Cinemalaya 2012: Shorts A and B, Bwakaw, Six Degrees of Separation from Lilia Cuntapay, Kamera Obskura

Last Day! Not counting Sunday, of course. I guess that's a thing right now.

WE GOT SHORT SHORTS SHORT REVIEWS OF SHORT FILMS AND SHIT

As He Sleeps

Sue Prado takes care of her husband, bedridden due to a stroke. My fellow med students, please tell me if the love scene in this film is medically possible. Subdued and bereft of words, yet enough visual storytelling panache to get the message across. 4/5

Balintuna (Irony)

It took me a while to figure out what really was ironic about these kids. Loved the slow mo thing going on with some sequences. 3.5/5

Bohe (sons of the waves)

A look at our brothers the Badjaos, sea nomads who live on houses on stilts. I've been to one of these communities before and it is interesting as hell to me. The plot doesn't really go anywhere, however. More of a slice of life thingy. 3/5

Pasahero (Passenger)

It was interesting, then a bit annoying, but it suddenly turns out cute at the end. Short but funny story about a lady on a jeepney. 4/5

Victor

A guy gets crucified as part of the Holy Week celebrations in Pampanga. I don't think this guy's motivations were fleshed out as much as I wanted it to be. Those wounds look painful, though. 2.5/5

Ang Paghihintay sa Bulong (Waiting to Whisper)

Despite some funny parts, I didn't really buy most of the humor and parts of it were a bit too vulgar to me. Meh. 2/5

Manenaya (Waiting)

Black and white film. Great composition in some shots. Contrast this to Victor; this lady's motivations are pure love. 3/5

Ruweda (Wheel)

Great production value, totally digging the non-linear narrative, slick and creative. There are winners and losers in life, and this just gives us a few examples. This one should be the film called "irony," IMO. 4.5/5

Sarong Aldaw (One Day)

This film was mostly a family affair. Very simple story. Some nice poetry set to lush visuals. Nice ending text. 3/5

Ulian (Senility)

Featuring Tausug dialog, a short look into a lady and her granddaughter and the effects of a mind no longer in its prime. 3/5

Cinema One Originals

Six Degrees of Separation from Lilia Cuntapay

What the Cynic in Me Expected: not gonna lie, I expected this to be awesome.

What actually happened: A funny, touching and very well done picture about the fickle nature of showbiz and one of its unsung heroes.

It was reported that during this year's festival, during the screening of Babae sa Breakwater on opening night, when Lilia Cuntapay's scene came on, the audience went nuts and cheered like crazy. Some even said it was a standing ovation. Similar reactions were made during her scenes in REquieme! What is with this outpouring of love and support? I say it's mainly due to the recognition she gained this film.

In the style of a mockumentary, Six Degrees of Separation from Lilia Cuntapay is a portrait of a woman who has worked selflessly for the film industry for around thirty years. Starting out as the lady who always portrayed witches and ghosts, most memorably with Kris Aquino in Shake Rattle and Roll III, Lilia Cuntapay is the quintessential 'old lady' extra. In the film's 'real life' she lives in a poor community, occasionally (and enthusiastically) answering the call of whatever interview, shooting of miscellaneous thing the industry has to offer. She is then nominated for a (fictional) award for best supporting actress.

Cuntapay herself is lovable, witty and affable. The walls of her house are adorned with movie posters of the films she's been in - sometimes replaced by drawings made by Lilia herself. Her enthusiasm for the job and dedication to the roles she plays - no matter how small -rubs off on the viewer. Her performance lights up the scenes she's in, making scenes far funnier than they would have been with a lesser actress.

But at the core of the film is a need, almost desperated at times, to be recognized. "I want you to know me," you can almost hear her say. After years of sulking in the shadows like many of the ghouls and ghosts she portrays, she is given an opportunity to shine in the limelight. These hopes and dreams are reflected in the 'podium' segments were she practices her acceptance speech. But nothing quite reflects this desire more than the last line of the film.

If this film's aim was to get her more recognized in cinema, I'd say it seems to have worked, at least a bit. During the Cinema One Originals Awards, Cuntapay did win an acting award - her first - as Best Actress.

Metaphor style rating: holding a party for that manong or manang who has served the hacienda for many years.

Director's Showcase

Bwakaw

What the Cynic in Me Expected: I expected to cry, to be perfectly honest.

What actually Happened: I did (but they were MANLY tears) but I laughed quite a lot as well. One of Eddie Garcia's best performances.

