As a middle-class worker in Metro Manila, I find it funny that I paid around P370 to watch the talented Dwein Baltazar’s fifth film Third World Romance starring real-life couple Carlo Aquino and Charlie Dizon. To save money, I walked 1.5 kilometers from my day job in Mandaluyong to SM Megamall in Ortigas to catch the 9:30 P.M. screening of the film in its shitty cinema. The film’s aspect ratio is too big for the screen, sacrificing the readability of the subtitles and the excellent cinematography of Kara Moreno.
Filipinos are martyrs for living in this country and enduring the oppressive system fostered by the government. But what I experienced is definitely nothing compared to the film’s protagonists Britney (Dizon) and Alvin (Aquino). The two met for the first time when the rain was pouring hard and Britney uninvitedly sheltered herself under Alvin’s little umbrella. Britney tagged Alvin in her plan to get the undistributed ayudas (government aides). This is not stealing, Britney insisted to Alvin because they paid for it as taxpayers.
The opening sequence of the film establishes two things: First, Third World Romance is not just a romantic film but a social commentary about poverty, class gap, the pandemic’s economic impacts, and inefficient government at its core. The film will not mince its criticisms when it expresses its disappointment and disdain for the Duterte and Marcos leaderships. Second, Britney is not your go-with-the-flow struggling unemployed Filipina. She is willing to fight for what’s right for her and her fellow Filipinos who are exploited and ambushed by contractualization, padrino system, labor malpractices, and other systemic issues.
Alvin is the yin to her yang. He is willing to work within the system and use his wits to gain some benefits for his survival like smooth-talking his supervisor and asking favors from his chosen family, a proud queer family led by the trans matriarch Inang Reyna (Iyah Mina).
Alvin, a bagger in a local grocery store, got Britney employed in his work as a cashier. The two had each other’s back and eventually exchanged their “I love you’s” to seal their relationship. Is their love enough to cushion the economic problems they continue to face?
As Britney and Alvin’s relationship developed, their perspectives slowly exchanged: Britney was eventually willing to shut her mouth and endure double shifts if it meant earning more money and getting her OFW mother (Ana Abad Santos) home from Oman while Alvin was not backing down against an important multi-millionaire tycoon and his bratty kids who caused some inconvenience in the grocery store.
I will repeat my dismay earlier: Kara Moreno’s impeccable work as the film’s director of photography was disrespected in SM Megamall’s horrible projector. No amount of romance and comedy can hide the murky, dirty, and congestive city Britney and Alvin are living in. Metro Manila is a rotting city filled with struggling Filipinos who are merely surviving.
I don’t want to spoil too much but there’s a scene that showcased the brilliance and talent of Moreno and Baltazar. With the long take of Moreno’s camera movement and Baltazar’s balanced mix of drama, comedy, and social commentary about how economic problems affect relationships, the emotional tension was high, effective, and engaging. It was further equipped with the excellent performances of Aquino and Dizon, especially Dizon. She is the leader of the new generation of Filipina actresses.
Weirdly enough though, the chemistry between the real-life couple Aquino and Dizon was lacking in producing kilig. Their companionship felt platonic at best, as the two try to help and comfort each other when they face the reality of poverty. Their i-love-you’s and kisses don’t spark an escapist feeling of love blanketing them from the horrors of reality. Is it because the film is actually more invested in examining Britney and Alvin’s economic problems? Or the two struggled to translate their romance from real to reel? Mind you, this thought doesn’t consider the unpopular opinions about Aquino and his controversial love life.
Despite these flaws, the intentions of telling the story of Alvin and Britney are clear: love can’t just be love if you live in the Philippines but maybe love can be enough to endure the hardships of living in this third-world country. The ending can be too saccharine in the film’s bittersweet world but it’s the distraction Alvin and Britney need to temporarily achieve their goal: to be happy.
Third World Romance was the closing film at the Cinemalaya XIX. It’s still showing in some cinemas nationwide.
