Movie Review: Il Mare

 My introduction to the world of South Korean movies was when I watched the first half the movie “A wonderful nightmare” on the flight to London. The movie was about the soul of a dead career woman returning in the body of a house wife and it was just okay. But since I was feeling lonely in London where it becomes pitch dark by 7 pm, I indulged my curiosity on how the movie ends by looking it up on YouTube. Thus started my foray into the world of Korean movies and once I watched “Il Mare” (which is Italian for “The Sea”), I was hooked.

 ‘Il Mare’ is a story about a long distance relationship with a twist. It’s about time travel though the size of the item that can travel as well as the amount of time that can be traversed is pretty limited -  a time travelling mailbox that provides the link between a guy (Sung Hyun) living in 1998 and a girl (Eun Joo) living in 2000. The movie focuses on a plot point that is the staple for all Korean movies and dramas – all the angst and heartache that come from a romance that cannot be. It’s a typical story of two people falling for each other while they help each other deal with personal losses - getting over her ex-boyfriend and dealing with the death of his estranged father. Only, all the cheering needs to be done by mail as they can’t hold hands or have a shoulder to lean on. Our lead couple is quite innovative though and even manage to go on virtual dates. But at the end of their dates, they walk back alone and soon, it is just not enough.

What I loved about the movie is that it took me on a journey with the lead couple as they went from being incredulous about getting letters from the past/future (it takes them a good 7 – 8 days to respond to the initial letters) to being excited about having a pen pal living at a different time (trying their hand at instant messaging through mailbox) to sharing their emotions and helping each other get through their loneliness. It is not a passionate love story but a subtle romance that builds over time. Also, there are a lot of cute moments especially their interactions with the dog, Cola.

I loved that I could feel Eun Joo’s pain when Sung Hyun fails to make it to their rendezvous in 2000 after promising to be there in 2 years, come hell or high water. It’s like being stood up and dumped for reasons you don’t know and the other person doesn’t know either. I could also feel Sung Hyun’s desperation when he looks longingly at the past self of the girl he loves and she passes him by like he doesn’t exist. His helplessness at the behaviour of his future self and accepting that may be they are not meant to be is captured so beautifully that it broke my heart. The most moving scene for me though is the moment where Sung Hyun meets with an accident on his way to meet Eun Joo, right outside the cafe where she is sitting by the window. Staring death in the face, he extends his hand in her direction, reaching out to the most important person in his life and all she sees is a stranger involved in an unfortunate accident.

I read that there is a Hollywood adaptation of “Il Mare” called “The Lake house” starring Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves but after my sincere attempts to watch the whole movie (involving a lot of skipping forward), I must say that it doesn’t even come close to capturing the essence of the original. The Lake House tries to spell out everything for the audience whereas Il Mare just focuses on the state of mind of the leads and merely hints at the events happening around them. The only point where the adaptation was better was the way it ended (which I cannot elaborate on without spoilers) which if the original movie had used would have made it more rational with lesser impact on the time-space continuum and the heroine’s emotions at that point (or lack thereof) – but that’s just me being nit-picky. Also, that last scene in “Il mare” brought a smile to my face even when my brain was screaming, “Nooooo, don’t do that. Wait for one more year.”

This movie is like soft coffee cake and warm chocolate with very little sugar - something to be savoured on a quiet cold night alone.

Other Movies Reviewed:
Movie Review: Raavan vs Raavanan
Movie Review: IG - The ultimate in bad action movies

The Adventurer

 

I lifted my head up and looked around tentatively. It was deceptively calm and a gentle breeze played with the strands of loose hair around my face. That was good news. The breeze meant that it was my second awakening and I am not too far from the great hills where the breeze is constant. The quiet also meant that the forces were away. My heart leapt - this could be the day. As my vision cleared, I looked ahead and saw the gentle hills rise up in the horizon and my lips broke into a smile. Seeing the great hills tends to do that to me. They looked taller than usual today but that did nothing to diminish the happiness that surged in my heart. The sheer cliffs and slippery slopes don’t deter me but egg me on to try my new-found strength. They are a challenge, a calling that cannot be ignored. After all, it is at the foot of the great hills that I discovered my life’s purpose. The cave came much later, eerie in the quiet darkness that is its core, beckoning to me to venture into its depths and unravel its secrets. But the cave is an adventure for another day for that is what I am. I am an adventurer. 

Not for me the life of quietude in the plains, spending the day eating, sleeping, playing and being content with what the plains have to offer. Not that what the plains offer are not wondrous. The plains have been kind to me. Long ago, when I lay helpless, weak with limited vision, unable to fathom the land I was in, they had nurtured me. Those days, I could not see the hills and did not wonder at what lay beyond. But even then, the embers of the fire within me pushed me to exercise, to work on my skills, to improve my strength, and of course to test the forces. Slowly but steadily my range of movement increased. Then, one day, I had ventured farther up the plains and found myself at the foot of the great hills. They stood like sentinels guarding the beyond. The hills gave my life new meaning. Since that day, I have made it my life’s purpose to conquer the hills. Every morning, after my first awakening, I consume as much nutrition as I can and take some much needed rest. It’s the second awakening that brings me close to my destiny. When I say destiny, I do not mean the beyond. I do not know what lies there. It could be a wondrous land or a dark abyss that would consume me. My destiny is the adventure itself - to pull myself atop the great hills and behold the beyond.

