love's long wait

does it have to be that long? will you wait forever for the one you love?

sorry, i am a bit sentimental right now...as if!

i just finished watching muli on dvd starring two of this generation's best actors -- sid lucero (intense and brooding) and cogie domingo (sad and soulful) -- playing gay lovers. their affair spanned more than 30 years (it started in 1969 and ended when gma was already the president). i love!

(the oh so sexy sid lucero)

when they met, sid just came out of the seminary. he decided to come home after his mother died. home is in the picturesque and romantic baguio. he turned his back on being god's servant because he did not agree with the religion's rigid standards on homosexuality (you know, love the sinner but not the sins). 

he ended up running his parent's hostel in baguio city. longing for something worthwhile to do, he joined the communist party. only to be disillusioned again when he found out that the party did not condone homosexuality either.

(former teen heartthrob and still gorgeous cogie domingo)

cogie was studying to be a lawyer. he met sid when he and his father stayed in the hotel that sid's family owned. they fell in love but of course. trouble is, cogie was not totally committed to their relationship even if he loved sid. because he was ambitious, he chose to marry his rich and powerful girlfriend rather than be with sid. 

&&&&

the story has shades of the popular hollywood film brokeback mountain -- you know, their affair lasted several years, with one of the two lovers unwilling to go the whole nine yards, scared to fully embrace his homosexuality. in the hollywood film directed by ang lee that won him an oscar for best director, the lovers met once or twice a year to satisfy their longing for each other. 

here, cogie would go to baguio every summer and stay with sid. he would tell his wife (and later on his son) that he would be joining his bosses (the supreme court justices who meet every summer in baguio --maybe they are all gay and need to be with their secret luvers. chos!) so that they won't suspect of anything else, much less that he was having an affair. 

it went on and on. sid had another lover, cogie had a son. years went by, sid's lover died, cogie's son grew up and his wife died. cogie's son learned that his father had an affair with another man and in fact was still in love with him. so the son decided to bring his father to baguio so that the two lovers would finally have a happy ending.

freeze.

&&&&&&&&&&

sid and cogie have that intense chemistry rarely seen among filipino actors playing gay lovers. in most movies, you could tell that one or both of the actors are uneasy about their roles, especially during their love scenes. they are awkward and their acting so studied that you wanted to throw tomatoes on the big screen or walk out of the theatre.

but cogie and sid are both natural. it's as if they are really lovers, albeit from opposite sides of the spectrum. one is sad for being on the waiting side (sid) and the other is simply happy to be with his lover and be his real self away from his wife and children (cogie).

their love scenes are also tastefully done -- erotic but not raunchy. i applaud both actors for agreeing to do those sex scenes without clothes and, more importantly, without inhibitions.

this is one filipino gay film that everybody should watch.

(although the ending is a bit, how do i say it, theatrical for comfort... also, the make up artist failed to transform sid and cogie into believable middle aged (or old?) men..but it's forgivable if only because of the inspiring and heart wrenching story, nearly flawless performances from sid, cogie and the rest of the cast and the dreamy cinematography that captured baguio's serene beauty.)

oh well, lowell.

love is an endless waiting. it's like being stuck in an airport, waiting for that plane that may never come.

watch and weep! then fall in love.

&&&&

here is the trailer if you care:

(all  pictures were taken from the internet. no copyright infringement intended. please inform the blogger if you want them removed. thank you very much.)