The Lake House

THE LAKE HOUSE (2006  DVD)- To be discussed on Wed May 1 at 6pm at Geneseo Public Library
             

                                              

The Lake House is a 2006 American romantic drama film remake of the South Korean motion picture Il Mare (2000). It was written by David Auburn, directed by Alejandro Agresti, and stars Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock as Alex Wyler and Kate Forster, respectively an architect living in 2004 and a doctor living in 2006. The two meet via letters left in a mailbox at the lake house they have both lived in at separate points in time; they carry on correspondence over two years, remaining separated by their original difference of two years. For Alex the time goes from 2004 to 2006. For Kate the time goes from 2006 to 2008.

Cast

• Keanu Reeves as Alex Wyler
• Sandra Bullock as Kate Forster
• Christopher Plummer as Simon J. Wyler
• Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Henry Wyler
• Shohreh Aghdashloo as Dr. Anna Klyczynski
• Dylan Walsh as Morgan Price
• Willeke van Ammelrooy as Mrs. Forster
• Lynn Collins as Mona

Production

The film is set and filmed in the Chicago area. The lake house itself was built on what is called Maple Lake, located within the Maple Lake Forest Preserve off of 95th Street in the southwest suburbs of Chicago. After filming the house was later removed and a simple fishing dock was put in its place. The downtown scenes are in The Loop. The scene where Kate and Morgan go to Henry's office, and Kate's dramatic exit down the stairs was filmed at the Chicago Architecture Foundation. The scene where Henry and Alex talk on the street after being in their father's office was filmed on the 400 block of South Michigan Ave, in front of the Fine Arts Building and the Auditorium Theater. Other filming location include Aurora, Illinois (now the Madison Park community) & Riverside, Illinois, a small town on the outskirts of Chicago known for its historic houses, and several Frank Lloyd Wright buildings. The train station in the movie is the real station of Riverside, and the bridge that Alex crosses, chasing Jack is called the "Swinging Bridge". It crosses the Des Plaines River. The lake house itself was built for the movie and dismantled after filming completed.

Questions:

1.        Did you enjoy this DVD?

2.       How does the setting figure into the plot?

3.       What are some of the story’s themes? 

4.       What did you think of the main characters?

5.       Did the movie end the way you expected?

6.       Would you recommend this DVD?