The month of love is upon us once more, and with the flowers, the love letters, and the chocolate also come the movies – new and old – telling tales of different romances: of old, tired couples rekindling the dying flames of love, to young, feisty teenagers and twentysomethings forging ahead with new and exciting relationships.
For those looking for romance closer to home, they need not look any further, as here are five (technically, six) films from the Philippines, which, for one reason or another, managed to stand out from the mass-produced rehashes, reboots, and rom-coms that plague the Filipino movie landscape.
That Thing Called Tadhana (2014)
With a title like, it may seem like your generic rom-com, with a zany cast of characters and an equally zany script, but thankfully, it isn’t – it is a simple indie movie, with a simple premise – it asks, like a Whitney Houston song prominently featured in the movie, “Where do broken hearts go?”
What comes next is a simple, yet endearing movie – it doesn’t include grandiose proclamations of eternal, undying love, nor does it include a crazy-evil antagonist with an equally crazy plot – it is a humble tale of a broken-hearted young lady, Mace (Angelica Panganiban), who was left by her boyfriend of eight years, and, well, a random guy named Anthony (JM de Guzman)’s impromptu trip to Baguio and beyond.
The plot is so simple, yet it succeeds in eliciting emotions hiding deep within us. There are no exaggerated movie moments, no evil villains, only the heartache of lost love, and the wonderful, heart-racing “kilig” of a newly blooming romance.
One More Chance (2007); A Second Chance (2015)
No romantic movie list from the Philippines would be complete without a movie starring John Lloyd Cruz. One More Chance can be easily considered as his magnum opus as the film is immensely successful, in addition to being critically acclaimed.
And, with 2015’s A Second Chance, Engineer Rodolfo “Popoy” Gonzales (Cruz) and Architect Basha-Belinda Eugenio (Bea Alonzo)’s romance – and troubles – continues, with the movie, filled with exciting twists and turns, difficulties and drama, earning praise, in addition to becoming the second highest-grossing Filipino film of all time.
See for yourself, for the first time, the second, third, or fourth, what exactly made this pair of movies such the blockbusters that they are today.
Moments of Love (2006)
An interesting, time-spanning tale of love, this is a romantic movie with a twist. Marco (Dingdong Dantes) is a photographer, who goes on a vacation, along with his cousin and sister, in an old, quiet town.
Troubled by a strange sense of loneliness, he attempts to start up a relationship with a young lady, Lianne (Karylle). With his deep sadness still gnawing on him, however, he eventually finds solace in a mysterious phone in his room, which allows him to call a young woman, Divina (IzaCalzado), the daughter of a hacendero, who, bizarrely, lives in the year 1957. In spite of this strange, time-bending paradox, the two, haunted by their own troubles, develop feelings for one another, despite the impossible.
With such a unique, often unheard-of premise, this is one of those few Filipino romance movies that attempt to break free of the shackles of rehashed plotlines and recycled dialogues often plaguing most Filipino movies today.
Starting Over Again (2014)
For those looking for a decent romance flick with the established formula of Filipino movies, look no further than Starting Over Again, a film with all the bells and whistles you’d come to expect from a traditional Filipino rom-com: there’s a love triangle, the premise of restoring past romances, and plenty of gags, recurring and otherwise.
It puts its own unique spin on the aforementioned formula, with the love triangle between celebrity chef, Marco Villanueva (PioloPascual), his girlfriend, Patty de Guia (IzaCalzado), and Marco’s ex, architect Genina “Ginny” Gonzales (Toni Gonzaga) providing an interesting twist to the film: the rivalry between Patty and Ginny doesn’t exactly have a clear winner, as there is no clear-cut antagonist between the two.
Coupled with a few more twists that I daren’t mention, along with a great script, Starting Over Again doesn’t exactly reinvent the wheel – as mentioned earlier, it adds its own unique spin to it, and succeeds for the most part, delivering a wonderful movie with a tried-and-tested formula.
My Amnesia Girl (2010)
A simple, feel-good romantic comedy is hard to come by in Philippine cinema – more often than not, the films’ plots end up a confusing, cliché-ridden, overwritten mess, or, sometimes, they end up forgoing the “romantic” part of rom-coms, instead focusing almost entirely on laughs, with a flimsy, paper-thin excuse for a plot.
My Amnesia Girl, despite having a title that can make you want to gouge your eyes out, is a simple, yet wonderful movie. It is well-acted, well-directed, with Cathy Garcia-Molina at the helm, directing actors John Lloyd Cruz as Glen, and candidly funny, Toni Gonzaga as Irene.
It has, of course, a relatively simple plot, revolving around the aforementioned Glen and Irene’s romance – memories are erased, old romances rekindled, and funny bones are tickled, as this simple movie, powered by great acting and humor, eventually reaches its final, happy, ending.