out of reach

Elenora 2022-04-21 09:01:52

Two houses, one is named sea in Italian by the sea, and the other is a transparent glass lake house hidden in the woods in the deep winter of Chicago. Eastern and Western interpretations of love and distance are as straightforward as their namesake. Two mailboxes connecting different time and space, two pairs of lovers wandering between fate and pampering, died and reborn. Can't articulate preferences or differences, but feel that both fit perfectly into their cultural and social context.

The sea is like a postcard shot on a cloudy day, dim and thin, quiet and delicate, with occasional sunlight and joy rendering, which also makes the warm colors stale like a retrospective in a documentary. The only color remains in Xingxian's joy of making pasta for himself. The mood of wanting to talk and rest makes the whole film only see the commitment and sticking of two people in the gently diffused jazz and mist, and the rest of the characters have already blurred their faces in the foreshadowing and foil.

Like the early Beauties, it only takes two actors to tell a story in a Korean movie. So is our life. Implicit seems to always be a label of oriental culture, even at the end, the lovers who meet again after struggling between death and reincarnation just look at each other and smile calmly, even if she doesn't remember him, he takes her out of his pocket The last letter written by the heartbreaker, calmly said, please trust me and listen to me tell an incredible story. Then everything stretches like a coastline and disappears into the distance, and the surprises and emotions that follow do not need to be mentioned. It ends gracefully and beautifully. Such as the sea, broad and deep, the fate of unpredictable and mastery, let us iron out the folds of time and go to look for and wait layer by layer. Because En Peng said that there are only three things in the world that cannot be hidden, cough, poverty and love. The more you want to hide, the more you find it to be hidden, but sometimes, we have to hide. I just sat there and cried until I couldn't make a sound. Love is asking for trouble.



The half-blind cola and Mr. Fish in the little black dress, delicate and caring pets, are the only elves who exist in both time and space at the speed of light beyond fate. Intentionally or unintentionally, it conveys the unspeakable feelings and love of the two, or the lonely people are used to sustenance, so looking for a bond can tie the empty heart. Lonely people talk to fish, talk to dogs, do laundry and clean their homes desperately, cook their own meals, pack their things, and talk to themselves. Lonely people are all the same, and those who are not alone are not alone. But we still want to meet, even if all we see is the back of you passing by in a hurry, pick up the tape recorder that fell on the bench for you, and listen to the constant saying I love you in it, then we can be alone in the late night moon The stage was full of joy.




We suffer not because love disappears, but because love continues. The most painful thing is to be a shadow around a loved one, and the sincerity of the feelings finally turns into fulfilling her request and happiness with her own life. When the tide is rising, Xingxian prepares the funeral and lets Mr. Yu swim back to the sea to go to an appointment that he can never go back to. The last letter just lightly rebuked her for not expressing her feelings earlier, and admitted that it was his greatest blessing to know her, and hoped to return to her the good fortune she had given him. He stretched out his hand and watched her with the last tear left, and there was no later.

The house on Jeju Island was erected because of one of her wishes. It may not be difficult to build a house for our beloved or even true love, but it is difficult to give her or him a home. The comfort and warmth of the sea comes with the love within it. Love comes in different ways, but always ends in the same way. Even though the people he loves are far away from him, he is still determined to design a house for her and give her a piece of love, and finally let her find the source of love with this design drawing hanging on the wall. Fortunately, she was finally full of desperation to retain her, and was finally heard by fate. We let go because we are still alive and later.





