Movie No. 43 (2017): KITA KITA

Kita Kita (2017)
Director: Sigrid Andrea P. Bernardo
CastL Alessandra De Rossi, Empoy Marquez
In Tagalog with occasional Japanese, with English subtitles

Lea's blindness is psychologically triggered by the stress caused by her fiance's infidelity and shattered wedding plan. Living afflicted and alone in a small apartment in Sapporo, she is forced to deal with Tonyo who lives across the street. Tony appears everyday in her apartment's front garden offering Filipino foods, his friendship, and to be her eyes. I'll end it here.

The movie is far from being perfect. Original? It's not. You've seen the narrative structure before in other movies. Therefore, not much novelty.

Why do a lot of people like it?

Here's my opinion.

Lea and Tonyo are an odd couple. So are Alessandra De Rossi and Empoy Marquez. I suppose, the script came first before the actors were chosen. I don't know how they decided that Lea and Tonyo would fit Alessandra and Empoy, respectively, to a tee. That decision was perfect.

The movie is a breath of fresh air. 

It's easy to get tired of the formulaic rom-com movies that the local movie business use to lure fans of love teams who, in most cases, can't deliver decent acting. These rom-coms are usually made with the love teams in mind because they already have following. So, whatever thrash with which they are fed, they will swallow. The fans will be unison: "It's the best movie ever." That's fine. Producers don't want to lose money.

Kita Kita is different. I read somewhere that the director only wanted for her movie not to be pulled out of movie houses in the second day. Word of mouth and social media posts sent throng of curious movie goers who could be tired of formulaic, senseless, and rehashed stories. Several days later, the movie breached the 200-M mark. It was made with roughly 10-M budget. Does the movie deserve this? Of course. An astounding YES!

Do I like it? Very much. In my opinion it's not a comedy. It's a serious dramatic feature. The comedy is consequential. It discusses a lot of things. I'm not going to dwell into what others have already said and posted online - the likes of "you see things with your heart, and you'll never go wrong." Indeed, it's so ironic that Lea would "see clearly" when she had the affliction, but not when she was a tour guide have wide open eyes that could see clearly. Yes, I saw this even with the flawed script. 

It was during the affliction that we saw what's in Lea and Tony's hearts. We saw their dreams. We had a glimpse of their longing for the Philippines but simply couldn't just return home. We saw them fall in love. I can go on, but have to end here.

By the way, Two Less Lonely People In The World. occasionally playing on the background, complemented the overall feel of the movie.

Kita Kita is highly recommended.

Rating: 4.0/4.0

Date seen: July 30, 2017