Closer To Heaven (South Korean)

Closer To Heaven is so a beautiful romance movie from South Korea that the whole world could learn from. Ha Ji-won and Kim Myung- min truly did a remarkable job in making us believe in their love and hope for a happy ending that never comes.


"Lee Ji-soo was a twice divorced funeral director who reunited with old friend Baek Jong-woo for funeral services for his mother. Jong-woo had suffered from Lou-Gehrig-Syndrome in which he battled as teenager ever since. Ji-soo, who had suffered two divorces, finds herself bonding with Jong-woo and they begin to fall in love with other. Later on they get married, however they went through several trials along the way." - Wikipedia

Do not expect a happy ending or in other words don't expect an American ending. This film is realistic in it's love, so realistic that it hits our hearts at full force. To the point we also might think about our mortality and wondering if we too had ever had true love like these two characters had.
I don't know any girl that would stay at my side if I had ALS or even other serious disease and take care of me. I realize through this film that I never felt what true love is..Do you?

Lee Ji-su (Ha Ji-won) is a funeral director who no man could love because of her hands. She prepares the dead for the afterlife by cleaning them up and making them look better than ever. She never expected to fall in love with a man from her past that was fighting a serious disease. She like a lot people did not know what ALS was and despite finding out what it is she stayed by her loves side.
Even when he made  a turn for the worse she left but came back. She could never deny the fact she loves the man. Ha Ji-won made a stellar performance and proves she can play dramtic roles and not just comedic roles.

Baek Jong-woo (Kim Myung-min) is a made stricken with ALS and is bound to a wheelchair. He gets better then gets worse to the point he can no longer move by himself. All the time he has the love of Lee Ji-su though he tries to push her away she eventually comes back to stay by his side until the painful end. It's my first time seeing Kim Myung-min act but it will not be the last. He did such a great job depicting the pain of ALS patients and a man in love that knows he will die.

This movie hit home with me since I knew someone who went through ALS and eventually died in his sleep. I saw him go through most of the stages I saw in the movie nad heard about what he went through during his last part of his life. That's how I knew the scenes in this film are realistic, as are the feelings that float all around this film.

Good night true love, I'll see you again when the time comes

3.9/5

Flowers of War (2011 Chinese Historical Film)

This is not a romantic film! This film is filled with the atrocities of war, but manages to slip in a little romance.

Before I start, I would like to say that I never heard of The Rape of Nanking until I watched this film. It changed my life, I began to research the event and watched other movies that featured this horrible event. This film was inspired by 13 Flowers of Nanjing by Geling Yan.

This film features Christian Bale as an American missionary that comes to China during the 1937 Japanese Invasion of Nanjing (aka Nanking). We eventually see a clash between the young girls and the brothel women.

Although this films starts off rocky, it does get better and has become one of my favorite films. Now on to one of my least favorite romances-the tragic one.

Yu Mo (played Ni Ni, in her acting debut) is the leader of the courtesans or In other words a group of women from a brothel that manage to get into the church's property. This is a conflict between Yu Mo and John Miller (Christian Bale) whom Miller wants to sleep with. In the beginning Yu Mo strings Miller along because he is "white face" which she hopes will hope her survive this tragic time. But towards the end of the film I believe she truly falls in love with him and wants to be with him. She even gives him her body willingly for the first time in her life that she can remember.

John Miller (Christian Bale) is shown as a selfish American drunk but eventually he grows to be a respectable character. He eventually protects the girls and the women that he has no reason to. He falls for Yu Mo early on but truly shows her his heart towards the very end when they are preparing to separate forever.

Christian Bale does a wonderful job in this film, he has great character development and a depth of character that only he seems to know how to use. He adds a whole other level in this film, I see him as a more respectable actor.
Ni Ni such a beautiful women was wonderful in this film, it was her first time acting in anything! I was surprised at that, she already seems like she has a good handle on it. I hope to see her in more films.


I was quite conflicted to add this film to this list because of the tragic events behind it an I hope I haven't hurt anyone's feelings by including this film here.

4/5

In no way is this film a happy film, so expect to walk away feeling something other than happiness.

IL Mare (2000-South Korean)

IL Mare is a 2000 South Korean romantic fantasy that dares to be a little different. Americans should be familiar with the general plot line, since this is that The Lake House was the remake of.

These two people are locked in a weird romance, the man is living two years in the past and the girl is in present time. They communicate through this mailbox by letters or even by tape.

It was quite interesting to see the development between this two characters that were excellently played by their actors. Honestly this two were way better than Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. In comparison this film blows the Lake House out of the water.

First up Eun Joo (Jun Ji-Hyun) a beautiful young woman who moves out of the main house into an apartment complex in the city. Yet she keeps coming to the house and checking out the mail box after she discovers someone has written a letter back to her. With this character with have the modern female who was spurred by love but isn't afraid to find it again but is afraid to lose it. She is seen trying to fall in love but we know how that ends up.

Sung-hyun (Lee Jung-jae) is a man literally living in the past, he is the first tenant of IL Mare. He discovers Eun Joo's letters and starts to write back. He even gets back a tape recorder she lost 2 years ago. He is a strong character that we enjoy to see, it is very nice to see this character played so well.



I have to overall this film is great, I hate that the remake couldn't even match the level of this film. I suggest this film to all those that love romance movies, this will change your mind about the Lake House and Korean movies.

4/5