Limelight: Mystifying lakes By Lubna Abdel-Aziz A solitary house, all made of glass, perched by a silent lake, is the idyllic setting for a perfect movie romance -- but there is more. Lakes are deep, dark and chilling bodies of water, whispering secrets too unnatural for mortals to fathom. Whether man-made or natural, deep or shallow, fresh or salty, they exude an incomprehensible aura of metaphysical visions that are eerily haunting. It is little wonder that lakes have inspired many a creative mind with poems, ballads, fairy tales, and novels, as the perfect location for tales of baffling mysteries, breathtaking and bewildering. Hitchcock, among other filmmakers, has often used the paranormal ambiance of a still lake as a backdrop for his many suspense-filled fables, of fathomless fantasies. The latest attempt at capitalising on the magic spell of a lake is a film that unites two popular stars who left their mark after their first collaboration 12 years ago in the summer blockbuster Speed. They are Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, and they are hoping to repeat their joint success this summer in their new thriller the Lake House, a singularly isolated glass structure that sits over Lake Michigan, USA. They are Alex and Kate, two star-crossed lovers, separated by time, space and two calendar years. Alex, a moody architect lives in 2004, and Kate, a broody doctor lives in 2006. They have both resided in the same lake house over Lake Michigan, one of the famous Great Lakes of North America. Both long for love, romance and companionship, both express their longing in letters they write to each other via a magical mail-box. In 2006 Kate writes Alex a note, and places it in the mail-box. In 2004 Alex receives the note and sends his reply. Kate goes to the mail-box and finds it. The pen-pals fall in love. They write to each other of their dreams, their needs, their parents, their dogs (which happens to be one and the same scruffy canine). In this day and age of techno-e-mail communication; this may be totally confusing, but it works. The choice of Lake Michigan seems quite appropriate. More mysterious events have occurred in this region than in the notorious Bermuda Triangle, the Hoodoo Sea, or any of the other so- called zones of mystery. The locale of Lake Michigan is stranger than fiction could conjure. While questions still surround a monster at Loch Ness, and the strange events on the ocean floor of the Atlantic, there is no question that the Great Lakes have devoured and buried many a sailing ship for no apparent reason. The oldest of these wrecks and the most elusive of all shipwrecks is that of 'The Griffon', which sank on its maiden voyage in 1679 in Northern Lake Michigan. The ship carried no treasures, only a cargo of furs, now hundreds of feet below the surface. In 1779 John Paul Jones' ship, the Bohemian Richard, also sank in the North Sea, while battling the British. The numerous shipwrecks of The Great Lakes have tantalised historians and adventurers for centuries and, like the Bermuda Triangle, have spawned mystery after mystery. Research has revealed even stranger events in that area. Could this place really be a doorway to a mysterious realm that is beyond the natural, harbouring perhaps another dimension? With this in mind, it is easier to accept a story as original in concept as The Lake House. This story is by no means the first of thwarted love, hampered by two different time periods. Somewhere in Time, with the late Christopher Reeve portrayed two lovers existing in different centuries. A telefilm, The Love Letter, had an antique roll-top desk as a pathway through which a 20th century writer communicates with a 19th century poet. The classic 88 Charing Cross Road is another example of the remote epistolary yearning. Weary of its sequels and prequels, Hollywood is seeking inspiration from the many superior Asian productions that contain refreshingly new treatments and ideas, rarely viewed by international audiences. These adaptations often fall short of the original Oriental mystique as was the case of Shall We Dance (2005) with Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez, which was not nearly as profound and moving as the original Japanese film. Argentine director Alejandro Agresti ( Valentin ) fares better with his Lake House, based on the Southern Korean film Il Mare (2000). His time-travel version explores a soft and gentle romance, perhaps little known to today's movie-goers, overwhelmed by the abundance of lusty, touchy, clutchy, love scenes. What a perfect setting for a strange romance in this region that boasts a variety of strange happenings. The story of Alex and Kate is no less bizarre than the disappearance of numerous ships and their crew in this zone of mystery, that speaks of a force, as yet unexplained by man. The Great Lakes has not only had a higher concentration of losses than any comparable area elsewhere, but has held this unenviable position for over 100 years. Some survivors of one shipwreck have explained this deadly anomaly as an invisible strange force that drives men insane. Others, stunned by the loss of 'The Quinlan' describe the accident as 'some odd attraction' that overtook their ship rendering their compass useless. Others attribute these bizarre events, and the instant disappearance of one ship 'The Picton', as if it were suddenly transported out of this world. Clues seem to delay solution. Countless books and articles have been written on the subject with a wide spectrum of theories, like UFOs, a world beyond our own, deep below the waters, or rays of energy from crystal, said to be relics of an ancient civilisation of Antlanteans who used crystal as a power source. Whatever the reasons, the bizarre romance of The Lake House seems relatively normal fare compared to the strange happenings beyond our present day understanding, and have yet to be explained scientifically. There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio Than is dreamt of in your philosophy -- Hamlet. William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
