Love In Transit: Ang Kwento Nating Dalawa (The Story Of Us That Never Was) Film Review
- Clare Batac
- Nov 20, 2016
- 3 min read
**Spoiler Alert*
"I think the film was intended as a short film."
That was my initial reaction after I watched "Ang Kwento Nating Dalawa" which I proved was right after I read this article on the internet.
"Ang Kwento Nating Dalawa (The Story Of Us That Never Was)" is a great paradigm of a complicated relationship with a weak foundation. Sam (Nicco Manalo) is a film professor and a current "lover" of Isa (Emmanuelle Vera). Isa is still trapped in a long-dead relationship with her boyfriend and now is on the brink of losing another significant person in her life. Sam and Isa are at the edge of abandoning whatever they call their relationship is because it's becoming toxic instead of strengthening. Sam has an offer to work in Berlin and Isa's about to leave for US after she graduates. Every moment is a struggle between the two as they approach the end of the tunnel of their relationship but what's bothersome is that you know that they can retrieve whatever's left and all they need is a little nudge to make it work, but they didn't.
I'm no film expert but you don't have to be to tell if a script or shots were made to just prolong a movie or were unhandy cut for a short film time limit. Long shots or slow-paced flicks are nothing new to me (Wong Kar Wai's In the Mood For Love, Xavier Dolan's Les Amours Imaginaires (Heartbeats), Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise trilogy and Boyhood to name a few). For me, most of the long scenes that were intentionally made to capture the rawness of the each character's torment were dull instead of captivating. Nicco Manalo who played Sam in this film really did a great a job playing his role but some of the minor characters (Luke, Sam's friend, played by Brian Gabriel Corella, and Karen, Isa's classmate, played by Sari Estrada) were either trying too hard or not at all because they didn't portray their characters well. Maybe their exposure in the film was too little. I was disappointed because I know that Luke and Karen's characters have a lot of potential to make an impact to the viewer. I also want to point out the score of this film which is Walang Hanggan (Forever) by Quest. This song could actually make a viewer cry his heart out but happened? The song would be perfect in that long cab scene or when Sam was in agony at the witching hour, just saying.
For me, Ang Kwento Nating Dalawa (A Story Of Us That Never Was) could give more than it did. I'm actually on the verge of crying whenever I think of its plot with their soundtrack playing in my head. I really do hope they would release a short film version of this movie if there is.
Anyway, more power to these filmmakers! I'm a big fan of unconventional romantic films. This is their first shot and it was actually decent enough to make a cult. Cheers!
Photo credits to Ang Kwento Nating Dalawa
Movie Trailer credits to Ang Kwento Nating Dalawa YouTube Account
Originally posted on Niume, November 29, 2016. It was also got Staff Picked by Niume Team.
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