I lifted my head up and looked around tentatively. The quiet seemed complete. I could not sense the forces around. I ventured forward slowly but steadily towards the hills, my senses tuned to detect the slightest movement, the slightest sound, anything that would indicate the presence of a force, for the presence of a force would doom my mission. I have often wondered whether the forces are good or evil. I have come to realise that they are not malevolent. Just as I have a purpose, they have one too. They are the keepers of the beyond. I learnt a long time ago that I cannot fight the forces. The forces have power and speed beyond measure. But there is one great secret that makes my adventure possible. I have been studying the forces for long and found that they are not constant. They can only be in one land at one time and there are other lands they need to be. Around the plains and the great hills, they are strongest at night and weakest at my second awakening. So that is when I strike. Stealth is the key.  As I made my way up the hills, I realised that they are indeed taller today than usual. But that is to be expected. The hills tend to be taller when the forces are weak. I pushed forward doggedly, pulling myself up with the new-found strength in my arms and pressing my tummy against the sheer sides for support. As I stretched my hand up to find my next hold, my fingers came upon a flat surface. Finally, I was almost there. I gripped the surface and pulled myself up with all my strength. In an instant, I was sprawled on top of the hill I had chosen to climb this morning, my arms still gripping the surface and my tummy just ahead of the incline that I had just climbed. My legs still dangled down pointing towards the plains far below.

I was startled by the suddenness of the change around me as I heard a rumbling like a thunder cloud drawing near. Oh, no. While I had been busy savouring my success, I had let my guard down and the forces had drawn near. I looked ahead and could see the beyond stretching ahead of me. I knew it was too late but being the adventurer that I am, I lunged forward in one last desperate attempt as the forces swirled around me and enveloped me. As the forces took over and carried me far away from my beloved hills my disappointment and frustration poured forth in a heart-rending cry that was drowned out by a rumble that sounded like, “Anu, stay off the pillows or you will fall off the bed”.

I often wonder what is going through the head of my seven month old daughter when I pull her away from atop the pillows kept around the bed to keep her from falling to the floor. If you could understand her language, I imagine, this would be her story.

Book Review: Predictably Irrational

As Mark Twain once noted about Tom Sawyer, “Tom has discovered a great law of human action namely, that in order make a man covet a thing it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain”. As per Dan Ariely, in his book ”Predictably Irrational”, this is exactly why Tahitian black pearls are today considered prized possessions.

Dan Ariely is a professor of Behavioural Economics at Duke University. This book is an excellent compilation of the results of his experiments on human rationality or the lack of it. While the book could serve as an excellent introduction to the field of Behavioural Economics, the stated objective of the book is to make its readers more aware of their propensity to make irrational decisions. The author’s conviction is that by understanding our predictably irrational behaviours, we can adjust for them in our decision making process and make better, more rational decisions. In short, this book aims to do for behavioural sciences what Stephen Hawking did for space science with “A Brief History of Time” to become the coffee table book on human irrationality.

The premise of the book is that while everyone (except several traditional economic theories) acknowledges that humans are not rational beings at all times, we do not fully appreciate the extent of our irrationality. In the introduction to the book, Dan promises to help us understand why we fail to stick to our diet plans when the dessert cart rolls around, why we buy things we do not need, and why honour codes reduce the incidence of cheating. By the end of the book, he achieves this and some more.

Each chapter introduces and discusses a different type of irrational behaviour. The brilliance of the author and the editors lies in the fact that a chapter starts with carefully chosen and perfectly worded questions to get us thinking about the specific irrationality that he would be discussing in that chapter. For example, he starts the chapter on ‘The Cost of Zero Cost’ by asking whether we would buy something we do not need (let’s say coffee beans for a tea drinker) if it were discounted from 50 cents to 2 cents (from Rs. 30 to Rs. 1). The answer for most people would be either ‘No’ or ‘Maybe’. Now, what if the same thing is discounted to zero and given away for free. The default answer for just about everyone would be a resounding ‘Yes’. He starts the chapter by asking why we cannot stop ourselves from accumulating things simply because we get it for free. By doing this, he gets us thinking along the lines of why we behave the way we do even before he introduces us to the experiments he has conducted in the area. He ends each chapter with his thoughts on the implications of the irrational behaviour and its applications in areas from day-to-day decision making to government policies.

What this book is not about is a simple step-by-step solution to irrational behaviour. The book does not claim to be all-encompassing in terms of human irrationality either. It aims to make us more aware of human behaviour so that the next time we plan a diet or look at the ads for an appliance we plan to purchase or plan our negotiation strategy, we take these irrationalities into account. It is an interesting read for everyone, and especially for MBA grads with exposure to both economics and organizational behaviour.

 Rating: 8/10