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Saturday, November 24, 2007
And I finally got to see another movie! Yeah!
I'm seeing another one later tonight as well (Enchanted), and I'm just soo glad that the movie slump is over. Well, sort of. After Stardust, it seemed as though the only movies playing were action/political/bad comedy ones, so I didn't get to watch another movie until yesterday. Anyway, I had lots and lots of fun seeing One More Chance with my friends!
Before I give the review though, I guess I just want to rant about how watching Filipino movies are getting to be so mainstream. A friend told me that she saw this movie on its opening day and the line for it was so long, she felt like she was seeing Harry Potter again. Okay, maybe she was exagerrating, but nonetheless there was a long line. Even within my office, a lot of people made plans to see it, which is of course good, because that keeps Philippine Cinema alive (!), but oh well, you know me and mainstream stuff. I'm just not too keen on sharing things with people who I feel don't genuinely appreciate them, and are just in it because they think it's funny. And I don't appreciate the sarcastic remarks either (e.g. "It's the best movie kaya!"). I mean, if they really thought that, they wouldn't be laughing while they said that it was the best movie (ever!) they've seen, right?
Okay, but I'm ranting on places where rants are not needed. This is supposed to be a movie review! Right. So... Beware of spoilers!
Quick synopsis:
Basha (Bea Alonzo) and Popoy (John Lloyd Cruz) have been together for five years. They started going out in college, and since then they've been inseperable. Having the same friends and being in related fields (Basha's an architect, Popoy's an engineer) make them live, almost just one life. And so, Basha wanted out. She needed some space. So she breaks up with Popoy, leaving him a broken-hearted mess, while she goes out to "find herself", learning how life could be without him.
Just some (small) pet peeves:
I don't like their names at all. I kept cringing whenever I heard them say "Bash", just because it sounds like a wrestler name to me. But it's just a name. A rose by any other would smell just as sweet. Blah blah. I'm very nitpicky with names.
I'm not very fond of the terms "finding yourself" and "I need space". It's right up there with "friends with benefits" and "I need closure", which are all right up there with "It's not you, it's me." and "We could still be friends". Yes, I am aware that it's difficult to express thoughts and feelings, and there's nothing wrong with using "pre-set" terms to define a relationship. But somehow, when you use something that's already been said by a lot of people that it becomes a staple break-up line, or worse, a running joke among couples, it just seems less sincere to me.
I'm so used to seeing John Lloyd and Bea in a GP - PG13 movie, that well, I just don't think the semi-R scenes were necessary. For example, that scene where they kissed and eventually went to bed, I think, could've been just fine if they'd just kissed (very passionately, if the point was to show that they still had that physical connection), and then one of them comes to his/her senses, and suddenly stands back and retreats to either the elevator or the apartment. I think that would've given the same message.
And now that those are out of the way:
Did y'all notice the symbolisms in the movie, yeah? I like this movie because it had a lot of it. I like symbolisms because 1) it makes the audience think a little more; and 2) it's great when you find it! :)
So here are the ones I found:
1) Basha's Wardrobe - Sure, she went through a "change", the most obvious one being her haircut, but did y'all notice that her clothes became different, too? I did, because I remember noticing how cute her dresses were at the beginning of the movie, and how she kept wearing pants in the middle of the movie, and how in the scene where she and Popoy sort of "rekindled" their feelings, she was once again, wearing a dress. And then at the ending, she'd "combined" the old her, and the new her, by wearing an outfit of the new her, with the hairstyle of the old her. It's nothing big, but sometimes I do think that costumes are underrated, despite it being a huge part of a character.
2) The Picture Frame - This being the most obvious one, I suspect we all know that of course, when Popoy was trying to erase the dust mark (?) that an old picture frame (which had his and Basha's  dreamhouse on it) made, he was really trying to erase the mark that Basha had left on his heart (eww, mush). But he just couldn't.
3) The Hardhat! - Did you all remember Popoy's comment about how he didn't need to give Basha a hardhat because she wouldn't leave him anyway? It was just mentioned in passing, but how cute was it when Basha put a hardhat on his head at the end of the movie, symbolizing that she would ensure that she wouldn't let him go again? I think it was just so cute. At first I thought it was unfair because hey, they both need hardhats in the kind of relationship they had, but I guess it was justified because it had been Basha who left Popoy in the first place. The scene reminded of the Korean movie My Boyfriend is Type B, where at the beginning of their relationship it was Lee Dong Gun's character who could say to his girl "If you're not here in 100 seconds, I'm breaking up with you." But then in the end, it was the girl who says that to him, and it's his turn to submit. It's just so cute.
