‘Hold Me Close’: An underrated movie that is worth a much closer look

December 31, 2024 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Those with only a superficial knowledge of films may never get what “Hold Me Close” is all about. It is a fairytale of sorts and a slice of life, the cinematic equivalent of an impressionist painting.

Those who say it lacks deep character development also miss the point: this is a plot-driven movie where the two protagonists react to external occurrences over which they feel they have no control.

And how they react. Julia Barretto (as Lynlyn) and Carlo Aquino (Woody) play off each other excellently, exhibiting such layered and nuanced acting that is nothing short of excellent. It was sheer delight watching them throw their lines back and forth, exhibiting masterful responses to the story unfolding before them. Every inflection of the voice, every twitch of facial muscles, every pause is meaningful. It was two extremely talented people acting up a storm.

This is not to say that the characterization is unsubstantial. Woody is a wanderer impelled by a profoundly unhappy family life: his parents fought frequently, leading to the accidental shooting of his father, which fortunately was not fatal. When his father died, he left most of his fortune to Woody, which his mother deeply resented. And so he travels the world, lost and looking for “the perfect home.” This leads him to Karatsu, a small town in Japan.

There he serendipitously meets Lynlyn, a Filipino expat who, together with her two siblings, sells fresh squid in the town’s marketplace. He is instantly smitten. But Lynlyn has a strange power: by mere touch, she can sense whether a person will bring her pain or happiness. This results in a heated altercation with a Japanese patron, which Woody diplomatically diffuses with the offer of free beer.

In gratitude, she volunteers to show him around town. Randomly touching him, she senses neither the potential for pain or pleasure: his “reading” is “neutral.” As their mutual attraction grows and she touches him again, she suddenly gets a bad feeling: he is going to cause her pain. She recoils and thereafter avoids him.

But passion proves more powerful than prophecy, and they try to make the relationship work. Lynlyn gives Woody three chances to change her “reading.” How the two of them try to modify their fortunes from “negative” to “positive” is the driving force that moves the story forward.

As the film progresses, the audience is shown — via flashbacks — how Lynlyn acquired her mystical power, and how she changed from being a good Samaritan to someone deeply skeptical of her fellowmen after having been deceived, with near-disastrous consequences.

While the screenplay never revealed why Lynlyn and her brothers were in Japan, let alone in a rural town, we must repeat that this film is not a character study. That being the case, it is just as well, for the reason is unnecessary. Verily, the writer must be commended for the economy of subplots which can only distract from the movie’s main point.

And the main points are these: that in life, no one can truly predict whether one will, in the future, hurt another person, even the one he or she loves most; that the solution to avoiding pain is not to run away from it, but to embrace the very real possibility that in an imperfect world of imperfect people, a person can and will inflict misery, albeit at times unintentionally; and in such a case, the key to closure is forgiveness and learning lessons so as not to repeat the same mistake.

In getting this message across, the movie succeeds splendidly. Not only is the script smartly written, but the entire film itself is a lesson in movie language.

With well-constructed mises en scéne and innovative camera angling, meanings are subtly thrust upon the audience even without a word being uttered. As a filmmaker, I could not help but notice that at the start, when it appears that the main characters are facing an uphill fight, the scenes were angled with the camera tilted higher on the right, making the landscape slope downwards, in a slight variation of a Dutch angle. This was reversed later on with the lenses angled the other way, when things seemed on the up and up. These are coupled with the symbolism of stairs, bridges, streets and wide shots of empty spaces. Using asymmetry and generous head and breathing room in framing the protagonists to convey a sense of isolation, the framing is adjusted accordingly to deliver the appropriate atmosphere as the film enters its third act. Director Jason Paul is indeed a true advocate of the fundamental moviemaking principle of “show, don’t tell.”

Finally, one must watch the characters’ expressions closely to truly appreciate how well-acted the film is. In this, the director helps us by interspersing the aforementioned wide and super-wide shots with close-ups of the two leads as they interact. To be sure, “Hold Me Close” is an underrated movie that is worth a much closer look.

(Note: Film reviewer Ferdinand Topacio is also a film producer, whose two movies ‘Deception’ and ‘Mamasapano’ have been nominated in award-giving bodies 26 times and have won 11 awards.)