Matters of the Heart

Last Friday, some college friends called for an unplanned reunion. It was great to feel young ‘at heart’ again but really, the magic of the malls was soon forgotten when we ended in a movie marathon in Lourdes’ place.

The old films when viewed with friends seem to have another meaning. It’s so like college movie review again that after every video CD a short discussion ensued. Funny thing is, the old movies were romantically done in this order: Moulin Rouge, The Other Boleyn Girl, and Love in the Time of Cholera.

Moulin Rouge is about a story of a known French nightclub that accommodated the self-indulgent elite of society where Satine (the beautiful star) was the stunning courtesan that fires up the intimate desires of all the men who came in contact with her until she accidentally met a struggling writer who also fell in love with her. Their love affair sparked an explosive consequence that a very influential man, who is also obsessed with Satine, wanting to end the passion of the lovers brought the movie to the tragic end.

The Other Boleyn Girl is a movie based on the life of the two sisters, Anne and Mary Boleyn, who had been part of King Henry VIII’s life. It tells of the interesting sensual tales of intrigues, romance, passion and betrayals set on those crucial moments of history of that country. It marked the covetousness of the ambitious father and uncle of the sisters who drove the girls to courting the affections of the King of England that made Mary the mistress of King Henry VIII and ultimately brought Anne to the seat of the Queen, which finally took her to her death.

Love in the Time of Cholera tells about love born in the outbreak of cholera somewhere in Southern America. It was between two teen-agers where they were forced to separate because of social status. The girl married a doctor who treated her from the suspected dreaded disease and they lived a good life. Later however, the marriage was marred by a brief affair of the doctor with a church worker. The boy, with the help of an uncle soon became rich too. Ultimately, the long wait of the gentleman was ended when his lady love was widowed.

We did enjoy the movies as much as we enjoyed the afternoon with home-cooked sopas, oatmeal cookies and baked cashew nuts. Indeed, the world will grow old but human nature doesn’t change at all; nor men’s desires and idiosyncrasies. Moreover, despite the wealth and fame and honors that there may be, love will still be felt.

So, there is truth in the maxim that there is no age limit to romanticism and dreaming, that we dislike people who separate lovers for whatever reason it stands, and we hate them who put a finger on the matters of the heart of others even if it were for the grandest ambition for the family and even that of the nation.