I made it a point to re-watch the Korean original Il Mare the day before I watched The Lake House so that I would be able to compare the two. I enjoyed Lake House and as far as performances go, I liked Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock as much as I did Lee Jung Jae and Jeon Ji Hyeon. Still, I think it was in the filming, editing and overall scripting that sees Il Mare winning hands down. The Lake House, while entertaining and nice enough, loses the innocent and whimsical quality that made Il Mare magical.
Some thoughts on why this was so: - The house. Il Mare was quaint while the Lake House was impersonal. In fact, this was also a point made by Alex (Keanu Reeves) in the movie. He said that the house was made for ownership but was not a home. Hence, it struck me as funny that Kate (Sandra Bullock) would find the Lake House the place where she felt most like herself. No such problems with Il Mare. The house truly WAS quaint...and magical.
And I think that encapsulates the whole problem of why I like Lake House a lot less than Il Mare. The type of love showcased in Lake House seemed to be of a more selfish variety. In Il Mare, it was selfless. The one time Eun Joo was knowingly selfish (in asking Sang Hyun to stop her boyfriend from leaving her when she knew Sang Hyun's feelings for her) it turned out to be a huge and crushing mistake that had tragic consequences. In The Lake House, Kate and Alex were finally together when Kate made the self-serving decision to dump the guy she had promised to marry (albeit saving Alex's life in the process).
Just like the 2 houses. Il Mare, the wooden childhood house come to life by the sea, had a whimsical and magical quality about it that reflects the whole tone of the movie. The Lake House, all glass and metal, rings cold and hollow even as it appears attractive.
Some thoughts on why this was so: - The house. Il Mare was quaint while the Lake House was impersonal. In fact, this was also a point made by Alex (Keanu Reeves) in the movie. He said that the house was made for ownership but was not a home. Hence, it struck me as funny that Kate (Sandra Bullock) would find the Lake House the place where she felt most like herself. No such problems with Il Mare. The house truly WAS quaint...and magical.
- The letter box. The letter box in Il Mare was made of wood and beautifully carved. The one in Lake House was just...a letter box. In fact, it looked beaten-up and weathered. Of course it looks realistic - but it takes away the magical quality somewhat.
- The physical interaction between the 2 leads. There was none in Il Mare - which added to the desperate and aching loneliness of Sang Hyun and Eun Joo (Jeon Ji Hyeon) - especially for Sang Hyun, when the closest he came to Eun Joo (apart from the ending) was at the train station when he sat next to her on the bench but did not talk to her as she was the girlfriend of another man. In Lake House, Alex not only had a heart-to-heart talk with Kate but even danced with her and kissed her. Somehow, that also lessened the poignancy. I felt very deeply for Sang Hyun but not for Alex. And really, isn't it a rather crummy thing to do to be kissing another guy's girl at the surprise party the said guy threw for that girl? Sang Hyun was even willing to help Eun Joo save the failed relationship with her boyfriend but Alex homed in on the girl when she was still with another guy. Of course one could argue that Eun Joo was in love with her boyfriend while Kate never quite felt the same way about Morgan, which brings me to my next point...
- Kate's character. She seemed to me to have led Morgan on. I mean, if you don't love the guy, then why "settle" for him? Yet Kate, in her loneliness wasn't fair to Morgan, deciding to choose him when her heart was really still with Alex. Eun Joo felt she was still in love with her boyfriend and wrote to tell Sang Hyun so though she knew it would pain him. But at least she was being honest and apologised to Sang Hyun when she found out that she still could not quite forget Ji Hoon. Kate leading on Morgan (annoying though he was) somehow made her less admirable.
- The incessant talk in The Lake House. One of the things I really liked about Il Mare was the stillness of the movie. There were scenes when Sang Hyun and Eun Joo would just be doing things alone, in silence, with no talking. This again magnified their solitary state. The Lake House seemed to be afraid of silence. There was talk and action ALL THE TIME as though Hollywood was afraid that we wouldn't get what was going on.
- Annoying love rivals. Apart from Morgan, there was Mona. Yes, I know we are supposed to root for the leads, but really, would Mona be much of a threat anyway? The girl in Il Mare (whose name I forget but she was very pretty and sweet and acted by Choi Yoon-yeong) was the one who helped Sang Hyun build the house he dedicated to his true love after he died.
And I think that encapsulates the whole problem of why I like Lake House a lot less than Il Mare. The type of love showcased in Lake House seemed to be of a more selfish variety. In Il Mare, it was selfless. The one time Eun Joo was knowingly selfish (in asking Sang Hyun to stop her boyfriend from leaving her when she knew Sang Hyun's feelings for her) it turned out to be a huge and crushing mistake that had tragic consequences. In The Lake House, Kate and Alex were finally together when Kate made the self-serving decision to dump the guy she had promised to marry (albeit saving Alex's life in the process).
Just like the 2 houses. Il Mare, the wooden childhood house come to life by the sea, had a whimsical and magical quality about it that reflects the whole tone of the movie. The Lake House, all glass and metal, rings cold and hollow even as it appears attractive.