Season 6, Ep. 5: Sana Maulit Muli

Saturday School Podcast

This week's episode of Saturday School continues our semester of tear-jerking romances... just kidding, our semester on Asian films about Asian Americans, and we've progressed semi-chronologically to the 1990s in the Philippines with Lea Salonga.

1995's "Sana Maulit Muli" stars Lea Salonga and Aga Muhlach as a young couple who hope to start the next stage of their lives in America in pursuit of a better economic future. But she gets a visa first and is tearfully convinced by her boyfriend to go without him. He'll join her soon, he promises. And never forget how much he loves her, he says.

Does she forget? Or is it that even if she's certain of his love, love is not enough if they're stuck on separate continents, pre-Skype? And when the complications of immigration causes a relationship to reach its breaking point, can they ever go back to the way it used to be?

In some ways, it's a universal tale about a long distance relationship and what happens when power dynamics in a relationship shift. But this is also a very specific story about Overseas Filipino Workers, the pressures to succeed in America to provide for your family, the struggles to get and retain a visa, and what happens when sacrifices you make for your partner become too soul-crushing, but "yesterday, tomorrow and today, you'll be the only one I love." This 90s classic was digitally restored and re-mastered in 2015 for its 20th anniversary, so it looks beautiful and, unlike some of the more obscure films we talk about, this one is easily accessible on iTunes or Amazon Prime. So take advantage!