At a lean 76 minutes, Kiko Boksingero is the shortest full length film in this year's Cinemalaya. Its story is simple enough that I think it could have worked as a short film. But surprisingly, Kiko Boksingero packs a lot of emotion and heart into its modest running time, and is filled with tons of heartfelt, deeply affecting moments.
The film isn't really about boxing. It's a character study of a boy who is desperately looking for someone to love him after the death of his mother. This leads him to try to reconnect with his father, a professional boxer.
The film's greatest merit is in how spartan it is, trimming away all the fat and filler and concentrating on its central drama. It does not meander into grand melodramatic set pieces, instead opting to stay in small, personal moments instead. The film tends to show rather than tell, easing the audience into their own realizations instead of resorting to needless exposition. And ultimately, it leads into some really heartwarming payoffs near the end. The boxer, so to say, has maintained his weight and packs a solid dramatic punch.
The whole cast deserves merit, but Noel Comia Jr. and Yayo Aguila both deserve praise for their roles as Kiko and Diday, respectively. While some child actors tend to overact and be annoying, Comia brings it in, and it's impressive, considering the kid hasn't been in a lot of roles prior to this.
Kiko Boksingero exists as a heartwarming counterpoint to all the doom and gloom of the other entries. It's a testament of love and how it exists in plain sight, but not necessarily in things we may readily notice.
Lemuel Lorca's latest film, Maestra, is nothing if not earnest. It's a collection of three stories about teachers struggling to make it in a country that doesn't exactly put education as its highest priority. These stories are based on real life people; two of the three outstanding teachers who served as an inspiration for the film were in the audience.
Of the three stories, only Angeli Bayani's story ended up being particularly compelling to me. The other two have a number of storytelling hiccups. Anna Luna's segment, that of a extremely talented teacher shackled by the limitations of her economic status, tends to tell rather than show, and ends when things start to get interesting. Gloria Sevilla's segment, that of a veteran in the education field who wants to keep teaching even well after retirement age, doesn't have much to work on, either. (Her character is pretty interesting, though.)
Angeli Bayani's story, that of an Aeta teacher who perseveres to uplift her small community, is the most fleshed out of all the stories. She has taken the licensure exam for teachers multiple times (29 in real life) without passing; and yet her determination has led to the construction of a school for the members of her community, one that is accessible only by a four hour walk to the location. It could definitely have worked out as a short, and Angeli Bayani's the kind of actress that can carry such a thing on her shoulders.
It's no secret that the film is co produced by a popular review center (and the film seems to be peppered with random product placement), but I think the true stories that the movie depicts are important and inspiring nevertheless. It's just that the storytelling for most of the stories isn't getting where it's supposed to be. Ultimately, in terms of what it says about education, I think this is better than the other teaching-themed movie I saw in Cinemalaya this year..
***
Later today (or maybe tomorrow) - A look at Asia Visions, and the last competition entry that I haven't seen for this festival. Have I saved the best for last? Stay tuned.
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