Jan

27

2008


Movie: Virgin Snow / Hatsuyuki no koi
Release Date: May 12, 2007
Country: Japan/South Korea
Director: Sang-hee Han
Starring: Jun-ki Lee, Aoi Miyazaki
Runtime: 102 Min.
Editor Rating: 4.0
Users Rating: 8 1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars6 Stars7 Stars8 Stars9 Stars10 Stars (51 votes)

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“Virgin Snow” is a movie that I had high hopes for. The pairing of Japanese actress Aoi Miyazaki (Nana) and South Korean actor Jun-Ki Lee (The King and The Clown) was obviously the main drawing card for the film. The movie also takes place in picturesque Kyoto and Seoul. That was enough right there to get me seriously intrigued by the film. There was also no doubt that the movie would be a romantic film in the “pure love” genre.

virginsnow-main.jpgSo a few minutes into the movie I knew “Virgin Snow” wouldn’t be a classic and thought to myself, “OK, just lower your expectations and enjoy the movie for what it is.” Jun-Ki Lee, plays Kim Min, a South Korean high school student that moved with his dad to Kyoto (his dad is a pottery maker). Kim Min rides his bicycle around Kyoto and crashes his bike in front of a Buddhist temple. He limps over to a nearby water fountain to clean his wounds, when Nanae (Aoi Miyzaki) walks by. Their eyes meet, sparks start to fly and we have the beginnings of “Virgin Snow.”

When Kim Min enrolls at the local high school, Nanae just so happens to attend the same school. It seems fate is already working its magic. Kim Min does everything he can to charm Nanae and it works.

They do encounter the expected language barriers, but with a little bit of Japanese, a little bit of Korean, some broken English and a whole lot of hand gestures they seem to understand each other just fine. They become close enough that they make a pact to meet in Seoul on the first day of snowfall to walk along a mythical street. Unfortunately Nanae’s difficult home life derails their plans. After Nanae’s father passed away, her mom has been mired in depression and has taken to booze for solace. She eventually picks up a new man, who turns out to be a violent drunk.

Between the two popular main leads, Jun-ki Lee seemed to come up on the shorter end of the stick. From the beginning, he seemed too old to play a high school kid and all the excessive makeup that he wore couldn’t hide this fact. On the other hand, Aoi Miyzaki wasn’t required to do as much, just give a graceful smile most of the time, which she did in an appealing way. Unfortunately everything else about the movie was mired in ultra gooey sweet muck and it got thicker with each passing moment.

Like a tacky Christmas card, or a karaoke video, or a big glob of cotton candy, “Virgin Snow” attacks your senses from the beginning with pure sentimental sweetness. The story unfolds in a methodical paint by the numbers manner, with nothing but the bare minimum given in character development. There was never any doubt that Kim Min and Nanae would be together at the end of the movie, but the more intriguing question would be … “can you stay awake to see it happen?”

Cast:
Jun-ki Lee - Min Kim
Aoi Miyazaki - Nanae Sasaki

Ayaka Morita
Otoha
Shun Shioya
Miyu Yagyu
Kimiko Yo

If you like this movie you may enjoy: Heavenly Forest

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2007 Movie Reviews, Japanese Movies |

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15 Comments so far

  1. 15 Jamie Says: July 25, 2008

    I thought this movie was cute, and I found Lee to be absolutly adorable. The girl actress was cute, but she really just needed to smile and say a few lines it seems, although the movie kept my attention, overall it was a cute movie. If you want to watch it check out mysoju.com under Korean movies

  2. 14 GiGi Says: February 28, 2008

    ““can you stay awake to see it happen?” LOL. That was the reason why I did not bother to check out the film. Life is too short. I will pass if it is too predictable.

  3. 13 cojung Says: February 25, 2008

    Just watched it and find out it’s not what I expect too.
    I think this is Jun ki flim than Aoi’s. She can be something more than this and so does Jun Ki.
    By the way, love Kyoto and wanna ride there.

