Okay, so today was a busy day. Five competition films from Cinema One Originals (bringing my total to 8/9). I also ate a cookie at Starbucks. It was good. Today was a good day.
Bukod Kang Pinagpala establishes its atmosphere from its opening scene, and cultivates it from there. It aims and more or less succeeds in making an effective horror film. The horror is superficial, however, and its allegories point to a deeper meaning.
The conflict between mother and daughter could represent the rift between two generations; one rooted deeply in faith and superstition, the other, emerging from those roots with a level of understanding and skepticism. Their situation (the isolated home, the limited amount of characters) seems less like a real thing and more of a representation for something, which unveils itself by the end of the movie. For me, this notion is present from the very start; it is merely camouflaged by the film's exterior.
It can also be interpreted as a warning to those who too easily follow figureheads of faith, unaware that they may be demons in disguise. Scenes from the very end of the movie seem to indicte that the conflict between the two is reflected in our society as a whole.
In any case, the film paces itself deliberately. Although there are a few side plots here and there, the plot keeps it simple until the tension ratchets up by the third act. For all it's worth, Bukod Kang Pinagpala is a decent slow burn horror film that needs to be scrutinized further to reveal its multiple layers of meaning.
I have to admit, I've never had as much fun watching a local movie in recent memory as I did watching Baka, Siguro, Yata. It's made up of three love stories of couples reuniting, meeting for the first time, or coming to terms with the 'next level' of their relationship in the context of present day society.
The story often concentrates on the story of Carlo, a young professional who seems to be in a rut following a recent breakup, and Melissa, a photographer who has no real aspirations to have a relationship. In a plot development paralleling Judd Apatow's Knocked Up (2007), Melissa gets... knocked up. This event ripples outward, affecting Carlo's divorced parents an Melissa's sister and her boyfriend, leading them to reexamine their respective relationships.
The movie mostly works because of the script. It's natural, funny, witty, and accessible to the audience; in the screening I attended, many seemed to enjoy every minute of it. The entire ensemble cast is laudable, but props have to go to Dino Pastrano, who plays Carlo. He nails the comedic timing for most of his lines and his character seems like an okay guy to hang out with.
The social landscape for relationships in today's world - including our norms regarding love, sex and who to take as a partner - are changing more than ever. Many recent films (basically, anything without a cookie cutter plot) have taken steps to portray both heterosexual and homosexual relationships in the context of this paradigm shift.
It's by no means a perfect film. The filmmaking feels a bit safe in a lot of places. The ending could have been expanded a bit more, but I don't mind what I got. In the end, I really don't care, I enjoyed the hell out of this film.
Miss Bulalacao begins (on a nicely framed shot, too) with the question: what is the essence of being a woman? The film then proceeds to fill its running time ruminating on this question until the very end.
Dodong, a.k.a. Donna, a drag queen, lives a relatively quiet life in the sleepy coastal baranggay of Bulalacao. He gets the shock of his life when he realizes that he is pregnant. The film hints at the origin of this seemingly miraculous birth, but many residents believe the pregnancy to be of religious significance and treat Dodong's unborn baby to be the second coming of Christ.
At the beginning of the film, Dodong answers "motherhood" to the above question. And we see bits of this burgeoning motherhood in Dodong. It's obvious he is happy to be carrying the child, even up to the conclusion of the story. He basically obtains the "essence of being a woman." But this still doesn't mean that he is equal to women in the eyes of his fellow townsfolk; at first many treat him with the same prejudice that he received as a non-pregnant drag queen. His palpable reaction to his pregnancy is also a search for his own identity, one that he hopes will bring him closer to the womanhood he yearns for.
Dodong is not the only character that struggles with identity and faith in the movie. Many of the other characters exhibit biases and exert their own prejudices based on how they were brought up, or how our society treats LGBT individuals. We still have a long way to go.
Some of the other plots don't pan out. The religious angle is played with, but is not as fully realized or explored. I wanted to see more of Dodong taking on the role of expectant mother, but the movie doesn't delve into it as much as it could have. Maybe that's the point, however. Even now, in our society, traditional norms and/or restrictions tied into our society's close bond with religion prevent some of our countrymen from experiencing motherhood, regardless of gender. In other words, dogmatism and adherence to outdated traditions sometimes takes away our right to be what we want to be (i.e. mothers.)
