Another take on infidelity

Film review: Kasiping

Infidelity has been a favorite subject in local cinema. One of the best films about this is Sino’ng Kapiling, Sino’ng Kasiping by Eddie Romero in 1977, where Vic Vargas is married to Daria Ramirez but sleeps with his best friend Lito Legaspi’s wife, Rosemarie Gil. Lito, in turn, has a mistress, Gloria Diaz, who also has an affair with Vic.

Now comes Augusto Salvador’s Kasiping, about wife-swapping in a condominium setting, from a script by Mel del Rosario.

The story starts with a young couple, Hilda (Halina Perez) and Bogs (Dante Balboa), moving into a condominium building. They have been live-in partners for three years. Hilda is a writer of romance novels and she’s the one who sent Bogs to school. Bogs is now a landscape contractor and a hopeless mama’s boy. Also living in the condominium are Romeo (Rodel Velayo), a fruit vendor, and Weng (Diana Zubiri), a hairdresser. Romeo’s dream is to go back home to his fruit farm but Weng wants them to migrate to Canada. They just tied the knot because Weng was already pregnant but she later lost their baby.

You know from the start that their marriages are doomed. As they move in, we see Hilda carrying several things in her arms and the insensitive Bogs does not even bother to help her. Romeo is neat and finicky around the house, while Weng is the type who leaves her dirty clothes wherever she has taken them off.

Weng’s car breaks down and Bogs offers to give her a lift. Soon, they are having assignations in a motel. Hilda’s suspicion that Bogs has a lover is confirmed when she sees Weng’s cigarette case with Bogs. Together with Romeo, they see their respective spouses entering a motel and what follows is a scandalous confrontation in their condominium building.

The film is presented as a sex comedy but it actually delves into valid issues. It is apparent from the start that all the characters made the wrong decision in choosing their mate. Hilda and Bogs are also off to a bad start because their union is not blessed by marriage. Romeo and Weng tied the knot for the wrong reason (just because Weng was pregnant) even if it’s quite obvious they are not at all compatible in values and lifestyle.

Weng and Bogs also treat sex as a cheap commodity, a mere instrument for pleasure, and this ultimately brings them nothing but pain. Romeo and Hilda get a second chance to cultivate a more serious relationship and redeem themselves because they have saner, more sensible views in life. What is ironic is that a supporting character, Nikka (Giselle Sanchez), a nosey neighbor with very liberal views about sex who tries to seduce Romeo all the time, turns out to be the one who succeeds in keeping her marriage intact. She manages to remain faithful to her overseas worker husband and, in the end, is rewarded by finally having a baby. Giselle is splendid as Nikka but how come she did not dub her lines in the film?

Among the four major characters, Halina Perez gives a surprisingly standout performance as Hilda. We’ve seen the ubiquitous Halina in so many cheap films lately like Sex Files, Alyas Bomba Queen and Dalaginding, but she has never been more beautifully photographed as she is in Kasiping, her first time with Seiko Films where cinematographer Romy Vitug brings out the best in her. She has the better role than Diana who comes out as just a cheap flirt in the film.

Those who watch movies only for the sexy scenes will not be disappointed because both Halina and Diana appear in various stages of undress all throughout the film.

Among the guys, Rodel Velayo does fairly well in his drama scenes as the cuckolded Romeo, but he should pay more attention to his physique since he often bares himself in sexy flicks. He looks so shapeless compared to newcomer Dante Balboa, who has a better build but looks more apt for character roles.