  4. 12 Rico Says: February 25, 2008

    fly daddy fly was much better indeed but thats because it has one of the best (and probably the smallest) actor from korea in it :-)

  5. 11 Arekesu Says: February 22, 2008

    I definitely agree that the character development sucked at best, and the fight scene at the beginning was way to random. But still, I found a lot of appeal in Junki’s character (I thought it was really adorable) but I was very disappointed at the lack of depth they give both Junki’s and Aoi’s characters. I was still able to enjoy this movie but I kind of wish that the supporting actors hadn’t been pushed to the back as a side thought and that they didn’t push the envelope with any of the characters. Still, it was good for a first-time watch (don’t think i’d be able to watch it a second time).

    Give this movie a try any, it was adorable to watch :)

    rating: 3 stars…maybe 3 1/2(5 star scale) (watch Fly, Daddy, Fly! for a real 4 1/2 star watch :D Kickass movie and JunKi’s way too awesome in it!)

  6. 10 sano Says: February 21, 2008

    go to mysoju.com to watch alot of the japanese movies and dramas

  7. 9 PrincelyLuna Says: February 10, 2008

    eventhough i’m a big fan of Lee Jun Ki and Aoi Miyazaki, i too find this movie a bit of a disappointment.

  8. 8 Akira Says: February 7, 2008

    I think this was a big propaganda for the Japanese fans of Lee Jun-Ki and the useage of such a highly rated Japanese actress. Let’s be downright honest, most if not all of the viewers of this film were/will be female, because of Lee. If it weren’t for such a highly noted young actor and the cute Japanese girl, who in the WORLD thinks this movie was actually worth it? It’s cute, I will give it that, but as the poster has stated, this was a much anticipated film and there was high hopes for it. About the only thing I enjoyed about this film was the scenery and cultural facts, but even the whole Japanese/Korean dialect thing is not original, there are other dramas that portray the two language differences. Sorry to say, but I was very dissapointed, and I didn’t even expect anything. A film that attracts need to contain three key elements: Originality of plot, storyline, and character charm. For such big actors I would think they would boost up the characters a bit. The whole Kim Min using typical korean slang dialect, being somewhat of a badass (fighting scene in the beginning), unmotivated student type was unrealistic and not that appealing, it’s an overused personality in Korean drama. Nanae’s quiet, artistic, home problematic personality is also way too common in dramas. I’m half Korean and half Japanese so watching these types of film is amusing, but I wish they would make one interesting enough for me to enjoy not just the actors, but the film overall.

  9. 7 maximus Says: February 7, 2008

    What a disapointing movie.

    I usualy like Aoi Miyazaki but in this movie her acting is limited to smiling and being cute in different traditional and none traditional outfits, like a Japanese Barbie Doll. I know she can act(Heavenly Forest, Sukida etc…) so I suppose the blame is not her’s.
    Jun-Ki Lee with his perfect skin and hairstyle lacked any expression and was quite boring to watch.
    Also none of the supporting caracters got enough developpement to get things more interesting.

    I quite liked the Kyoto shots though…

  10. 6 lovejade Says: February 2, 2008

    Great review! i hold the same sentiment… was hoping that it would be a great if not then nice film… but it is not captivating enough.

  11. 5 julles Says: January 31, 2008

    i love japanese girls#

  12. 4 nanami Says: January 3, 2008

    yapa!!!!!
    hontoni kawaii!!!
    i wanna watch it soo bad!!!

  13. 3 dana Says: December 31, 2007

    where do i watch this online or download? can u email me pls?

  14. 2 luna6 Says: December 2, 2007

    hello rza…
    this one finished playing in Japan, but still playing in other areas and not on DVD that I know of. I think in another month or so it should be released on DVD. I’m looking forwards to watching this myself. Might be really good or a sappy borefest, but hoping for the best.

  15. 1 rza Says: December 2, 2007

    where do i watch this online? can u email me pls? thanks! i really wanna see this!