Il Mare & Lake House

Il Mare is a 2000 South Korean film, starring Jun Ji-hyun and Lee Jung-jae. The title, Il Mare, means "The Sea" in Italian, and is the name of the seaside house which is the setting of the story. The Korean title means "time-transcending love". The two protagonists both live there two years apart in time, but are able to communicate through a mysterious post box. The setting for the movie was shot on Ganghwa Island's Sukmodo, and Jeju Island's Udo.

The actress, Jeong Ji-hyun (全智賢) (born 30 October 1981), is a South Korean actress. She is best known for her role as "The Girl" in the romantic comedy My Sassy Girl (2001), one of the highest grossing Korean comedies of all time. Other notable films include Il Mare (2000) and Windstruck (2004). She is a very cute and smart girl.

The Lake House is a 2006 American romantic drama film remake of the South Korean motion picture Il Mare (2000). It was written by David Auburn, directed by Alejandro Agresti, and stars Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock as Alex Wyler and Kate Forster, respectively an architect living in 2004 and a doctor living in 2006. The two meet via letters left in a mailbox at the lake house they have both lived in at separate points in time; they carry on correspondence over two years, remaining separated by their original difference of two years. For Alex the time goes from 2004 to 2006. For Kate the time goes from 2006 to 2008.

This film reunites Reeves and Bullock for the first time in a film since they co-starred in Speed in 1994. The film is set and filmed in the Chicago area. The lake house itself was built on what is called Maple Lake, located within the Maple Lake Forest Preserve off of 95th Street in the southwest suburbs of Chicago. After filming the house was later removed and a simple fishing dock was put in its place.

Plot:

In 2006, Dr. Kate Forster is leaving a lake house that she has been renting in suburban Wisconsin to move to Chicago. Kate leaves a note in the mailbox for the next tenant to forward her letters should some slip through the system, further adding that the paint-embedded paw prints on the walkway leading into the house were already there when she arrived.

Two years earlier, in 2004, Alex Wyler, an architect, arrives at the lake house and finds Kate's letter in the mailbox. The house is neglected, with no sign of paw prints anywhere. As Alex restores the house, a dog runs through his paint and leaves fresh paw prints right where Kate said they would be. Both Alex and Kate continue passing messages to each other via the mailbox, and each watch its flag go up and down as the message leaves and the reply arrives, which takes place as they wait at the mailbox. They cautiously look around each time the flag changes, hoping to somehow spot the other, but in vain they do not, as they are alone at the mailbox.

Baffled, Alex writes back, asking how Kate knew about the pawprints since the house was unoccupied before he arrived. An equally perplexed Kate writes back, and she and Alex discover that they are living exactly two years apart. Their correspondence takes them through several events, including Alex finding a book, Persuasion, at a train station where Kate said she had lost it, and Alex taking Kate on a walking tour of his favorite places in Chicago via an annotated map that he leaves in the mailbox. Alex and Kate eventually meet at a party, but he doesn't mention their letter relationship to her.

As Alex and Kate continue to write each other, they decide to try to meet again. Alex makes a reservation at Il Mare (Italian for "The Sea"), a restaurant whose name is a homage to the original Korean motion picture, for around March 2006 — two years in Alex's future, but only a day away for Kate. Kate goes to the restaurant but Alex fails to show. Heartbroken, Kate asks Alex not to write her again, recounting a tragedy a year ago before, on Valentine's Day 2006, when she witnessed a traffic accident near Daley Plaza and held a man who died in her arms. Both Alex and Kate leave the lake house, continuing on with their separate lives.

A year later, on Valentine's Day 2006 for Alex, Valentine's Day 2008 for Kate, Alex returns to the lake house after something about the day triggers his memory. Meanwhile, Kate goes to an architect to review renovation plans for a house she wants to buy. She notices a drawing of the lake house on the conference room wall and learns that Alex Wyler — the same person with whom she'd been corresponding — had drawn it. She also learns that Alex was killed in a traffic accident exactly two years ago to the day and realizes why he never showed up for their date; he was the man who died in Daley Plaza.

Rushing to the lake house, Kate writes a letter telling Alex she loves him, but begs him not to try to find her if he loves her back. Wait two years, she says, and come to the lake house instead. Meanwhile Alex has gone to Daley Plaza to find Kate.

At the lake house, Kate sobs, clutching onto the mailbox stand, sure she was too late, but then the mailbox flag lowers; Alex has picked up her note. Soon, she sees a vehicle arriving and then a figure walking toward her. It is Alex. They walk toward each other. Kate says, "You waited!" She and Alex kiss, then walk toward the lake house.


Untouchable Lovers


The movie title was translated into "Untouchable Lovers". I like both Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. The Korea girl is also liked because of her other movies. One sweet friend of mine has a collection of her movies. It will be really nice to watch it again in a quiet evening imaging self crossing the time. Are you untouchable and remote?