‘Nakalimutan Ko Nang Kalimutan Ka’ review: Always broken hearts

Fifth Solomon’s Nakalimutan Ko Nang Kalimutan Ka attempts to be the fresh and bubbly upstart ambitioning to be unique in a genre that has gotten so much flak for proliferating films that mouth the same sentiment over and over again. 

Spirit of inventiveness

Fortunately, Solomon isn’t satisfied with simply crowding the already crowded genre. 

It is at least fueled by a spirit of inventiveness. Nakalimutan Ko Nang Kalimutan Ka is reminiscent of the many independent films being made during the early years of digital cinema – of intrepid filmmakers, suddenly capable of crafting feature length films outside the rigorous studio system; and of popular genres twisted in terms of theme and aesthetic to suit artistic endeavors.

Solomon’s film isn’t as seamless as the later films of Antoinette Jadaone or Irene Vilamor, but what it doesn’t have in consistency in production values, it makes up for verve and a surprising capacity to be irreverent towards its very own genre.

This isn’t to say that Solomon’s film is an innovative piece of work or one that breaks new ground for the very tired genre, like Richard Somes’ Yanggaw (2008) for the aswang film or Paolo Villaluna and Ellen Ramos’ Ilusyon (2005) for the artsy titillating film.

Many of the film’s quirks seem to be ornamental, more a product of the fact that the film is a debut for a director who understandably wants a clear visual distinction that will set him apart. 

Thus, there is an abuse of color and design, with a lot of the film’s scenes looking very much like conceptualized sets than real bedrooms where lovers lie and love. While the film is explicitly set in a world where reality and imagination intertwine, Solomon’s methods of expressing that fusion, while sometimes admittedly pleasing to the eyes, aren’t as fluidly realized, making many of the film’s transitions lacking in harmony.

Infatuation with heartaches

Thankfully, Solomon’s film isn’t one that takes heartbreaks too seriously to the point of tedium. 

It centers on a heartbroken woman (Alex Gonzaga) who, because of her inability to get past the pain of her ex-boyfriend (Vin Abrenica) suddenly leaving her, decides to visit a doctor (Candy Pangilinan) who specializes in operating patients desperate to forget their former loves.

The conceit of a medical procedure to rid patients of heartaches, not unlike the one that is the core of Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), isn’t followed through but serves as a diving board for Solomon to poke fun at the very genre he explores. 

Nakalimutan Ko Nang Kalimutan Ka is most delightful when it ridicules our inexplicable infatuation with heartaches. 

The film’s most effective jokes are the ones that depict Gonzaga infecting every scenario she’s in, whether it be a job interview, a street-side wake or a chance mugging, with her love problems. It almost feels like Solomon is making a commentary as to how the affairs of the heart have pervaded each and every corner of our concerns, even to the point of absolute absurdity.

However, what makes Solomon’s film remarkable is that while it is aware of how silly the genre is, it still manages to etch tremendous respect for it. 

For all the inanity that Nakalimutan Ko Nang Kalimutan Ka indulges in, it is still grounded on the main ideal of the stubborn genre to exploit the heart’s frailty for the purpose of either entertainment or pseudo-wisdom. 

The film is a fine debut for Solomon. 

There are many problems but the fact that the film makes a clear effort to stand out is very commendable. Moreover, Solomon makes most of Gonzaga as a performer.

He carves a character where Gonzaga, who can shift from drama to comedy with ample ease, can shine with barely any effort. She serves as the film’s most consistent element.

Love worth pining for

Nakalimutan Ko Nang Kalimutan Ka is still doggedly interested to dissect the broken heart and unearth whatever dregs of human realizations from it. It still manages to find pleasure in the most fictional of pains. Also, it is ridden with the same problems of other films from the same genre, which is to concentrate on the delights of falling hardly in love and the trauma of finding out that the love is sham. 

Because of this, the film never really explores why the relationship is special to begin with.

It is all about grand gestures and not about the minute details that make the love worth pining for. – Rappler.com

 

 

Francis Joseph Cruz litigates for a living and writes about cinema for fun. The first Filipino movie he saw in the theaters was Carlo J. Caparas’ Tirad Pass.

Since then, he’s been on a mission to find better memories with Philippine cinema.