Etch-A-Sketch

So for Valentines Day
the Girl and I decided to watch a romantic Filipino movie

from an american perspective
we've historically considered filipino romantic movies subpar
for the most part, it seems like they are hastily made
and with more focus on featuring celebrities and lots of melodramatic
shouting and arguing
rather that creative storytelling and dialogue

but once in a while, we'll rent one from Netflix
just so we can somehow feel connected with the culture
and the language

also, Netflix has this 5 star rating system that helps you gamble less on movies
so we've been feeling good about renting Filipino movies as long as the ratings are pretty close to
4 stars

so yes, they have Filipino movies in Netflix
and no, we haven't seen any Filipino movies with 5 stars

anyway we rented a romantic Filipino movie from a director who's had a pretty good track record with us
he writes and directs all his movies, ala M. Night Shyamalan
and he also seems to infuse different influences in his writing and movie making

the movie we rented for valentines day
reminded me of Ang Lee
in his earlier works like The Wedding Banquet and Sense and Sensibility

it wasn't the stereotypical melodramatic yelling, overacting Filipino movie at all
it truly showed a more natural story
of how people, who care for each other, interact
and more specifically
how two people can eventually fall in-love

now, through my experience
when i imagine a story of Filipinos who have intertwined lives
i normally envision lots of affairs, betrayals and backstabbing
nothing that shows love, peace and harmony as i would hope
close relationships are about

but we watched this movie and were mesmerized at how "real" it was
there are still some corny and generic scenes for sure
but nothing that can't happen in real life

and instead of offering the stereotype of The Melodramatic Filipino Movies
the film maker, Jose Javier Reyes, offers us a line that succinctly contrasts the prejudice

As one character cries to her friend about her troubles
her friend consoles her and says "alam mo, tayo rin naman are gumagawa ng ating drama eh."

translated, this means "you know, it is us who complicate our own lives."

wow man. profound! astute!

i mean, that thought always lingered in my mind
but i never really ever heard that communicated out loud
and i never imagined hearing it for the first time
in a romantic Filipino movie

i've been liking the new generation of Filipino movie makers lately
granted, they are still not at the top of my list
but a few of them are getting up there

and thanks to Netflix
the Girl and I are able to gamble less
and actually enjoy a good romantic Filipino film
on Valentines day.