, eventually start to date.

Trouble starts to brew when Min Kim's grandmother becomes very ill. He is forced to return to South Korea, and doesn't have enough time to tell Nanae what has happened. After tending to his Grandmother he returns to Japan, but not to Nanae. She appears to not be around, and Min Kim doesn't know where she might be.

Many fans of Asian cinema has fallen in love with this love story. The film shows beautiful shots of Kyoto and Seoul. This movie is a melodramatic romance, and if you love ooey gooey romance stories, you will probably fall in love with this story.

Cultural Standings

Knowing what I know about the cultural tensions between Japan and South Korea, I can't help but wonder if this movie has been so "bi-cultural" as an attempt to ease tensions between nations? What am I talking about?

During World War II Japan went crazy and took over a lot of countries (and not very nicely might I add). So many citizens of South Korea, China, Taiwan, etc are very angry at Japan and have prejudices. Granted, this is the older generation with these perceptions. But there are still tensions with younger generations with land ownership. For example one of the Baby VOX members spoke out saying that South Korea should have ownership of an island that was still under Japanese control.

The movie was written by a Japanese writer, and the movie was released in Japan much earlier than South Korea. I find this weird, or simply just a little odd that most of the production of the movie had been done in Japan because of the Japanese control of Korean cinema in the past. Japan made it illegal to film movies in South Korea and at one point banned movies from being recorded with Korean dialogue.

Perhaps this one of the reasons why this movie is so moving. A generation who looks past the history, or do not care about this history. Maybe it is a statement that Korea and Japan should fall in love with each other.

Streaming Videos

Official Trailer Japanese
Official Trailer Korean
The Making of Virgin Snow Korean
Music Video Moriyama Naotaro - Mirai - Kaze no Tsuyoi Gogo ni Umareta Sonet
Music Video Lee Tzsche - Life is a Journey

Related Decks

Actor: Aoi Miyazaki
Actor: Aoi Miyazaki Puzzle
Actor: Lee Jun-ki
Actor: Lee Jun-ki Puzzle
Character: Min Kim
Couple: Min Kim & Nanae Sasaki
Movie: Virgin Snow

Official Sites

Official Website Japanese Release
Official Website South Korean Release

Downloads

Asian DVD Club DVD Torrent Files (iso/vob)
JDramas Megaupload Part Files (avi)
JDramas OST (Japanese Release)
Avistaz Asian Torrents Torrent Files (avi) no sub compatability
If you sign up with Asian DVD club, you can the movie watch on your computer or burn to DVD. You can also download a more direct file of it from JDramas. Or you can go to Avistaz Asian Torrents, but I wouldn't recommend that rip, it looks confusing XD