‘Minsan, Minahal Kita’ REVIEW: When happiness is a sin
‘Minsan, Minahal Kita’ REVIEW: When happiness is a sin
Sharon Cuneta and Richard Gomez in Minsan, Minahal Kita.
The review contains spoilers for Minsan, Minahal Kita
Tama na sa akin nang minsan naging maligaya ako muli. [You've made me very happy and that's enough for me.]
Dive back to the glory days of Sharon Cuneta and Richard Gomez love team with Ricky Lee's and Olivia M. Lamasan's 2000 classic, Minsan, Minahal Kita. It follows Cuneta's character Diane, a dissatisfied wife, as she falls in love with Albert, also a dissatisfied family man played by Gomez. Unlike Separada, which is also written by Ricky Lee, the film's plot chronicles from the start of the affair until its very end. Despite its serious premise, the film managed to be heartfelt and funny at times by delivering many 'kilig' moments enough to make the audience's heart flutter.
Ricky Lee made the lead characters sympathetic and likeable enough. Diane has quirks in the beginning some can relate to like being anxious before a blind date and mistakenly approaching the wrong person twice, and Sharon Cuneta comedically captured her awkwardness. Richard Gomez’s Albert is charming and kind enough to make the viewers swoon. Their personalities complement each other. Lamasan and Lee might’ve relied too much on movie magic in terms of the leads’ coincidental meet-ups, but they composed these scenes interestingly.
Sadly, both of the characters are clearly suffering from unhappy marriages. Diane’s husband, Louie (Edu Manzano), constantly berates her. Albert’s wife, Menchu (Angel Aquino), looks down on him. The only reason they couldn't get out of their respective marriages is the love they have for their children.
They gradually fall in love with each other. Diane, at first, is hesitant to enter an affair with him. Her want for happiness ultimately won and they started meeting secretly. Olivia M. Lamasan used montages to illustrate their passionate affair. Although some transitions of these are clunky, they did not ruin these blissful moments of love.
Like most love affairs, theirs also failed. Once they break off their relationship, they return to their normal lives, though they are miserable than before for they’ve given up the happiness they’ve been wanting for a long time. The film’s mood also shifted to more gloomy and depressing. Helping in capturing the mood shift are the melodramatic score and bleak cinematography. The leads are effective in this part as well, with Cuneta and Gomez shifting from their euphoric demeanor during the affair to a more desolate state. Once their spouses find out about their affair, bigger problems come in like a tidal wave. The aftermath greatly affected each of their lives. Sadly, the repercussions seem to hit Diane the most.
The audience can recall back in one scene for why Lee wrote it in this way.
Ang unfair, ‘pag ang lalaki ang nangaliwa, tanggap ng tao. Pero pag ang babae, makasalanan siya. [It's unfair, isn't it? When a man has an affair, no one cares. But if a woman does, she's sinful.],
Diane dismayingly said to her sister and confidant, Jackie (Carmina Villaroel), while discussing the possibility that Albert has an infatuation with her. What Diane said is true: society demands women to be kind, pure and most of all, loyal to their respective partners. They are considered menace to the society if they ever committed an affair. With men, people are so used to the fact that some of them have tendencies to cheat on their partners and even be brutal and distant to them that we just accept their nature. When Diane’s mother found out that she was having an affair, her mother reprimanded her. She, being a conservative person, likened Diane’s affair to Jackie’s lesbianism, both considered as grave sins in her eyes. She feels like she lost two of her children for what they did—a commentary on the judgmental nature of conservative parents. Ricky Lee is able to inject some social commentaries in this film subtly. His effort of putting these added more depth in the film and it should be lauded.
Overall, with an exceptional script, brilliant direction and great performances, Minsan, Minahal Kita successfully showed the harrowing effects of a blissful affair. The film has some film trends of that time that feel dated, but didn’t necessarily ruin the whole film. It is also more than just a typical affair film as it also makes the audience question the reality of marriages and/or relationships and might even consider exploring and fixing their own once the film ends. Hopefully in examining their relationships, they will grow wiser just like our leads in the end of the film.
Restored and original versions are streaming on iWant TFC. Paid subscription required to view the restored version.