4) The Umbrella! - Whee! I love the rain! And I love umbrellas! I actually collect them. Haha! Anyway, I think it was hard to miss how Popoy used the same umbrella from their romantic scene in their college days, that time when they'd already broken up, but he rescued Basha anyway when her car broke down. Sometimes I think it's really the little things like that that hurt even more, because you very often forget the little things, but when you see them again, they can bring back the deepest of feelings you've ever felt.
(Disclaimer for the next part -- the quotes are just an approximation. I couldn't very well write them down in the cinema, so these are all from memory. They might not be exact. But the meaning's just the same (I hope).)
What else can I say? This movie was a total tear jerker! Namaga ang mata ko! I think I was already crying 10 minutes into the movie where Popoy had said, "You're asking for too much! Hinihingi mong mawala ka sa buhay ko..."
Waahh! I get teary eyed just thinking about it. But the part I really cried in, at least the first part (haha!) was when Popoy stood in the rain and said, "Kung magkasakit kaya ako, kakausapin niya 'ko?" Waah T_T it's just so, true, isn't it? I mean, I've not only thought of getting myself sick, but actually seriously considered walking into an "accident" that breaks some of my bones, just to get the attention I want.
And that whole, "Isang text lang ng nanay niya, nandun na'ko. Isang text lang!" that Popoy was saying, when he was drowning his sorrows with alcohol, well... I think I even wrote a poem with that same feeling.
Oh no, I'm giving too much information about my life now, aren't I? Is it a bad thing that I can relate more to Popoy and not Basha? (Haha! I'm a controlling freak! :P) Maybe this entry belongs to my other blog instead. Hehe. But seriously, I think the biggest strength of the movie lies in how so many people will be able to relate to it. A friend of mine said to me once, "The common mistake that people in relationships make is that they always do the things that's for the growth of the relationship. They completely neglect their personal growth."
And a line like that was said in the movie, too. (By Bea's (er, PBB Bea, I don't know her last name and I'm too lazy to research) character) "Hindi sila magiging okey unless okey si Basha. At hindi magiging okey si Basha unless magkahiwalay sila." Or something like that.
Anyway, I think that that's the main message of the movie, so I don't hate Basha's character at all. And when she said she was hurting, too, well... It really made me see that it's not necessarily just the "dumpee" that gets hurt, no matter how much the "dumper" wants to get out. And yeah, I think she's right in thinking that she might be hurting even more than Popoy because it was her choice to break up with him in the first place. So when he gets over it, she doesn't really have a right to get mad at him. And not having the right to get mad at anyone, well, that's a b*tch.
The only other thing I didn't like was how Maja Salvador who plays Popoy's new girlfriend Trisha, did not give justice to her role as a singer, and didn't deliver her lines well at all. Can she maybe get a speech coach or something? Because I really think that the scene where she said some lyrics out loud was such a key scene, and it was totally ruined by her pronunciation. Audiences notice things like that. Why is Winona Ryder so famous for giving dramatic monologues? Because her pronunciation is top notch.
And now that's done. This is by far the weirdest movie review I've ever written. Or, the weirdest time I've had, writing a review. I'm just feeling very emotional at the moment. And although there are a lot more stuff I could say about the film, I'm just not in the condition right now where I can think straight.
P.S. The 3-month rule was hilarious, and so were all the comedy scenes including the whole "Love is blind" and "Take me, Lord" thing. Hehe.
Posted at 11:57 am by miriyammqx
 | | | jay-ar belisario
May 16, 2008 06:57 PM PDT
4ward nyo naman ung whole lyrics na gnawa ni maja to john loyd,,wahahah | |
| | | chay
April 7, 2008 02:41 PM PDT
umm.. just wanna ask kng ano ung whole lyrics n ginawa ni tricia( maja salvador) to popoy (john lloyd)??
ahihihi.... | |
| | | mmmqx
November 29, 2007 12:26 PM PST
@vanessa: hey! thanks for the read! and for the lengthy explanation! XD
i just want to make it clear though, i'm not actually siding with popoy. i just quoted a lot of his lines because they're the ones i found most "quotable". basha didn't have too many lines that made an impact on me, but i really do admire her character for going for what she wants, and wanting more than "safe", in a romantic relationship.
