Film Comparison - Lake House and II Mare - Essay Example

Lecturer: Film Comparisons Lake House is a romantic movie of 2006 produced in the American versions, which was directed by Agresti Alejandro and produced by Auburn David. The film features two stars including Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves, and reveals a romantic love affair whereby two partners communicate through a shared mailbox; both partners were separated for two years but the house at the seaside reunites them. This film is a reconstruct of II Mare movies produced by Lee Hyun-seung in South Korean version. The II Mare means the residence on a beach, which depicts the scenery of the account. Both films share the same them of time-transcending love whereby two lovers are being separated for two years in time, they are capable of making communication through a strange mailbox situated in the house, which is on the lake side. Although the Lake House film that was set in America have some differences from the ones set in South Korea, both movies are of similar genre. This is because the authors adapted similar style of writing and also share the same theme, which is time-transcending love. Both films versions are of similar genre because they are both a remake of Hollywood films and romantic comedies that have been popular in South Korea. Although, Lake House is an American version is written in an American language, it is a remake of South Korean so it mostly features the Korean culture. The English language restructure of foreign language films always receives awful press (Han 45). This makes fewer seeking to get the original films because viewers prefer the best film remake to have totally something different from the original. Similarly, both versions focus on a romantic comedy, but they both fit into clear genres of Korean films. Moreover, these Hollywood genres are taking the Asian film remakes, but the rights of Hollywood film productions have attempted to employ global strategy of producing Hollywood remakes of its movies. However, there is a little difference in this kind of Hollywood genres. One of them is that even though the Lake House film is an American film produced in America, it has new elements which are not of South Korean version of film genres. This is because the film has taken the different strategic approach of Korean films; hence it features the Korean culture. The film does not also include horror narratives, which are popular in many of the American genres. The American version uses its own styles in creating the movie. This is especially the way the director of the movie remakes the film rights, but this seems to be the problem because the film marketing may do poorly in Asian region. The main characters of Lake House film include Alex Wyler and Sandra Bullock. These main characters have romantic relationships, but they are separated by distance and time (Reeves, Sandra, Dylan, Shohreh, Christopher, Doug, Roy, David and Alejandro 2006). Therefore, the Lake House is the one that unites them because it has the mailbox, which they pick and drop letters. The characters in this film are characterized as characters who have patient because they belief that one time they will meet, even though, distance separates them. However, this film is tricky especially when narrating a romantic love story by introducing time and distance travel elements in the story. Hence, the story is tricky when the authors are attempting to narrate a romantic story between characters residing in different places. The plot for both American and South Korean films are similar because they both reveal the way a young girl moves out of her house and drops the letter to the next occupants, which is later picked by a young man who has just moved into the newly built house. Although, the plot is similar, the American version is narrated in English language and characters uses English names. However, the Korean version is written in local language, as well as, some characters have names written in local language (Lee, Jung-Jae and Ji-hyun 2003). Even so, the American version is more of less remake of Koran version; thus forcing people to seek for the original film. Both versions were produced by the Korean blockbuster films and marketed under the Korean blockbuster industry (Han 27). The producer is from the Korean blockbuster film industries especially those, which have been competitive with Hollywood films in the Korean domestic film industries. The Korean blockbuster films have sought the large scale films making and presentation of spectacular scenes; they depend heavily on Hollywood styles and the remake of the film, which was produced in 2008, went straight into the DVDs and it was showed on twenty four screens in Thailand. Lake House is another film of Korean blockbuster industry that reflects the subtle differences in cultural conceptions of romance (Han 31). Moreover, although it is unclear in case the original film would have been well received by the American audiences, the filmmaker of this movie attempted to tailor a more reasonable and rational film of western tastes (Oscott pr. 6). The films of blockbusters have been marketed across the globe and they have disseminated more in the global market than in the domestic markets because of increased technologies. However, the American version became unsuccessful across cultures especially in the Asian markets because of its reconstruct. This is because the content is hardly so culturally entrenched and complex in making it translatable; therefore, the narrative styles and social contexts among the South Korean and Hollywood movies are not lost in the content, but the language itself; hence creating flawlessness. There are critical issues addressed in both films and similar to aspects of global orientalism, information theories and global market theories. For instance, both authors present women as the objects of love affairs. The Hollywood producers release a big blockbuster which often grosses more in the global market than it does in the domestic market (Han 41). The film uses romantic love affairs and they are the influence of the American styles. The film targets teenagers and young adults, and this has made the film more marketable across the globe. This is one of the market based strategies that have led to increased number of movies adapted from Internet novels written by teenagers. The popularity of blogging and Internet culture is indissoluble from current youths culture; thus information posted on blogs or online sites have been turned into a novel. Moreover, there is a need for cautioning on the original over the remake film because this is interpreted as orientalism form, a reflective aspect of violating the authentic of the film by the West. This is because the western culture dominates and it is perceived as eroding the culture of the Asian people. From my comparison analysis, swift economic growth in the Asian nations has been experienced for the last decades; thus transformation has been connected with westernization style. The western culture industry have continued to dominate across the globe; thus Asian countries like South Korea and others have employed the western style of producing films. The western cultures have disseminated across the globe due to increased technology and globalization aspects; this has led to synchronization of cultures in which the cultural systems have become homogenized by the American cultural influences. Since both films were produced by Korea blockbuster, they have been heavily influenced by the power of Hollywood film production. The Korean films have followed liberation movement because their film features consist of romantic comedies and melodramas, which are commonly in the West. These genres of films are highly marketable because they deal with subjects such as romantic love, separation of loved ones of families. Both American and Korean versions attempt to unmask the truth behind romantic love affairs, hence the plot for both films were planned in a manner that can present love affairs in the current society. Therefore, one can be able to notice or learn that technology has contributed to varied changes in the way people communicate in the current society. For instance, the means of communication by using the mailbox can reveal the progress towards technology changes in the society. This means that with the use of technology such as use of Internet for sending e-mails and other social networking sites, communication is easier; hence partners can communicate effectively in distance areas. Thus, the romantic love affairs between two lovers who have been staying separate for two years are made possible through technology. However, the differences one can learn from both versions are that there is cultural erosion as revealed in the American version because of the remake aspects. One can also argue that the Korean versions, there is cultural assimilation from the western style of producing films. This is because based on the narrative story that was posted on online media services, one can learn that technology especially the use of Internet is shaping the life of many people and changing the way the society communicates. Work Cited Han, Se H. Globalization and Hybridity of Korean Cinema: Critical Analysis of Korean Blockbuster Films, 1-91.Austin, Tex: University of Texas, 2011.Print. Lee, Hyun-seung, Jung-Jae Lee, and Ji-hyun Jun. Il Mare. San Francisco, CA: Tai Seng, 2003. Reeves, Keanu, Sandra Bullock, Dylan Walsh, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Christopher Plummer, Doug Davison, Roy Lee, David Auburn, and Alejandro Agresti. The Lake House. Burbank, CA: Warner Home Video, 2006. Oscott. A.O. Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock Are Reunited in 'The Lake House. The New York Times. June 2006. Web. March, 5, 2012 Read More