Relationship and Life Lessons I learned from Alone/Together

It was just out of curiosity at sawa na rin kasi kaming kumain ni Lanie kaya we decided to watch Alone | Together. Interesting naman siya, with the theory na nabasa ko sa newsfeed ko, somehow it sparked interest. Iba rin yung emotional effect ng shot sa Sunken Garden, parang nag-iimbita na “hey, I’m worth watching!” Pero ang selling point talaga nila para sa akin ay syempre si Liza Soberano. No explanations needed. Haha!

Photo grabbed from entertainment.inquirer.net

In case you haven’t watched the movie, this might contain some spoilers. This is not a full review, more of “hugot” and reflection.

1. Communication is key. A relationship that is void of sincere, transparent and consistent communication is doomed to disaster. Christine (Liza’s character), failed to communicate her plight to Raf (Enrique). Sinolo niya ang problema niya, pushing Raf away. Naawa ako kay Raf. He has no idea what happened to her girlfriend. He was left hanging: “Ano ba’ng nangyari?” If only Christine shared her dilemma, perhaps their story would be different.

2. Head towards the same direction. A relationship will only work when the two of you are heading towards the same direction. This is not emphasized in the movie but I still feel like saying this. Mahirap kapag magkaiba kayo ng plano. Christine wants to change the world; Raf wants to marry Christine. All of Christine’s efforts are geared towards the achievement of her dreams; Raf’s is to make Christine proud. When Raf’s proposal was rejected twice, medyo dart lang sa heart. Kahit mahal niyo ang isa’t isa, hindi talaga magwo-work out kapag magkaiba ng mga plano at pananaw sa buhay.

3. Support your partner all the way. This is very commendable sa character ni Raf. I love it na kahit sobrang idealistic ni Christine, kahit against the tide ang pangarap niya para sa iba na kesyo “walang pera sa arts”, still sinuportahan niya ang girlfriend niya. Especially when he resolved to be a cum laude para hindi mapahiya si Christine na isang magna cum laude. When you support your partner, you are empowering him/her to be the best version of himself/herself. During their New York scenes, sobrang empowering nung moments na pina-realize ni Raf that it is not too late for Christine to reach her dreams.

4. Your dreams won’t die unless you do. At the beginning of the movie, Christine has a youthful idealism and skills that is sure to bring her places. Kaso may nangyaring hindi maganda, kaya at some point, binitiwan niya na ang lahat ng mga pangarap niya. She still has “it” inside her, pero dahil she chose to settle for less at nawalan na ng kumpiyansa sa sarili, she was stuck in a rut. Buti na lang muli siyang bumangon after realizing that she still has “it”, kailangan lang ng kaunting push at lakas ng loob. Kapag ikaw mismo ang susuko sa mga pangarap mo, sino na lang ang tutupad nito para sayo? Don’t give up on your dreams. Kapag nadapa, bangon lang. Rest but don’t quit.

5. Don’t live on what-ifs. It’s tempting to live on a make-believe world where everything we dream of are just within our reach. Yung crush ka rin ng crush mo at nagagawa mo lahat ng gusto mong gawin hahaha! Pero hindi ganun ang mundo e, reality bites and oftentimes, it bites hard. Raf, in his effort to make Christine realize that she can still live the life she always wanted, also made an effort para ituloy ulit nila yung nasimulan nila. But Christine intelligently replied that after New York, babalik rin sila sa reality nila. Ahh basta, panoorin niyo na lang! Haha. What I’m saying is we need to have a right dosage of optimism and realism.

I love how art is infused with love story. Marami din sa atin ang makakarelate sa passionate desires ni Christine to change the world with her craft. Pero as we mature, we’ll find out na hindi man natin mabago ang buong mundo, we can still change how some people view the world.

Pahabol, kunwari movie critique:

Syempre may shot din ako sa  Luna's S-P-O-L-I-A-RIUM. (01/25/17)

Medyo na-distract ako sa pimple ni Liza sa simula ng movie. Sadya pala yun bilang nai-inlove na siya sa character ni Enrique, at dahil din siguro nagpupuyat siya kaka-aral. Haha!

Hindi rin ako masyadong emotionally broken during the movie, may kulang na element e. Walang “Pasok Moira!” Di ako napaluha. Hahahaha. Joke lang, nasanay lang na lagi kong naririnig si Moira. Pero thumbs up dahil sa Eheads. Ang saya maging Batang 90s.

I might be wrong pero parang may parallelism sa Meet Me in St. Gallen in terms of timing ng mga relationships ng mga characters. Yun lang, obviously magkaiba sila ng ending.

Ganda ng mga sequences ng film. Kahit may mga occasional flashbacks, hindi naman ako nalito sa transitions. Ang seryoso ng theme ng movie, pero youthful pa rin ang atake. Kudos!