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| [No Copyright Infringement Intended] |
Love is mysterious and we will never going to predict when will it would strike us and who one lucky person who with make us fall, one person whom our souls were in perfect conjugation with. In this country of conservative values and religious culture, are we Filipinos now ready to revolutionize the modern societal point of view of the kind of love between same gender persons who are struggling just to be accepted and love freely without contempt?
Released as an independent film under Cinema One Originals, written and directed by Connie Macatuno, this motion picture have all the sincerity to touch, teach and reach our hearts by a love story between two women with different lifestyle and environment; how they faced the consequences that nearly crashed some important aspects of their live and the people around them. To accept it or not, our country is still not in wide open hands to embrace these kind of relationships mainly because of our deep religious influences throughout the centuries. This is reality and as it happens, same sex love may be viewed by some as queer but its presence in our modern world should not be disrespected nor be condemned. This film is a brave effort to show us Filipinos that these situations exist not just in other countries but in our own. There has been a thirst for the Pinoy LGBT community for this expression through the arts and media to make us understand how they feel and their struggles being a part of it.
Released as an independent film under Cinema One Originals, written and directed by Connie Macatuno, this motion picture have all the sincerity to touch, teach and reach our hearts by a love story between two women with different lifestyle and environment; how they faced the consequences that nearly crashed some important aspects of their live and the people around them. To accept it or not, our country is still not in wide open hands to embrace these kind of relationships mainly because of our deep religious influences throughout the centuries. This is reality and as it happens, same sex love may be viewed by some as queer but its presence in our modern world should not be disrespected nor be condemned. This film is a brave effort to show us Filipinos that these situations exist not just in other countries but in our own. There has been a thirst for the Pinoy LGBT community for this expression through the arts and media to make us understand how they feel and their struggles being a part of it.
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| Rome and Juliet exchanging cozy talks. |
For the two
main characters, we see the two women in opposite dimensions of the universe.
They found a soulful connection they have never experienced with anyone before
resulting in mixed emotions of falling in love and identity crisis. Juliet
(Andrea del Rosario) is a simple and sweet gal who is in a relationship with
Marc (Rafael Rosell), a domineering, respectable but loving man who proposed
marriage in the midst of crisis undergoing in her family. Her longing for that
feeling of security praying to find her soulmate, the one she would be spending
her life forever. After his marriage proposal, she then thought it was really
him that she prayed for. As the story progresses, conflicts started to arise in
their relationship like their difference of social class and her inhibitions
about his dominance regarding her hairstyle preferences and choices of not
having a child for the mean time. Every time Juliet reads her diary is like cradling
the viewer’s soul. Hearing those words is like a song taking us into the
deepest part of her heart. Great script!
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| The first time Juliet read a poem from her diary. |
On the other
hand, Rome is a liberated soul, an entrepreneur who lives in sophistication,
brave independent principles and physical pleasures. Behind those sturdiness
hides a lonely and broken heart as from surviving a heartbreak involving her
ex-fiancée. The world changed when they met. Someone referred Rome to be Juliet’s
wedding planner and as the two ladies became friends, they soon developed a
kind of deep connection that gave them comfort and happiness whenever they were
in the company of each other.
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| When Juliet became jealous of Rome's ex-fiancee. |
If you guys
were an avid lesbian movies enthusiast, you will notice that there was a huge
resemblance to the movies “Imagine Me and You (2005)” and “I can’t think
Straight (2008)”. I wonder what is with bride-to-be-Women that lesbian films
were focused on those scenarios. In my point of view, these kind of situations
requires important choices by choosing if you will stand up for what you really
are or just keep quiet and go with the flow of what people view as normal and
accepted, to fight for things or someone that you know would make your life
complete and happy overcoming those clashing anxieties and emotional turmoil to
be free.
One of the
important parts of the movie was that love scene. It happened on the night that
they were both vulnerable; there was intense passion as they kissed and touched
each other. Could it happen in real life? I say yes. After that night,
situations and the people around them went into chaos. The church scene where
they talked and confessed what they feel for each other really touched the empathy
in me, melancholic yet romantic. Juliet stated choosing to marry Marc because
it was the acceptable in the eyes of people although Rome was telling her of
wanting to spend life with her. That talk never really ended it all. Now sure
of what she feels and a desire to win Juliet, Rome made an effort to stand in
front of others and expresses her love for her by an endearing speech, they
kissed. When Marc caught them in an intimate scenario in Rome’s place, things
got harder for Juliet and she still told him that she wants to marry him.
To avoid so many
spoilers, let us just continue with the review. The ending is good and for me
it did not disappoint and was fully justified, though you have to watch the
ending credits too because there is a scene found in the middle (the most important one).
The production and the creative team should be really commended for pursuing
this project. The two actresses really nailed it. Mylene exhibited so much
sensuality in her scenes from the way she smiled to that scene where she was in
the poetry session reciting her love while Andrea, setting aside her sexy image
as an actress portrayed Juliet with justice and her simple plainness of her
visage in the film added more appeal especially whenever she reads the poems
and the endearing script with the capability to reach the viewers’ heart and
soul. No wonder why they earned awards and nominations.
Also, I have
seen a lot of symbolism that made this indie flick so sensible. From Juliet’s
diary, symbolic of her deep thoughts, desires and emotional struggles, her deep
soul searching of what she really wants to find. Second are the flowers. In one
of the first scenes, Rome said that those could make a woman smile the reason
it could evoke emotions, to heal and to feel love. We would also see a lot of flowers
in some scenes like that moment Marc proposed giving them together with a ring.
Third is Juliet’s hair, her fiancée’s dominance was shown whenever he commands
her to tie it while deep inside it was against her will. The beaded bracelet
symbolizes of Juliet’s growing love.
This film
was shown nine years ago and I don’t mind how late it is to give a movie review
now. Overall, the movie is great in all its elements. As one of the breakthrough
lesbian films in the Philippines, I recommend this to the LGBT community and to
those straight people who want to understand this kind of love, the people who
by chance have this situation to face and be accepted as same human beings who
have the right to feel and express love the way they want to. -faf
MAIN CAST:
Mylene Dizon as Rome
Andrea Del
Rosario as Juliet
Rafael
Rosell as Marc
Tessie Tomas
as Charo
Glydel
Mercado as Lia
DIRECTOR:
Connie Macatuno
WRITERS:
Connie Macatuno, Chris Violago
PRODUCED
UNDER: Cinema One Originals
NOTABLE
AWARDS:
[Winner] Best Actress: Mylene Dizon (Cinema One Originals Film Festival 2006)
[Winner] Best Actress: Mylene Dizon (Cinema One Originals Film Festival 2006)
[Winner]
Best Production Design (Cinema One Originals Film Festival 2006)
[WINNER]
Best Screenplay (Gawad Urian Awards 2007)
[WINNER]
Best Supporting Actor: Rafael Rosell (Gawad Urian Awards 2007)
MY RATING: 4/5
MY RATING: 4/5
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