Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita (2005)
Inya, a heroine of the Philippine resistance against the Japanese during World War II, recalls events involving her husband Edilberto and their childhood friend Ignacio, a transvestite who, masquerading as a woman also named Inya, becomes the lover of the local Japanese commander, Ichiru, and is caught between a duty to be a spy for his country and friends and his reluctant but growing love for Ichiru.
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Good story, Not enough for a whole film
As Good As It Gets
A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.
I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.
I rented out this movie with friends and I expect that its going to be another Filipino drama movie. I was wrong.Its rare to find these gems in the Filipino cinema. I love the way it is narrated using flashback techniques and notably, the acting done by Trillo, Santiago and Jose.Character development is very rich which makes the viewing experience very memorable. The special effects used are somewhat mediocre (the explosion effects of the bombs dropped off from the Japanese planes) but the costumes, language ('pure' Tagalog) and yes! the vintage cars used in that era were faithfully shown.The major aspect that I love about this film is how they achieved the 'fulfillment'that educated viewers will surely appreciate because of its multidimensional approach in achieving the ultimate objective - To tell the story!
This was the official entry of Regal films to the 2004 Metro Manila Film Festival. Even though this was top billed by Judy Ann Santos and Raymart Santiago definitely the highlight of this movie was the performance of Dennis Trillo as Ignacio/ Inya. He acted really well and was very convincing throughout the film So much so that when I saw him as Ignacio I was a little surprised since I had gotten so used to him as Inya. He really deserved his award as best supporting actor in the MMFF.As for the acting of Santiago, I thought he also did a good job. Perhaps not as good as that of Trillo but nonetheless very good. Santos' performance on the other hand was rather patchy as we could really see her good acting ability in some scenes but rather overacting in some other parts. I thought that there was no way she could have beat out Vilma Santos for the top acting prize.If the filmmakers intended this to be a movie that promoted a sense of patriotism, I'm afraid I felt no such feelings. It seemed like the love story angle eclipsed every other subplot that may have been presented in the film. I also was disappointed with the story of the film.Other than the performance of Trillo, there wasn't much to praise in this film.