Rome & Juliet: A Celebration of Lesbian Love

As I spent this Valentine’s Day by myself, I decided to spend this romantic day watching something romantic, but with an unconventional twist – a movie about romantic lesbian love.

As I’ve stated before, I’m not a lesbian. I may be more open and accepting with things that are out of convention’s reach, and since I was raised in a city that was open and accepting of alternate ways of living, I consider myself a major fag hag. Many of my friends are gay, and I applaud them for living life the way they want to, to love whatever gender they prefer, just as much as they accept the way I live my life. I can relate to them, knowing how hard it is to live such a different way of life, but we seem to understand each other, like kindred souls.

I saw this movie for the first time last week. I was a bit skeptical on whether or not I would love this movie, because I had seen lesbian-themed movies and shows before, and I wasn’t completely turned on by the idea. They didn’t really tug at my heart for some reason, and they way they were presented made it seem too soap opera-ish, too cheesy, and too unrealistic by presenting it in a bombastically unsubtle way.

But this movie, “Rome and Juliet”, really floored me. It’s not because of the storyline – it’s a story that’s been done quite a few times (like “Imagine Me & You”), but the script and the acting was so well-done, I couldn’t help but hold my breath and gush over the beauty of the movie. It was so beautiful that I became teary-eyed a few times, holding my chest as I felt that warm and fuzzy feeling watching the two actresses fall in love, go through struggles, as if it were true love itself. In fact, I sent it to my gay friend, and even he LOVES this movie…and the fact that he loves this movie when he should be allergic and breaking into hives by watching two women getting it on and falling in love is a big surprise to me.

“Rome and Juliet” is a lesbian-themed indie romantic movie from the Philippines, but if you’re a gay advocate, like myself, or if you’re gay yourself, you HAVE to see this movie. I completely vouch for it, you can’t help but fall in love with this movie, I promise you that.

As I said, the storyline is not new: Juliet, a conservative pre-school teacher, is about to be married to a young government official named Marc, but she is having small doubts of whether Marc is THE ONE. She loves Marc, but has trouble trying to fit in with his world, since his antagonizing mother seems to look down on Juliet. She then meets Rome, a single and lustful straight woman, who hires Rome to become her wedding planner. The two women become the best of friends instantly, noticing that they have some kind of connection.

As Rome & Juliet build a deeper connection with each other, problems start to arise between Marc & Juliet – their individual principles begin to clash as Rome and Juliet become more and more involved with each other, the chemistry building from their subtle glances at each other when the other isn’t looking, an accidental kiss during an argument, and subtle jealousies build. Then, during a night when Juliet seeks the solace of Rome’s comfort after a family squabble, the inevitable occurs – Rome and Juliet consummate their love with a passionate kiss and wake up naked in each other’s arms.

From then on, they realize they’re both in love with each other, but it’s a moral and social dilemma – they know that it’s unfair to Marc that they’re in love with each other and keeping their love a secret. The other issue would be that society wouldn’t accept their love, they may be scorned by society.

(Side note: in the Philippines, homosexual love is not accepted very well. If they find out you’re gay, you could lose your job, be disowned – you name it.)

They separate for a while, and both women are in emotional turmoil. Juliet is struggling as to whether she should still marry Marc, even if it may be the right thing to do in the eyes of society and turn away her true love for Rome. Rome is in turmoil because she’s in love with someone who’s about to be married, and the fact that she’s in love with a WOMAN.

One day, Rome “comes out of the closet” during a poetry reading performance at a bar she and Juliet frequented, in front her sister. Juliet was with some friends when Rome confesses her love for her, and they end up at the end of the night, showering together at Rome’s apartment. Marc, who hadn’t seen or heard from Juliet in days, suspects that she was at Rome’s place, walks inside and discovers the women together in the shower.

From then on, emotional turmoil breaks loose, hearts and egos are bruised, people are disowned, rumors spread…until a traumatic event occurs that brings Rome and Juliet to a satisfying conclusion.

Like I said, the story is a bit commonplace, but the way the film was presented made my heart gush. Throughout the film, poetry is interlaced with the script, as Juliet is a poetry hobbyist, and the flowery language flows like water through the script. The cinematography is a mixture of light and dark scenes, the colors showing vibrantly through, emitting an aura of romantic love and a neo-modern-Shakespearean glow, kind of a very subtle version of the cinematography of Baz Luhrman’s “Romeo & Juliet”. And most of all, the chemistry between the two actresses – Mylene Dizon and Andrea Del Rosario – seemed so real and true to life that you couldn’t help but cheer them on. Plus, the soundtrack of the film really brought another edge to the film – the majority of the music being a slick, urbanized version of Southwestern style of modern blues, along with a few snippets of Pinoy rap to glue the film together.

After watching that movie, it struck me that I wasn’t aghast by the concept of lesbian love. Even though I’m a very open person, I would have to be honest, sometimes I felt lesbians were aggressive, even more aggressive than straight men, when it came to dating. But honestly, if you’re truly in love with someone, it doesn’t matter who you’re with, just as long as it’s a mutual love that is true and pure. It was an honest representation of true love that symbolized a bond that you completely can’t deny.

So for all of you hopeless gay romantics out there, I suggest you all grab a copy and watch this movie. Once you watch it, I guarantee that this’ll be part of your favorites. If anyone is intrigued enough and wants to see it, I would be more than happy to lend a copy, just e-mail me at sex.confessions69@gmail.com. By the way, THIS MOVIE HAS ENGLISH SUBTITLES!!

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!!