Translated into Chinese: snowkin / www.loveyongjoon.com 2005/10/03
Translated into English: happiebb / www.joonsfamily.com
Special Feature on April Snow:
Director Hur Jin Ho Chooses His Five Fave Scenes
1. Shot more than 30 takes: The scene where In-soo spoke to his junior over the telephone.
Lighting director In-soo [Bae Yong Joon] had to rush to Samcheok Hospital because of his unconscious wife. He made a phone call to his junior at work, Gwang-Ri, to say he was unable to go back to Seoul.
Director Hur: We did many takes for this scene, probably more than thirty times. That’s because I had wanted to spend more time deliberating and thinking things through in the first half of the movie. Bae Yong Joon lost himself after completing this scene. And after we wrapped up the final scene for this movie, Bae Yong Joon collapsed on the spot. Because we were shooting in front of the operating theatre in the hospital, sometimes we would see dead bodies being carried out, the general conditions were pretty bad. If you’re just watching this scene without paying any special attention, you would probably see a scene that’s not exactly remarkable or memorable. But personally, I feel that In-soo’s emotions here were very natural, this scene appeared for about a minute in the movie.
2. In-soo’s tears – the scene where he drank with his junior
In-soo was drinking with Gwang-Ri, who was both his junior as well as lighting assistant. He was immersed in a sorrow so deep and so painful he was unable to suppress it.
Director Hur: This scene did not have precise or any specific description planned out, but the character In-soo had to try his utmost not to break down before his junior. As for Gwang-Ri, this character was one that did not quite know what to do or how to deal with In-soo. However, In-soo eventually still broke down in tears right in front of Gwang-Ri. I was thinking about this scene from the my own angle as well as from the lighting director’s angle, that sort of breaking down and crying was definitely something to be shameful, bashful about. It’s also quite sad to think about it that way. In that entire scene, it didn’t seem that Bae Yong Joon was acting at all.
3. Improvisation – the scene of In-soo and Seo-young at the sashimi eatery
The man and the woman who found out about the betrayal of their spouses. Both their spouses were bordering between life and death, yet the two of them were brought together under the most peculiar of links and there came about the occasion of them raising glasses and have a drink together.
Director Hur: Was it Son Yejin’s improvisation? Well, instead of saying it’s improvisation on the spot, we might as well say she came to the set prepared with her lines and just acted accordingly. In-soo asked Seo-young why she had decided to get married. The Seo-young who replied “Father told me to go for matchmaking, so I just got myself married” gave a very interesting feeling.
4. The cold feeling of being betrayed: the scene where the couple walked into the hotel one day.
The relationship between them took a step forward, and they went to the hotel.
Director Hur: The two people were walking, so we slowly turned the camera towards another angle, so that we could see the two walk into the hotel. A seemingly ordinary scene, but because the relationship between the two was somewhat delicate and peculiar, the way we captured them entering the hotel gave a feeling of making up for something in the past, so it spoke of betrayal. Then from the other side of that scene, we could see the sea, the play of space here was very interesting. Looking at the back of the two people walking hand-in-hand into the hotel made it seem as though we had shot them from afar, it was a very nice feeling when we looked at it later.
5. The bed scene: The bed scene between In-soo and Seo-young.
In-soo and Seo-young, the sharing of love.
Director Hur: I think this is my first time using a close-up shooting like this. The breathing of the actors, the expression as they touch and caress each other… That’s a nice feeling.
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snowkin: Yong Joon experienced tremendous pressure during the shooting of this movie, that’s because most of the shooting took place in the hospital, the entire atmosphere’s dark and very suppressed. I think when I get my chance to watch April Snow for the fourth time, I will think about the pain and hardship they went through during the filming and all that, and that will deepen my understanding of the movie…