REVIEW: 'Meet Me in St. Gallen'
I was the only one who clapped inside the movie theater when Meet Me in St. Gallen ended. The lady seated beside the empty seat next to me was visibly annoyed and impulsively said, “Bwisit ka!” I ignored her and just smiled on my way out.
It’s very rare for me to clap and show a smile of fulfillment at the end of a romantic-comedy film, let alone a Filipino film. I remember the joy of watching That Thing Called Tadhana in 2014 and feeling genuine kilig for the nuanced story line. Just this December, Kita Kita premiered in PBO just six months after its cinematic release. I was moved by the unorthodox pairing of the two lead characters, their unique love story and the film’s setting and cinematography.
Also endearing to me are two of Jennylyn Mercado’s recent romantic-comedies in the Metro Manila Film Festival—English Only Please and Walang Forever. While they aren’t as perfect as Tadhana and Kita Kita, Mercado’s commanding performance keeps the movie afloat. Which is probably why I was disappointed that Mercado and Derek Ramsey opted to waste their talent by doing another run of their same old formula in English Only Please in last year’s All of Me. It had me walking out of the cinema before the movie finished.
Just so when I was looking for another progressive Filipino rom-com film, Meet Me in St. Gallen happened. The film was brought to the screen by the same producers behind Kita Kita and was penned and directed by Irene Villamor. I’ve never heard of Villamor before this movie; it was only after watching it and looking her up on IMDb that I learned of her credits, which include Camp Sawi and Relaks, It’s Just Pag-ibig. In the latter film, she has worked with Tadhana director and writer Antonette Jadaone. In the past, they both served as former assistant directors to veteran director Joyce Bernal.
At the beginning of the film, the movie might seem like your typical 'meet cute' rom-com. Protagonists Celeste (Bela Padilla) and Jesse (Carlo Aquino), both conflicted by their personal struggles, suddenly find mutual attraction to each other. They share a passionate kiss inside Jesse's car in the middle of the road, after which, Celeste steps out to 'preserve the moment.'
It would take them four years before their paths would cross again. Jesse is now a successful veterinarian and has a long-time girlfriend, while Celeste debuts in her first art exhibit, showcasing artwork inspired by her first encounter with Jesse. Their mutual passion is reignited despite their differing life circumstances, and this time, their encounter ends in a one-night stand that was beautifully shot in one continuous take. But it's also at this point that the film starts to shed it's 'meet cute' disguise.
By the end of the second act, it's evident that Jesse isn't your typical cute. He's an asshole for not pursuing Celeste the first night they shared that impassioned kiss inside his vehicle. He's an asshole for having a one-night stand with Celeste even though he's already in a committed relationship with another. By the middle of the third act, when Jesse follows Celeste to St. Gallen in Switzerland and informs her that he left his girlfriend to be with her, it's pretty evident that he's not the ideal guy he was set up to be at the beginning of the film.
Even Celeste's flaws are also brought under the light at this point. She expresses disgust at Jesse for leaving his long-time girlfriend for her, and yet, she expressed no remorse two years earlier when she made love with him amid his existing commitment. As she herself affirmed in the art gallery scene, Celeste really seems to fall for assholes.
Both characters are seemingly imbibed with romanticism and idealism in the beginning, but their humanity is exposed once their circumstances and lives are shown to have changed.
From the title of the film, one would expect the film to end in happily for the two. But Celeste already alludes to the bitter ending of their relationship right from the beginning, when she mentioned how they are named after characters from the movie Celeste and Jesse Forever. Celeste reveals to Jesse in St. Gallen that she already has a boyfriend and decides to part ways with him, leaving a teary-eyed mess as the screen cuts to black with the words 'The End'. It felt like the most appropriate ending in any of the rom-com films I've seen. Other movies would try to find closure or resolution, which is highly unlikely in reality. Leaving the asshole out in the cold is perhaps the serving of justice, hence, my applause at the end of the film.
Apart from Celeste and Jesse Forever, I saw a number of other films being alluded to in Meet Me in St. Gallen. It shares a number of similarities with last year's La La Land, wherein the two characters's romance also meet a bitter end. Both movies divide their plot using time devices: seasons for La La Land, years for St. Gallen. You also see the characters in both movies in seemingly impassioned conversations, although for St. Gallen, the protagonists' conversations seem a bit dragging because of Aquino's theatrical performance. Only Padilla's spontaneous and upbeat portrayal of Celeste manages to save to pairing.
The film also has similarities with Richard Linklater's Before... trilogy (Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and Before Midnight) starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, whose characters are coincidentally named Jesse and Celine. They too are strangers who found mutual attraction but aren't reunited until after years of being apart and being in different paths in life.
For all its flawless and seemingly unintended similarities with other existing works, Meet Me in St. Galen is a hit because it approaches the rom-com genre in a manner that is new to the Filipino audience, who always expect it to end in ideal happily-ever after fashion instead of brutal honesty. It also works because of its leads' unexpected chemistry, the director/writer's clever story set up and Padilla's honest and refreshing performance.
Finally, here's a rom-com that doesn't pander to audience's expectations and portrays millennial romances as raw and as human as it can be.
Meet Me in St. Gallen
Running Time: 1 hr 34 min
Stars: Bela Padilla, Carlo Aquino
Director: Irene Emma Villamor
Writer: Irene Emma Villamor
Released by: Spring Films, Viva Films
Rating: PG
Genres: Romance, Drama, Comedy
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