great movie nonetheless! :D
@kai: kj ka! you should've cried with us! :P | |
| | | vanessa
November 26, 2007 04:34 PM PST
thanks for watching the movie. and for the lengthy review. :-)
i get your dissatisfaction about basha's reason for breaking up with Popoy. but if you look closer, it was really more popoy's lack of respect and consideration for the person that she is that made her decide to break up with him. yes, wanting space and finding herself were at the forefront of it all; but more than that, she was at the breaking point of her self-esteem which had been so badly mangled-up by popoy's incessant need to control everything and everyone.
basha didn't mind all the little forms of control in the 5 years they were together. but his purposeful "pangigialam" with the scale model gave her a glimpse of the life she would have with this man: it was a life where she would have to be a perfect invention of his desires, instead of her true self. this little scene was her breaking point. and this horrific realization was driven home by the scene with the chicken skin. and you see it in bea alonzo's facial expression.
actually, this scene involving the scale model ticked off everyone in the viewing room during the editing process of the movie. a lot of the people in the room sided with basha at this point. it's one thing to offer help and provide that help, but only in the context of freedom. and at this point, popoy had become this uber-controlling, insensitive jerk.
you know, your review provides a great contrast to a review written by a guy on clickthecity.com entitled "it's a mystery." i hope you can read it. it's rather insightful. (here's the link: http://www.clickthecity.com/movies/userreview.asp?ratingid=32562&typeid=201&pid=11220)
i really loved reading that review because it seems, most of the women who saw this movie did side with popoy while the men took basha's side. just last saturday, i was informed that a group of 7 straight high school boys saw this movie together and they were all of the belief that popoy was the real reason for the break-up, and in their words, "nakakaawa si basha."
my theory is that women sympathize with popoy because they don't ever want to be accused as the heartless b-tch who left behind the nearly-perfect guy. the boys, on the other hand, sided with basha because they don't ever want to be the kind of boyfriend who wreaks such horrible emotional trauma to their girlfriends. interesting POVs really.
i'm glad that you noticed the umbrella and the picture frame -- we purposefully wrote those in. :-)
as for basha and popoy's names ... well, basha is the name of the daughter of someone who worked on the film. and for some reason, giving her a name that wasn't so run-of-the-mill seemed fitting: after all, this was a girl trying to break out of the mold that popoy had been stifling her with.
as for popoy's name, it just seemed right to give him a name that didn't sound so masculine, so put-together, so threatening. we wanted to make him seem so harmless, so unlike the controlling guy he really is.
you're also right about the observation on relationships and how people neglect their individual growth. but i think the line that best sums that up, and is truly the heart of the movie, is mark telling basha that break-ups can be good things too if they allow people to grow up. after all, "it takes grown-ups to make a relationship work." and at that point in the movie, basha was well on her way to maturity, but popoy still had a long way to go.
as for the love scene ... hahahaha! let's just say, you and i are of the same mind. i would have been fine with just a kiss too. but you and i would be a very the minority. :-) and even though i felt that a kiss would have conveyed the same idea, from a more emotional (rather than structural/narrative standpoint) perspective, letting your emotions bring you that far will really render you so messed-up and incapable of making the right decision. and this is the dilemma popoy found himself in after.
if it were just a kiss, or an aborted lovemaking session, he wouldn't feel so guilty, he wouldn't have hurt tricia that bad, and in all likelihood, tricia would have forgiven him. then, it would be a different movie altogether. so i came to accept that scene and it's emotional logic (an oxymoron, i know), even if would have preferred that they behaved differently.
btw, i very much agree with your sentiments regarding sarcastic remarks about our local movies. i know we have a long way to go to improve the industry, and sometimes, such comments do little to boost the morale of the countless and tireless minds who are doing their best to uplift the industry.
to KAI, i'm not surprised you liked this one better, simply because it's more relatable and emotional. "a love story" was really a more intellectual approach to affairs because truthfully, we've already had too many emotional depictions of it. :-)
anyway, thank you, to both of you. :-) | |
| | | kai
November 26, 2007 12:02 PM PST
weird lang na nag watch tayo by batch.. the other batch didn't shed tears over this movie, except for one.. harhar!! tas ang batch natin.. waaaah!! i was the only one who didn't cry.. waaaah!!! but yah.. liked the movie a lot too.. i think i like this better than a love story.. or is it because i can "relate" to this movie more .. hehehe.. :o) great that you pointed out the symbolisms... even shared it with aiza after watching it.. | |
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