:
Lee Jeong-jae,
Jeon Ji-hyeon
see all cast/crew...
: Not Rated
: Tai Seng Entertainment
: Foreign, Korea, Fantasy
: 97 min.
: Cantonese
: English
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After Eun-jo (Jeon Ji-hyeon) ends her tenancy of Il Mare, a posh house on a lake, she writes to the new tenant (Lee Jeong-jae) asking for her correspondence to be forwarded. When the tenant replies, Eun-jo discovers that his letter is dated 1997, two years before she contacted him, and that he is the original owner of the property. Il Mare was released in South Korea [and was recently remade in the United States as The Lake House]. ~ Rebecca Flint, All Movie Guide
Although originally released in Korean, the distributor only has the rights to the Chinese language version.
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| Time-Travel via Mail-Box
by talltale
July 16, 2006 - 8:25 AM PDT
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The inspiration for the current "Lake House" remake, the Korean fantasy love story IL MARE is a four-hanky affair that, in the end, earns those tears by being among the most gracefully filmed of its genre. From its lovely compositions, to its cinematography and music--and of course the two lead performances--it beguiles and charms its way past one's logical objections. I would have preferred it to end at a point just prior to the way it concludes, and yet I happily accepted the opportunity to feel good. The idea (which may have been taken from the Quaid/Caviezel "Frequency," and was later used in the Korean "Ditto") offers a feast of "what if" possibilities, only a few of which are tapped by this script.
While Americans might wonder why the character who's behind in time doesn't ask about the results of lotteries or horse racing, remember that this is a love story from Asia: culture and temperament create their own interests and restrictions. "Il Mare" grabbed me from the get-go and left me eager to see the "The Lake House." While I'll hope that Hollywood somehow maintains the grace of the original, I'll also be interested in discovering how the two versions differ. |
| Il Mare plays like a music video from the 1990s
by DPangilinan
June 13, 2006 - 10:54 PM PDT
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I thought I was watching an old music video from the 1990s. The concept is clever, two people falling in love from different times. It sort of reminded me of Christopher Reeves and Jane Seymour in "Somewhere in Time".
As cheesy as some of the scenes were, this would still be better than Keanu Reeve's 2006 remake, "The Lake House".
I'd still watch it anyways. If only to compare Sandra Bullock's character to the always cute Jeon Ji-Hyeon! |
| I loved this movie
by rmarkd
January 27, 2004 - 11:36 PM PST
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10 out of 11 members found this review helpful
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Han Sung-hyun has just bought a home by the sea. He calls the place "Il Mare". While settling in, he checks his mailbox and finds a letter from a woman named Kim Eun-ju asking for her mail to be forwarded. He writes back to her saying there must be some mistake as he is the first person to live in the house. They keep exchanging letters and soon they form a close friendship as penpals. Oh yeah, it turns out he's living in 1997 and she's living in 1999. The mailbox in front of the house allows things to be sent to each other.
Il Mare is a romance story with a "touch of fantasy" that allows for some interesting situations. For example, Kim loses her portable tape player in 1998 and asks Han to retrieve it and send it to her (using the mailbox). In another scene, he tries to meet her, but she doesn't recognize him because it's 1998 and she hasn't corresponded with him yet.
Some of the scenes do feel a bit cheesy, some of the lines are cliched (one line will definitely stick out and get a groan from some). But the general feeling of the story is like a warm blanket. The romance is there, but yet you also feel that maybe they're time-crossed lovers, destined not to be together. I thought the climax was emotional and the ending fitting to this type of movie.
PS: Ji-hyun Jun (she plays Kim Eun-ju) is so cute, it's painful.
(character/actor names taken from IMDB) |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 6.58)
62 Votes
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