Three New Breed Films today before I take a break for a week or so. Have fun and keep on watching...
Diablo
What the Cynic in Me Expected: Hippie Jesus saves the world through weed. No just kidding.
What Actually Happened: An interesting, albeit sometimes lacking, movie on faith, family ties, and anxieties.
Nana Lusing (Ama Quiambao) is the elderly mother of five sons. Although
she once had a job selling stuff, she has since stopped working due to
illness. She now lives alone in her quiet home. One by one we see her
five sons, most of whom have varying professions: one is a miner, one is
a soldier, one is a farmer, and one is a sleazy lowlife. The last son,
Oscar, is some sort of religious cult member who kinda looks like Jesus.
Unable to sleep at night, listening to some weird religious program on
the radio, the rest of the film depicts her life as she encounters her
five sons again. Oh, and during those nights, a mysterious black figure
appears in front of her.
There are lots of symbolic references to religion and what have you, and
the overall message is pretty straightforward, although a lot of
elements can be interpreted in many different ways. Nana Lusing has most
of the spotlight in this film, and it comes along with a good
performance by Ama Quiambao. Her mere presence changes the lives of the
people around her, yet ironically her own unresolved issues bother her,
and they manifest as apparitions and visions. Whether the visions are
real or not depends on the viewer.
Oscar is an equally mysterious character. Lusing's youngest son walks
barefoot, looks like popular depictions of Jesus, and carries around an
oil lamp with mysterious powers. Although his appearances are sporadic,
his actions and the events surrounding him enact change in the plot and
characters.
While the buildup is nice enough, the ending feels a bit rushed and ties
up many plot threads too quickly (or not at all.) Sometimes I get the
feeling that the story could have been told in a much shorter time.
Technically there were some issues with audio syncing but otherwise it
was fine.
Diablo is just an OK movie. I probably enjoyed it more than I expected, which is at least good.
Metaphor style rating: imagine a cup of Yan Yans and not even halfway through you run out of dip.
Mga Dayo (Resident Aliens)
What The Cynic in Me Expected: an hour and a half of I WANNA GREEN CARD SO BAAAAAD
What Actually Happened: A very nuanced look at the lives of Filipino immigrants in Guam.
A lot of Filipinos live abroad. A great number of them live in the
States and in its territories. With the promise of a better life and a
better paying job, a lot of Filipinos try to get there.
This movie takes place in Guam, a place with flavors both American and
Filipino. It shows a slice of the lives of three women: Alex, who plans
to get married to get a green card before her impending return to the
Philippines, Miriam, a former newspaper editor who just lost her job and
is lost among a number of frivolous relationships, and Ella, a hard
working hotel housekeeping supervisor who works to get her elderly
mother in America.
While it seems at first that they would want citizenship and a life in a
foreign land, not all of the girls are keen on staying there. There's a
sense of longing for home in one of a characters, a sense of
dissatisfaction in another, and for the other one, not so much a sense
of staying there out of want, but out of need.
The Filipino communities portrayed in the film show that Filipinos are
hardy and can live almost anywhere, as long as there is the promise of a
better life. It also examines the various loopholes one can take in
getting a green card in the States.
Although the plot is tight and doesn't drag (it's the shortest full
length film in competition) there are some weird side plots that really
don't go anywhere, most notably one that involves Ella's relative. The
shortness of the plot does leave some things unresolved, but I think the
film gave the message it wanted to give: that these three people have
their own hopes and dreams regarding living abroad (or returning home.)
Technically there are no problems with the film. Guam looks great in
these shots and I kind of want to visit there one day. The acting is
superb, notably Ella's portrayal as this hardworking woman who only
wants something better for her family. When she finally reaches the
breaking point, the resulting scene is a fitting climax for the film.
I was a bit impressed with this film. I'd put it somewhere above middle ground in the movies I've seen so far.
Metaphor style rating: A trip to America 5 days long.
Not long enough to really appreciate everything, but enough to get a
general idea on what the place is about.
Oros
What the Cynic in me Expected: PO-VER-TEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
What Actually Happened: An interesting story,
entertaining to boot and decently acted, but these "social commentary
set in poverty" films are starting to get a bit cliched.
Makoy and Abet are brothers living in a poverty stricken area in Manila.
Makoy holds an illegal gambling ring that sometimes involves holding
fake wakes with unclaimed cadavers to be able to hold an sakla (a card
game) operation.
There are a lot of interesting issues in this movie. The most important
to me is poignantly stated by one of the characters somewhere in the
first third of the film: that a new life is often harder to deal with
than death. Death is death, but a new life is just another mouth to
feed.
The illegality of the gambling operation is not lost on the main
characters, but they gotta do what they gotta do. When asked by Abet if
they could prop up a carinderia instead, Makoy answers him that no one
in their house really knows how to cook and the notion is dismissed. The
relatively big money adds to the appeal of the business, even though it
is illegal. At the same time, this activity is condoned not only by
goverment officials, but also by some members of the police - as long as
they get a share. The system allows for corruption to seep in like a
cancer and, unfortunately, we find it entrenched in a system that
refuses to change.
It's money that makes the plot revolve -it is the need for money that
propels the characters towards their decisions in life, and eventual
ruin. Although we may look at the business as something that doesn't
hurt anyone, it does - very subtly we see posters of missing people -
people whose bodies can be used in such illegal operations. It's the
dark side of what we see in the film, and once you realize it it is
quite disturbing. The movie resolves with a taste of irony that shows
this dark side, and although it is mostly implied, it is not a pretty
picture.
The 'poverty porn' genre is getting a bit stale these recent years, and
this year's festival has kind of toned it down a little. But a lot of
the staples that we've seen in previous films are still there. While
this film is good and entertaining, it doesn't offer a lot of new stuff
as far as these films go. I still want to see something fresh from the
genre, but I think it needs a rest for a few years.
Anyway, go and see this film. It's still worth the price of admission.
Metaphor style rating: Eating at your favorite
restaurant everyday for two years. You like the food, and the food is
delicious, but ordering the same food again and again takes its toll on
your palate.
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