Sad ending to the love story

Aside from the sad ending, the love stories in the Hollywood musical “La La Land” and Jollibee’s Valentine commercial “The Vow” have something else in common: they broke hearts--and, respectively, the box-office and the internet.

Both are essentially stories of a breakup, with the lovers not taking the same road and abandoning their love.

She turns away

The difference is how it is presented: -- In “La La Land,” after a “dream-like narrative flight of fancy” (which shows them happily married with a child), Mia locks eyes with Sebastian in his jazz club, turns away to follow her husband, who’s not Seb.

-- In “The Vow,” scenes and voice-over comment of the man as the bride walks the church aisle, suggest he and the woman were meant for each other. She casts a last glance at the man before she steps towards the bridegroom, who’s not the man.

Danger ahead

A red flag is hoisted to tell us each love couple won’t end up with each other. But “The Vow” is explicit (a subtitle says “Sad Ending”) while “La La Land” is subtle, more so than other films of the same genre and conclusion.

In a way, both ended sadly and yet happily. And both ended still with some element of surprise, in the way the telling is done (by Damien Chazelle and Ianco de la Cruz, the respective directors).

Acceptance

Mia and Sebastian each got what they wanted: hers, success in the movies; his, Seb’s own club where he plays pure-jazz piano. In a menage a trois, the third is ambition, not another man or woman.

In “The Vow,” the who didn’t get the woman accepts his fate (“kahit hindi naging tayo”) and remains her friend. Some kind of satisfaction. Maybe not for the lovers but for the Jollibee concept managers who believe love in different forms should be celebrated. And with some tinge of mystery, if not subtlety. In “La La Land,” the husband doesn’t know. In “The Vow,” the bridegroom looks clueless. Or the audience is not told.

Bitter. Sweet. Sad. Happy. All in one sting.

‘La La Land’ and Jollibee’s ‘The Vow’ show that the road not taken by lovers can be bitter, yet sweet