Um Belo Dia de Primavera

Although I didn't like April Snow, I have to admit that I got curious about it's clinical, meditative, and almost Ozu-like approach to start searching out its director's previous films. One Fine Spring Day is Hur Jin-Ho's second feature film. Surprisingly though, the film feels like it's been crafted by a master who's been making films for decades. One Fine Spring Day evokes a certain sense of maturity and control that deflects the low points of its spare plot. Sang-woo (Yu Ji-tae) is a sound engineer who lives with his father and his senile grandmother. He gets a job to record certain sounds of nature with beautiful radio DJ Eun-su (Lee Young-ae). Sang-woo, who seems to be an extrovert and Eun-su, who is more outgoing and openminded, get along very well and start a relationship. Their relationship, however, is not the type that would last forever as both characters are very different and both have issues that need to be resolved. Those seeking something that will provide for a fuzzy joyous romantic feeling would easily get disappointed with One Fine Spring Day. One Fine Spring Day, despite its rather light atmosphere, holds a bittersweet conclusion that feels all too real for comfort. It matches the joys of falling in love with the pangs of an unexplained break up. The beauty of the film doesn't emanate from the plot, or the characterizations, or even the technical merits, but from Hur's surehanded direction that never seems to stray from its melancholic tone. Hur doesn't waste time in dealing with heartwarming moments or scenes of melodramatic intensity. He satisfies himself with sincere moments of silence that somehow evoke great emotional weight. One Fine Spring Day is a lovely film. I loved the fact that it never breaks into serious drama or comedy. It stays right there, comfortable in the middle, chronicling in a very sure manner the failing relationship of the couple. It's very different from April Snow which I thought tried too hard to build up its setup with a more ominous atmosphere that bogs down whatever talent and effort Hur and the rest of his crew put in entirely.

This isn't a film about plot, so I'll concentrate on describing the main characters. Sang-Woo is a single sound engineer living with his family. Eun-su is a radio show host who lives about 4 hours away, by herself in a small, somewhat messy apartment. They meet to record the sound of wind in a bamboo forest for her radio show, and a relationship develops between them. The film observes them over the course of the changing seasons in Korea, starting in the Spring both in terms of the calendar and their relationship.

The pace is deliberate, and the characters don't really change much, but the film is beautiful and, not surprisingly, lovely to listen to, and it's definitely worth seeing. I think that the male lead (Ji-tae Yu) is particularly good in his role. My understanding is that the film won the top prize at Korea's equivalent to the Academy Awards.

I saw this at the San Francisco International Film Festival on 4/21/2002, where an earlier showing was the U.S. premiere. The director was present to answer questions, through an interpreter, and one of his responses indicated that viewers who are more experienced in love tend to identify with the female lead, while those less experienced see themselves in the male character.

When I finished watching this film, I was reminded of what poet Lord Tennyson said about love: 'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

And I agree with others who have commented here on the film that it s only if you have loved and had been loved that you fully appreciate the film.

One aspect of the film that I found most interesting was that Eun-su (Lee Yoeng-Ae) and Sang-woo (Jit-taeYue) met and fell in love because of sound but yet the acting was mostly silent. A simple gesture or a grimace here and there conveyed with clarity the powerful emotions and inner turmoil of these two main characters.

I am grateful that I saw the film. It was so refreshing and so different that it was sort of a catharsis and I actually said to myself, "I needed that" when it was over.

This is another very quiet film by Hur about the relationship between two people. Like "Christmas in August" the direction is such that excessive dialogue is unnecessary. We know what the two people involved are thinking at all times through their eyes, the way the look (or don't look) at each other.

It's a story that anyone who has had any experience in love will immediately recognize and get that "I have been there" feeling. The film doesn't sympathize with one person or the other but you probably will empathize with one of them based on your own experiences in love and loss. Two people fall in love, one of them falls out of love (or does she?), is anyone to blame?

I saw this film at the 2002 San Francisco International film festival and it was, by far, the best film of the ten I saw. Some of the others were so bad, that if it hadn't been for this one film, I would have considered my ten ticket pass to be a waste of time (if not money).

This is a romantic film with a very cute and unique story line that alone, would make it worth seeing. But the sound editing and the cinematography really put it over the top in my opinion. One sound and visual sequence in a bamboo forest will stand out in my memory forever.

Unfortunately, for those of us who would love to see it again, or those who have never seen it, this film did not get released in the US and is not available on DVD or video.