Two mainstream features made their nationwide premieres this week. One is an interesting love story that tackles amnesia and hyperthymesia, while the other is psycho-thriller that presents a story more than where it takes off—depression.
Cara X Jagger (APT Entertainment) starring the onscreen tandem of Jasmine Curtis Smith and Ruru Madrid was the love story that premiered today, while Nuuk (Viva Films), the sub-zero psycho-thriller bannered by the screen reunion of Alice Dixson and Aga Muhlach, premiered on Wednesday.
Remember to forget you
In one of the lines in Cara X Jagger, Ruru’s character said in vernacular, “It’s peculiar, I’m trying to remember you and our past, but you, you are trying and struggling to forget me and what happened in our relationship.”
As what director Ice Idanan promised, the film is not the usual boy-meets-girl romantic film. Although it has all the elements of a love story, the premise revolves around a girl named Cara (Jasmine) who fights to remember everything in her power to forget a painful event that ruined her relationship with Jagger (Ruru), the man she once loved, who, on the other hand, is fighting to remember his life after losing his memory due to a terrible accident.
Cara X Jagger is warm and pleasing to the eyes. And that soundtrack that kept on playing throughout the film is an LSS inducing song.
While it took time for Idanan to hit the whole point of the story, the film is rather a slow burner, it’s successful in presenting a warm and moving romantic tale between a former couple’s struggle to deal with their present and past.
As usual, with her natural flair for acting Jasmine was able to deliver the emotional requirements of her character — dramatic but subtle. While, Ruru, a perfect leading man in the making, deserves more big screen project and leading roles to hone his acting talent. He pales in comparison with Jasmine who herself is an intelligent actor.
Playing with your mind
Nuuk, dubbed by Viva as “a sub-zero love affair” is set in the picturesque, freezing city that is the capital of Greenland.
Nuuk is a place where the torturous weather and extreme silence wreck torment on the minds and bodies of the inhabitants. This is where two individuals meet, find romance and unfold a devastating mystery.
This country has the record of having the highest rate of suicide in the world, with speculations that it’s because of the cold weather or its isolation from other countries. The real reason why suicide often occurs in the country is still unknown.
Here is where Elaisa Svendsen (Alice) lives, a Filipina who is in despair after her husband dies. With nothing but alcohol and medicine to depend on, she becomes miserable. Then one day, she crosses paths with Mark Alvarez (Aga), a fellow Filipino who is almost the same age as her.
Mark becomes Elaisa’s friend. She confides and feels at ease around him, and eventually starts to fall for him. Things are finally starting to get better for Elaisa because of Mark, until a mystery comes along, it appears that nobody recognizes Mark but Elaisa.
Aga and Alice portrayed the roles with confidence. They delivered their lines as if they were the ones who wrote them, and when the scenes required nothing but their eyes and facial expressions, those were the moments that will tell you Aga and Alice were the perfects actors for the roles. And perhaps, it could have delivered a different emotional effect on the audience if they were played by someone else.