On Video: Aishite Imasu 1941

I have rented "Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita" even though I have already seen it on cinemas during its MMFF 2004 run. I somehow felt the urge to see it when I saw that the video includes the deleted scenes thinking I was getting the "director's cut". But it wasn't. The deleted scenes were just that - deleted scenes! They were not integrated in the whole film. Heck, they were even the unedited ones so it is safe to assume that they were cut even before they were shown for classification in MTRCB. For sure, the producers wanted a bigger audience that would see the film so those cuts have been made. However, I'm beginning to think that the scenes were shot just to get two handsome actors kissed on screen! If they have planned to put them despite knowing the MTRCB won't approve of them, why delete them or at least processed them?

What exactly were the deleted scenes? There were four cuts and most of them were the graphic sexual acts (meaning: kisses!) between guys. The first was the much talked-about kissing scene between Ignacio (Dennis Trillo) and the captain (Jay Manalo) when the former finally admitted that he was a man. The second was Edna's rape scene while he was being captured by the Japs. The third scene was the shooting lesson of Inya (Judy Ann Santos) given by Edilberto (Raymart Santiago) while Ignacio was watching jealously. The last was the farewell kiss of Ignacio and the captain.

Seeing them really didn't change how I saw the film. Cuts or no cuts, the film was still the same because there weren't any story that those scenes tell. We really didn't have to see Ignacio and the captain kiss to know that they have consummated their relationship. We need not see Edna's rape scene to know that the Japs had sexually assaulted him. The shooting lesson need not be added because the audience already know how jealous Ignacio was to Inya. Those scenes were already implied in the movie as it went along.

Though, I guess it would be have a different feel if those scenes where integrated in the whole film. You'd get to see and feel the film in a new perspective. It would kinda give a mature feel to it. Still, it would still lack in storyline but people who'd expected the lead gay characters to kiss won't get disappointed upon seeing it, right?