Did I enjoy my heart getting ripped out again and again while watching this movie? Oh, you bet I did, to the fullest.
Aishite Imasu (Mahal Kita) 1941 is a movie set at a town called San Nicolas, during the Japanese occupation in the Philippines. It begins with an old woman with a story. While she reminisces, we see her childhood, her past loves, her heartaches, her hardships, and the difficulties she had encountered while attempting to live in a world occupied by foreigners with an unknown tongue.
The cast includes rather popular Filipino stars, with Judy Ann Santos, Dennis Trillo and Raymart Santiago playing key roles in this poignant movie. Still, it is no ordinary drama; it is one with heart, background, and plenty of drawn-out emotions. Oh, and let's not forget the guerrilla background, the gay love, and the brutal, bloody tortures. (Well, with a screenplay co-written by Ricky Lee, what else could we expect?)
It's not quite as gritty as Oro, Plata, Mata, a Filipino film with Japanese occupation also as its subject matter. In truth, I was rather put off sometimes by the poetic license that the director, Joel Lamangan, used to portray the war scenes. They looked a little too clean for them to be realistic.
Nevertheless, the heart-wrenching tugs that this movie gave me were very effective. In fairness to the cast, the acting they did was great; the scenes really brought out tears into my eyes. The story-telling was also well-done, making me feel happy, sad, angry and aloof all in a span of 2 minutes. Amazing.
Don't take my word for it though; this film won multiple awards (check out the Wikipedia page and the IMDb page), and rightly so. This movie is not something that a lot of Filipino big budget companies seemingly like to come up with nowadays. It is shocking, it is bloody, it tackles homosexuality, it is 2 hours long.
Great film, and I wouldn't mind crying over it again.
Rating: 4.75 / 5 (because the war scenes were too clean. Otherwise, dazed and amazed)
(Watched March 10, 2014)