The lake house is cold and dry, with bright, full colors. The communication between people that American culture strives to emphasize makes each character a little noisy but in fact indispensable, less gloomy and alienating, and more warm and humorous. Trivial and realistic little plots make us realize that love has more than one form. Crime and Punishment has always been taken by her mother's side, her father's most cherished book, just to touch the words that her lover touched and read with her fingers, giving her a sense of belonging. A book can also be a home. The two replaced the flat letter paper and neat fonts of Koreans with torn notes, but they could still convey the unreachable concern and love. The communication between the two is more direct and colloquial. They can ridicule, confront each other, and quarrel. They are not so polite but make their feelings warm up faster. There is no explicit teaching about love but it is hidden in every detail, so subtle that it exists in a conversation with a five-year-old girl. If a woman just waits for a better man on the next street corner, she is likely to wait for the rest of her life. A man who is really worth waiting for, in fact, does not need to wait. Even if he cannot make an appointment, he will write his greetings to her at the agreed street corner and be with her at all times.



In fact, we are all looking for ourselves in the process of finding love. The love for our family, the love for our brothers and sisters, the love for our career, and the love for our lover, each of which is the proof that we exist. In the busy days, we have become isolated and hopeless. Even if we find so-called happiness in the city, we always feel that our hearts are left in the woods and lake houses. He drove dozens of kilometers from the suburbs to the city to carry a sapling with his own hands, just to shelter her from the rain on that rainy night two years later. Even though it was thousands of miles apart for years, he could always find a way to get to her in time to take care of her when she needed it, but in a different way. The lake house is a glass beauty built in the mountains and water, like a lotus, it can only be seen from a distance and cannot be played with. Houses represent ownership and control, not connection, perfect and alluring, but incomplete. Some people can only build a house but don't know how to build a home. When we can't admit and face our mistakes, we choose to stay away and refuse, choose to forget and forgive. When looking back, hopefully it's not too late.

Jane Austen's "Persuasion" becomes another clue, and it's a story to wait. He said we saw each other, at least I saw you. The moment he passed by, he could already see the undefended innocence in her eyes. There are more intersections in their lives, at least they can sit side by side and talk about waiting and timing, and about the chance encounter, separation, and reunion of people in the book. He was so full of thoughts that he could only remain silent. Sometimes we don't know what we're going through so we say we haven't experienced it, but we actually have. We still hope to exist in the same time and space with the people we care about, even if we don’t say anything, just look at the water and the sun, and lean on each other’s shoulders to support and encourage each other, so when we are not around when he needs it most, we will be like this Blame yourself and regret, hope that any little effort you make can help any little help, and then you will be relieved a little.

The intersection of the two films is the American version of the restaurant named Hai, which, like the Korean version of Hai, is a place of waiting and expectation. He also didn't make an appointment. The unpredictability of the future made him and Xingxian unable to explain his absence, but they knew that as long as they lived, they would never forget such an important day. He asked her to insist not to give up, give her another chance, and wait for the next chance as hard as in the book. It was she who lost her confidence and said that life is not a novel and can't start all over again in an instant. No one can live a lonely life with no one waiting. Life is a reality, a reality that she has to face, so she begged him, let him let her let him go . It was not until he died in her arms that he thought of returning to the lake house to continue this peaceful and beautiful daydream.

Fortunately, she also woke up in the end, and she must send that letter of retention, and beg the same desperate, let him not come no matter what, please wait, don't come, I love you, please don't come to me, although I can't say it , but I do love you, but please wait for me, wait for me, wait for me, come back to the lake house in two years. The pigeons in the Chicago Plaza suddenly flew into the sky, and the vehicles in the city were still flowing. In the distance of the woods, there were countless figures waiting to be found in the interlaced time and space. Wait, make everything worthwhile, and let everything continue.

No matter what kind of story it is or what kind of person

writes it, the untouchable love will always be touched.

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Extended Reading

The Lake House quotes

  • Alex: [after he saw her at the subway station in 2004] I don't know if you remember but, we saw each other. That is, I saw you. You never told me... how beautiful you were.

    Kate: Well, maybe you saw someone else. That was a bad hair year for me.

    Alex: Long brown hair, gentle unguarded eyes...

    Kate: OK, OK. You saw me. But I still don't know what you look like.

  • Kate: It was you. Why didn't you tell me?

    Alex: You would've thought I was crazy or drunk. Or both.