Il Mare

I have noticed that the movie "The Lake House" starring Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves is now showing in the local theaters. I havent seen this movie yet, but I do intend to see this movie because I have already seen the original Korean version (Il Mare) more than four years ago. Il Mare is one my favorite movie in the "romantic" genre. Il Mare's lead actress is Ji-Hyun Jun of "My Sassy Girl" fame while Jung-Jae Lee is the lead actor. I love the cinematography of this movie as well as the subtle way the actors have delivered the cocktail of emotions on screen. When I first heard that this movie was going to have a hollywood version I was a bit apprehensive because there are some things I find endearing in the movie that is intrinsically Asian. I am afraid that they will not be able to translate the Asian "culture" aspect of the film. Well, I guess that makes it more interesting for me to find out how a multi-million budget of a hollywood adapatation will measure up to a relatively low budget quaint Asian film.

I have seen the movie Lake House yesterday and I have to say that I like the original Korean version more. The hollywood version in my opinion gets too preoccupied with tying the loose ends of the peripheral factors of the story. The Korean (Il Mare) flick focused more on the budding relationship of the two lead characters. Furthermore, I really liked the way the cinematography in the original Korean version sets the tone for the mood of melancholy the movie evokes. Although I have to admit that the way the story ended in the Lake House is the ending I wanted when I first saw the original movie (Il Mare) . However, there are a lot of tweaking that the director/writer have done in the Lake House that the story's mystical spell in the original version is somehow lost. I highly recommend to those that have not yet seen the original Korean version (Il Mare) to watch the original version and see the difference for yourself.