I haven't seen The Lake House with Sandra Bullock and Keanu reeves, but I have seen it. Il Mare is the Korean film that predates it by six years and is the same story. Like many great Asian films, another has been remade in America.

Jung-Jae Lee (Typhoon) plays a budding architect estranged from his father and he moves into a house that his father designed and built. He finds a letter in the mailbox presumably from another person who has lived in the house. But, it is new and he is the first person there! Gianna Jun (an incredible beauty!) is the woman who rents the house two years later and is corresponding with the first owner through a magical mailbox.

It is a sweet and tender story with absolutely brilliant cinematography and hauntingly beautiful music. And, of course, it has the cutest dog you can imagine named Cola, who binds the two together.

A Sci-Fi ending to a sweet romance.

I remember watching "Il Mare" (aka "Siworae") back in the day shortly after it was initially released. And I do remember it as being a very beautiful movie. So I sat down yesterday to watch it again for the third time.

And while "Il Mare" does have a very nice and original story, then it was a tad slow paced, which could be somewhat of a challenge for some audience to get through. However, I think that it is alright with a slow paced storyline here, because director Hyun-seung Lee uses the time quite well to tell a very beautiful and touching story.

The story told in "Il Mare" is about a lovestory between Kim Eun-ju (played by Ji-hyun Jun) and Han Sung-hyun (played by Jung-jae Lee). They are sending each other letters from a mailbox at an ocean-side house named Il Mare. Kim Eun-ju is living in 1999 and Han Sung-hyun is living in 1997. And even with two years apart, their love grows with each letter.

It is indeed a very interesting storyline, and one that has originality and sinks right in, because it is really well-told by the director.

And while the cast list in "Il Mare" is relatively small, then there is a bigger pressure on the leading stars to perform well enough to hold up the movie. And I will say that both Jung-jae Lee and Ji-hyun Jun did more than perform adequately. They really carried the movie quite well, both individually and together on the screen.

"Il Mare" is a beautiful movie to grace the South Korean cinema, and it is a movie that is well-worth watching, regardless of you having a preference for Asian cinema or not.

Il Mare is a film about love story between two people separated by time. It touches the theme about long distance relationship. The plot is original and refreshing. In fact, Hollywood picked it up and remade it into a film that reunited the stars of Speed,Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock,entitled Lake House.

The acting was excellent. Both Lee Jung-jae and Jun Ji-Hyun,were great as lovers writing letter to each other and sending it to the mysterious mailbox. The cinematography was commendable as well.

The ending can be very sad and the last scene may provide confusion to a lot of viewers. But overall, the film is a must-see not only for Jun Ji- Hyun fans but for people who have appreciate great love stories.

How does Il Mare compare to the Hollywood remake,Lake House?Il Mare was a lot better than The Lake House.

Here are the reasons why.

1. Il Mare keeps the audience guessing as to what is going to happen next while the plot is clichéd in The Lake House.

2. You care more about Han Sung-hyun and Kim Eun-ju in the Korean version as compared to Alex and Kate in the Hollywood version. Credit that to Jun Ji-Hyun's performance as she has the ability to make you sympathize with her characters in her films. While in the Hollywood version, Keanu Reeves is not fit for any kind of romantic leads for he is more suited for action films like Speed and the Matrix.

3. There was more emotion in the Korean version as compared to that of the Hollywood version. You know that the leads do care a lot for each other.

4. The Korean version focused on both leads and their loneliness while the Hollywood version involved more characters which made the viewer felt less for the emotions of the leads.

5. Finally, the use of mailbox and writing letters was probably still common in South Korea during 1997 and 1999 in the Korean version while the use of email,google and the internet was already a way of life in the United States during 2004 and 2006 in the Hollywood version which made the plot of The Lake House less realistic and presented more plot holes.

For movie fans, check Il Mare instead of The Lake House.