Movie review: 'Jazz in Love,' lyrical documentary on love and loss

In a world full of bigotry, hypocrisy, and hate, Baby Ruth Villarama valiantly celebrates love among men, or same-sex love, through "Jazz in Love."

The heart of Villarama’s documentary lies in her effort to help the viewers understand that there is no difference between heterosexual love and same-sex love, except the genders of the lovers. The documentary is valiant in its unflinching depiction of two ordinary men falling in love; just like with love between heterosexuals, problems and frictions also abound in same-sex love.

The sincerity in Villarama’s documentary is unmistakable.

The documentary opens with Ernesto “Jazz” Tigaldao, 22, a gay man from Davao, chatting via the Internet with his German fiancé Theodor Rutkowski, 56. They met on Facebook.

Both Jazz and Theo worry about the coming German language examination Jazz needs to pass before he can get his fiancé visa, thus enabling him to fly to Germany to marry Theo.

After passing the German language test, Theo is set to fly to Davao to seek permission from Jazz's parents to marry their son in Germany. Meanwhile, Jazz's family and friends are unaware of the marriage plans.

Then, the members of the audience see Jazz waiting for Theo’s plane to arrive at the Davao airport. For several minutes, it is not very clear whether indeed Theo is on the plane, until he is among the last of the passengers to exit.

What follows are romantic shots of Theo and Jazz dating in various spots in Davao, holding hands, and dining together. They are ordinary lovers extraordinarily in love with each other.

Theo’s visit coincided with his birthday, so Jazz's decides to hold a grand party to celebrate and welcome him.

Villarama and Dexter dela Peña, her director of photography and camera, creatively used the gathering to interview the Jazz's family members, notably his father, who seemed to be at a loss for words to describe his son and the latter's love for his German fiancé. He would rather drink alcohol than talk about Jazz and his future.

At some point during Theo's visit, something which revealed the fault lines in the cross-cultural romance occurs.

The romance is suddenly shattered, and this was conveyed via dark evening and early morning shots.

Was Theo overwhelmed by the responsibility of marrying his young Filipino partner-to-be, as he had confessed to thinking that he would be living the rest of his life a single man? Jazz complained of constantly hearing hurtful words during their conversation.

Was it a case of cultural miscommunication? Most Germans will be clear and direct to the point when they talk. Filipinos tend to be less assertive and ambiguous. It is not very clear when and how the irreparable cracks in the relationship began.

What the documentary tells us is that Theo left, while Jazz hopes that Theo may come back.

Initially, Villarama and her team were hoping that the documentary will be able to capture Jazz on his way to the altar to marry Theo. But it never came to be.

"The documentary film is a simple love story. The main truth we all realized about the love story of Jazz is that in love, we are all in equal footing," Villarama said.

Although "Jazz in Love" does not have a happy ending, Villarama’s documentary is groundbreaking with regard to pushing to the mainstream discussions on same-sex marriage via this genre.

And for this, the Filipino LGBT community will be thankful to Villarama and her team for insisting that same-sex love is just like heterosexual love and that all shades and variations of love among people can co-exist.

Jazz in Love is going to the 18th Busan International Film Festival to compete in its "Wide Angle Section" where short films, documentaries, and animated films are showcased.

The Busan International Film Festival will run from October 3-12.— VC, GMA News

 
Ibarra C. Mateo, a former international wire service correspondent covering Asian politics, returned to Manila after studying Japanese history and Japanese urban sociology at the Sophia University Graduate School in Tokyo. The views expressed in this article are the author's own.