Beautiful moments are made of these

Contrary to what most people think (at least those who haven’t seen the movie), Moments of Love was not lifted from Somewhere in Time. Maybe it has little touches here and there (but very little) of the 1980 Hollywood film (starring Jane Seymour and the late Christopher Reeves). But at the same time, you can also say that it has shades of Titanic and even a Korean film, the title of which I cannot pronounce, much less spell out because I’m very poor with Korean names. (If you watched Startalk last week, you must have heard me grapple with the name of the lead star of Jewel in the Palace.)

However, even with those supposed foreign influences, Moments of Love still has its own merits – the most outstanding of which are its production values.

But first let me tell you what the story of Moments of Love is all about. It begins in the present time and we see Dingdong Dantes, sister Isabel Oli and who I perceive to be either a friend or an older cousin, Jojo Alejar, driving to a province for a vacation.

Walking around town, Dingdong is almost hit by a van, except that an old woman (Gloria Romero) saves his life. In doing so, it is Ms. Romero’s life that is put in danger and she is brought to the hospital unconscious. It is at this point where Dingdong meets Ms. Romero’s granddaughter, Karylle. Before the two young people get involved romantically, however, Dingdong is transported in time when he meets on the phone Iza Calzado, a young woman in 1957.

It is a very complicated romantic affair they get themselves involved in. First, they belong to different time frames. Then, there’s the matter of Iza’s engagement to the rich Paolo Contis. She has to marry him in order to save the fortunes of her parents, Chinggoy Alonso and Ces Quesada.

In spite of the fact that one is in the present time and the other is in 1957, they still pledge and vow to see each other to have their own moment of love – face to face.

The production values of Moments of Love are impressive because you see a lot of effort being poured into this film – almost half of which is period. Of course, you see flaws in the production design because Iza Calzado and her family look and live like they belong to the pre-war era and not in 1957.

Fortunately, there are other aspects of production that make up for the faulty production design. The music is effective because it helps enhance the romantic scenes between Dingdong Dantes and Iza Calzado – particularly when Karylle sings in the soundtrack a song originally performed by her mother, Zsa Zsa Padilla – Sana’y Maghintay Ang Walang Hanggan, a wonderful musical piece by Willy Cruz and with lyrics by Baby Gil (yes, Philippine STAR’s own Baby Gil).

With the help of the music, the movie succeeds at drawing emotions from the viewers, most of whom would shed a tear or two at those romantic moments.

Dingdong Dantes and Karylle also do their part to make the film successful as a love story (it’s a different kind of love triangle) – along with the other cast members: Gloria Romero (wonderful as always), Chinggoy Alonso, Ces Quesada, Valerie Concepcion, Sandy Andolong, Amable Quiambao and even Paolo Contis – except for his wig and some of his dialogues that obviously were not spoken in 1957. And then I thought comebacking actor Jojo Alejar was very effective (he was oh-so-funny) in his scenes as a has-been matinee idol basking in past glory.

But undeniably, the best asset of this film by Mark Reyes (with script by Gina Marissa Tagasa) is Iza Calzado. It was like the film was made for her, and I couldn’t see any other actress playing the role of Divina Buenacer other than her. Maybe it’s because she has a classic face (one of the most beautiful in Philippine cinema) that enables her take on roles in whatever period in history. An Urian winner (for 2004’s Sigaw), her talent for acting allows her to take on any part and brings it to artistic heights.

Each scene with Iza’s face in the frame brings beautiful moments and these are enough to make you fall in love with this film that dares to be different from other love stories.