April Snow
# April Snow

April Snow (Korean: 외출; RR: Oechul; lit. "Outing" or "Going Out") is a 2005 South Korean romantic drama film co-written and directed by Hur Jin-ho, starring Bae Yong-joon and Son Ye-jin.

## Plot

In-su and Seo-young meet in a hospital after their respective spouses were both seriously injured in an accident while traveling in the same car. This leads them to discover that their spouses had been having an affair. As In-su and Seo-young stay at the same motel near the hospital to care for their comatose partners, they grow closer while sharing their grief, anger and fear for their loved ones' recovery. Gradually, they find themselves falling in love with each other. But when In-su's wife Su-jin regains consciousness, she tells him that she regrets her past actions, forcing him to make a decision.

## Cast

* Bae Yong-joon as In-su
* Son Ye-jin as Seo-young
* Im Sang-hyo as Kang Su-jin
* Kim Kwang-il as Kwang-il
* Jeon Guk-hwan as Su-jin's father
* Yoo Seung-mok as Doctor
* Kim Se-dong as Insurance company employee
* Chun Dae-byung as Policeman
* Ryu Seung-soo as Yoon Kyung-ho
* Lee Young-hee as Kyung-ho's mother
* Leessang as themselves
* Loveholic as themselves
* Clazziquai as themselves

## Production

Filming began on February 4, 2005 in the seaside town of Samcheok, Gangwon Province.

A four-hour live concert was held on April 24, 2005 at the open-air theater in Yonsei University; some scenes were included in the film.

April Snow wrapped shooting on June 18, 2005 in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province.

## Reception

The film grossed US$2,707,442 in South Korea on 809,191 admissions.

April Snow was also released in 10 other Asian countries. Due mainly to actor Bae Yong-joon's Korean Wave popularity, it became a box office success in Japan, Philippines and China. It became the highest-grossing Korean film in Japan, grossing ¥2.72 billion or US$24.2 million (this record would later be broken by another Son Ye-jin film, A Moment to Remember with ¥2.75 billion).

A director's cut with 30 minutes extra footage was released in Japan in 2006, which also did well commercially.

Son Ye-jin received a Best Actress nomination at the 2005 Blue Dragon Film Awards.

## Awards and nominations

| Award | Category | Recipients | Result |
| - | - | - | - |
| Chicago International Film Festival | Best Feature | April Snow | Nominated |
| San Sebastián International Film Festival | Golden Seashell | Hur Jin-ho | Nominated |
| 26th Blue Dragon Film Awards | Best Leading Actress | Son Ye-jin | Nominated |
| 13th Chunsa Film Art Awards | Best Actress | Son Ye-jin | Nominated |
| 51st Asia Pacific Film Festival | Best Actress | Son Ye-jin | Won |
