Although Virgin Snow tells a story that is very different when in comparison with other dramatic features, the central romantic plot is what makes this film very similar - that being, despite the sheer number of annoyingly painstaking events that aim to prevent the relationship from blossoming into life, we still genuinely hope the two leads can successfully unite one day.
Lee Joon-Gi portrays Min, a young man who moves to Japan with his father (Jo Sun-Mook), who makes pottery for a living. Originally unable to abide by the patience that is needed to develop pottery, it is this artistic background that assists Min in becoming better acquainted with the beautiful young woman he happens to meet one day.
However, art is not what initially brings the two characters together. A number of embarrassingly clumsy moments happen to befall Min over the duration of the film, who is immediately portrayed as the kind of individual who aggressively abseils through life with frantic determination, his stubbornness, occasional immaturity and lacking commonsense continuously getting the better of him, and towards the end, he can be potentially analyzed as been his own worst enemy.
Aoi Miyazaki portrays Nanae, the young woman who captures Min's attention. Far more reserved and reasonable, revealed to be as soft spoken and gentle as she is prone to shyness, Nanae's appreciation of art runs deeper than Min's, and helps facilitate his own passion for the subject, his new found commitment to his father's work being just one of the many things he strives for in order to garner her attention. On occasion, these techniques appear highly impractical and exaggerated. A moment when Min unleashes a series of martial arts techniques originally appears very out of place, and is just one example of this.
Although language and cultural barriers are often confrontational issues that prohibit two people of alternate ethnicities from becoming close, and could be evidenced in Nanae's passion for her culture, the friendship between Min and Nanae grows at an incredible pace, both characters going to great strides to ensure the relationship may work. The dialogue between their characters is as emotionally sensitive as it is adorable, while their on-screen chemistry is just one of the many elements that makes this film such an enjoyable experience. It is the familial situation of the leads however that proves to be one of the factors that keeps them apart, which is especially tied to the importance family plays in each of their lives.
Min's occasional narration adds his opinion to the story, and informs how important Nanae is to him, though the lack of continued use of this film technique makes it appear as though the character, or the director, forgot to implement this non-diegetic production element as often as they could have. On top of this, the audience are additionally provided a glimpse of Nanae's life outside of her relationship with Min, that is further scaffolded as the story progresses. In turn, we discover more about her situation than Min ever does, and though he is able to realize there are things troubling her, never does he deign to ask.
The events that lead to the separation between Min and Nanae are stereotypical of Asian melodrama, as is the intensity associated with whether or not a happy ending will actually arrive. With this in mind, there is a level of sadness that occupies parts of this film, which stems from the commitments the leads promise each other, and the fear they might not ever see fruition, while the scene in which Nanae confesses her feelings, is quite possibly one of the film's most metaphorically powerful and emotionally breathtaking moments.
Some very beautiful scenery, including snow drifting across the streets of the metropolis, and another depicting Nanae alone on the beach, are visually stimulating, and the accompanying soundtrack helps further flesh out the emotions conveyed over the course of the feature. There are several morale lessons the film attempts to provide its audience about relationships and destiny that ought to be considered. However, the most important morale lesson of all might be; even if you don't speak Japanese, you can still get a date with a cute Japanese girl.