The film takes a very unique approach to its central thesis, and I've seen regional filmmakers from both Visayas and Mindanao pushing the limits of narrative storytelling - telling very distinctive tales tied into their own culture. There's a certain sense of daring, bravura if you will, from the way they make their films. It's all very exciting stuff.
Nick Joaquin was a fantastic writer, one of the best (if not THE best) our country ever had. I learned about him in what little English classes I had in high school and college. There's a certain kind of lyricism in his prose and his poetry, and his persona was larger than life.
Dahling Nick explores Joaquin's life by dramatizations of his works, documentary-style interviews, and dramatizations of life events. On the whole it is utterly fascinating and a bit touching too.
The documentary parts of the movie involve esteemed writers, columnists, journalists and bigwigs in the Filipino literary scene. They are filmed as if you were having a drink with them somewhere, sharing bottles of San Miguel Beer (Joaquin's favorite drink). It helps in the immersion and hearing these colorful, respected literary men and women reminisce about Joaquin's life and works could constitute a movie unto itself. At the end there are eulogies for the man, and one can't help but shed a tear seeing how this man impacted the lives of others.
Joaquin is played by Raymond Bagatsing and he gives life to a man who sparred with his friends with his intellect, his wit and a certain amount of irreverence. These segments culminate in a scene during the Martial Law era when Joaquin's contemporaries were being persecuted by the Marcos government. These scenes are made even more timely given that next year's elections involve a Marcos. The Martial Law days were horrible times, and in an environment where free speech was largely suppressed (the antithesis of literature and journalism), people had to fight the system in their own way, with some sacrificing their honor and principle for the sake of others.
The dramatization of his works are probably the weakest part of the segments, as the editing ends up without restraint, resulting with some scenes being too long for their own good. Standouts, however, include a reference to his most famous short story, May Day Eve, and the sequence at the end of the film.
While the first half is too slowly paced for my taste, the second half of the film is marvelous, and well worth the three hour running time. Fans of Nick Joaquin and Philippine literature are in for a treat.
And finally, I was really interested in seeing Manang Biring after viewing the trailer. Not only did it seem like it would be an interesting character study of a woman with a terminal illness, it was also a rotoscoped animation film, the kind we've seen with Richard Linklater's Waking Life (2001) and A Scanner Darkly (2006).
Manang Biring's story, that of a woman with terminal cancer desperately trying to stay alive to be able to see her estranged daughter, is very personal to me. Many close relatives of mine have struggled with cancer; my very own grandmother succumbed to breast cancer when I was a young adult - it helped catalyze my eventual pursuit of a medical career.
And thankfully, the movie really works - Erlinda Villalobos' portrayal of Manang Biring shows a woman grappling with the reality of her eventual death, and the moral and ethical decisions she has to make to keep herself alive. Her performance is nuanced, identifiable and heartbreaking at the same time.
This doesn't mean the film is all doom and gloom - the film manages to find moments of levity in many of the situations it finds itself in. Much of Manang Biring is comedy, a very Filipino trait of finding humor in even the darkest of situations.
I have met and spoken with many cancer patients of differing backgrounds
and their experiences mirror Biring's struggle to survive. It's a
difficult battle, one that is helped by the support of family and
friends. She may not have immediate family on hand, but Biring manages to attract a number of colorful individuals because of her condition. She serves a thief robbing her home a meal and gives him a job, perhaps out of loneliness and a desire for companionship. She engages in several businesses to help fund her chemotherapy. And as the final few months approach, she takes crazy measures to ensure a good Christmas with her daughter, at any cost.
The rotoscoped animation avoids being just a gimmick and adds to the overall impact of the film. They expand the limitations of filming normally, creating scenarios and images that can only be achieved with such a medium.
If only for its scope and ambition, Manang Biring is a fantastic film, one of the best in this year's festival. But its effective character study and an amazing performance by its lead actress both serve as icing on the cake.
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