Notes on Kaka

In 2014, GB Sampedro released S6parados (yes, that is the title), an anthology of relationship stories that, to be honest, wasn't all that great. I reviewed that film way back in Cinemalaya 2014, and in retrospect I think I was too kind on that movie - it certainly hasn't aged well in the intervening years.

That was the film I immediately remembered when seeing his latest venture: a sex comedy called Kaka. Overall, I think my feelings towards both films are the same: cliched and formulaic, occasionally entertaining, raunchy but paradoxically watered down, and not the worst thing in the world, but very, very far from the best.

Kaka (Sunshine Guimary) works as a radio DJ with a sex advice show, but there's one thing that's bugged her for the longest time: despite her best efforts, she cannot orgasm. However, when she meets a mysterious man at a party and has sex with him, she manages to climb the peak of pleasure. That event, and her search for the man behind the mystery, becomes a source of conflict between her, her family, and her longtime friend Jorge (Jerald Napoles.)

Kaka is most entertaining when it's more comedy than sex; unfortunately the film tends to concentrate more on the latter rather than the former. Guimary, who gained fame due to her YouTube and Instagram presence, shows off her assets here (wink wink) even though she doesn't need to and in all honesty she's actually not that bad an actress (at least compared to other, less talented members of the cast, especially Ion Perez, who has the acting range of a brutalist building from the 1970s.) The script is full of innuendos that no sane woman would realistically say, and would probably only be funny to your tito who effortlessly manages to ruin Christmas dinner year after year with his off color stories. Jerald Napoles carries most of the film, though he doesn't show up as much he probably should.

The film offers a contrast between a sexually open lifestyle and conservative, traditional Filipino family values, which could have lead to interesting things, but it transforms into this strange empowerment narrative and it's all too little, too late.

Why is Viva trying to revive sexy comedies like Kaka? Considering the fact that as of this writing, it's the most watched film on Vivamax, I think they're up to something. It also makes me think a lot about audience tastes and that notion keeps me up at night.