Ang Kwento Nating Dalawa2015

Love is a simple subject that is painfully made complex by people who overthink what they're up to and those who overly romanticized their situation - when really it's only a question of whether you would like to commit to or not. In Ang Kwento Nating Dalawa our protagonists hinges on a feeling that what they have for each other is like being caught between a rock and a hard place. Shot within Metro Manila as the main backdrop the star-crossed lovers strolled, conversed, romanticized the city and cried inside a taxi like it was a scene from a Richard Linklater movie. The influence is obvious but there are moments in its attempt to show such deep emotions - for a conflict that can be solved by a simple yes or no - that the story skirts around feeling bland as it goes along. Like it was standard film school theory made evident on celluloid. What's stopping them from pursuing their relationship is beyond me. They just made it so complicated when this was set and made in an era that has the wonders and convenience of technology. I have seen a number of romantic films that were made in the indie platform and if there is a trait that a movie should have - and not to be remove from the experience - is the idea that you are letting your viewers inside the characters little world. Movies don't need to spoon feed their audiences but it has to be a two-way relationship. Even the most obscure art house films do leave that impression that their viewers are somehow engaged and involved with the characters and their story. This movie is like being in a school cafeteria where students are divided into groups and they wouldn't let you in because you're not cool enough. It has a tendency to alienate its viewers not because they may have a different life, a contrast in point of view or a matter of age, but it's the attitude that it feeds off that can be willingly ungiving. Don't get me wrong, I think this movie has its own merits. I like the camerawork, the music, the actors and its production, I just hope that it could have been more welcoming, less on the artsy factor, which is also in itself the reason why it tries too hard to be poignant, serious and convoluted (for the wrong reasons). A romantic movie, no matter how old it gets, even if they were made in the 1940's, any people, whatever age group or generation they come from will always end up relating to the same feeling, and it's the language of love.