'Kita Kita' will make you see love in a different light

I’m not the kind of person who enjoys watching romantic comedies. That’s why when my girlfriend told me that she wanted to see "Kita Kita," I felt generally apathetic.

I looked it up, and the summary I read made it sound like a typical romantic flick full of tearjerking cliches: A heartbroken girl goes blind and finds happiness — and eventually, her way back into the light — with the help of an ardent suitor hiding a great secret.

Thus, we went into the theater with minimal expectations… and came out with bittersweet smiles and aching hearts.

The film spends its first third telling the story of Lea (Alessandra de Rossi): her quiet life and job as a tourist guide in Sapporo, Japan; her struggle to keep the flames of her relationship with her fiancé alive; and the circumstances that would lead to her blindness.

It is during the second act when "Kita Kita" truly begins to spring to life. Fellow Filipino Tonyo (Empoy Marquez) shows up at her doorstep with a home-cooked meal in his hands and his heart on his sleeve.

Tonyo’s persistent efforts to make Lea see the beauty of life despite the loss of her sense of sight — punctuated by the real-life comedian’s funny antics and witty punchlines — are the highlights of the film. They all build up to a shocking (but not entirely surprising) third act that tugs at the heartstrings and makes you see the film’s earlier events in a different light.

Screengrab from YouTube

Without spoiling anything, the major twist of "Kita Kita" may understandably raise some questions (and eyebrows). However, the fact that it effectively fleshes out the unique relationship between Tonyo and Lea is more than enough to overcome any potential uncertainty (or perhaps disdain) from the audience.

With an unconventional pairing that defies traditional rom-com norms, a carefully structured story that cleverly plays with time in an effort to escape predictability, and well-written dialogue and sequences that will have you guffawing one minute and crying buckets of tears the next, "Kita Kita" certainly deserves to be in cinephiles’ and rom-com lovers’ sights. — LA/KVD, GMA News