Eddie Garcia is Rene, a grumpy old gay man who has more or less given up on life. Life has taken a toll on him, and he has more or less accepted his fate. His house is in a state of disrepair, and his room is filled with boxes filled with his possessions, segregated by who will receive them as stated in his will. Periodically he updates this will via his local parish priest. His only companion in life is his dog, Bwakaw, who faithfully waits for him outside the house everyday. Soon, however, he begins to face death even more squarely in the eye, and things begin to change.

While looking at the above summary may seem like the film is depressing, the end product is actually quite funny and touching. Eddie Garcia delivers the performance of his career as Rene. Although irascible, you never really hate his character. He delivers his one liners like he does during shootouts in one of his manly action films. But this is a completely different dimension to the actor, and a performance you shouldn't miss.

Princess, the dog who plays Bwakaw, is also endearing. In every scene you see this palpable chemistry between her and Garcia's character. It's a chemistry that you don't even see in human actors. More than anything else, there's a fierce aura of loyalty and love that exudes from this dog. If you could give awards to animals for best actress, I'd give it to this fella.

People deal with death in different ways. Some avoid it, some confront it, some let it pass by like the wind. Bwakaw tackles how people deal with death, as sudden and unexpected as it may be. And how one deals with death reflects how one deals with life - that one should seize every day like it was their last, while living everyday for the promise of tomorrow.

It's the best entry in the Director's Showcase this year, and based on attendance by the public, I'm inclined to think I'm not the only one who thinks so. A must watch.

Metaphor style rating: like your loyal family dog who brings you lots of funny moments, lots of sad moments, and lots of life moments that change you.

Kamera Obskura (or, Money and Politics in the face of Artistic Integrity. There, I said it.)

What the Cynic in Me Expected: like the Artist, but more pretentious.

What actually Happened: an interesting take on film in general. Behind the political references, perhaps something else...?

As the festival winds down, I've decided to save this review for last. Why? Because I think it expresses various things about what is happening to this festival and the film industry right now.

I'm not going to go over the plot in detail, but long story short, a long lost short film was found somewhere by the national film archives. We then see the film itself, and we hear a couple of guys talking about it, with nothing more in their conversation than empty superlatives. While I think in the context of the film, the film is underrated, but it does have interesting layers of meaning underneath.

So the film itself is so so. Not one of Red's best films. The soundtrack was old timey for sure, and for some reason a lot of people hated it. The fake black and white silent film thing mostly works, with all the random artifacts popping out of nowhere. The editors clearly liked those iris wipes, but there was one unnatural fade to black that betrayed the film's modern origins.

I recommend a watch. This film will be polarizing and will gain measures of both praise and scorn. But discussions and reflections on the film are what the industry needs right now (at least from my humble outsider's view.) If it leads to a new way of thinking, or a chance for honest reform, it has done its job.

Note: don't leave immediately as the credits run out. You will miss a significant part of the film if you do.

Now about the message of the film:

Superficially, the film could be about how the ones working for Big Government and the supposed revolutionary working class are the same kind of animal, both wooed by money. But I interpreted the film a different way. I may be totally off base, and this film may not have anything to do with what I am going to say, but who knows? Art can be interpreted in different ways. Although I'm going to sound pretty pretentious saying it.

So SPOLERS BELOW ---------------------------------------

Pen Medina, the man with the camera, is the representation of the Filmmaker-as-collective. For long he is trapped in a dark room with no way to express himself, just as independent filmmakers had no way of expressing themselves through film (not necessarily by technical means, but in terms of getting an audience, thus the symbolism of the darkened room.)

For once he gets a glimpse of the outside world and is led to the camera store. He sees the camera (that ironically led him to prison in the first place) and begins to use it. The camera itself is a tool that exposes the truth; politically it can be used to expose the darker side of our society, much in the way that the camera absorbed the burglars and the corrupt politicians in the film. Thus the film is telling us that to be a filmmaker, one's obligations include the obligation to present the truth in society, sometimes in the form of social commentary.

The camera binds itself to the Filmmaker; one cannot exist without the other at this point. The Filmmaker is thus bound to his obligation to present the truth, whether he likes it or not.

Led to the eponymous Building, he is exposed to the politicians at the top, perhaps symbolism to big-name mainstream cinema. Although they have noble sounding ideals, and despite some of their ranks possessing integrity, their ultimate goal is corrupted by money. They try to co opt him and want to use his power of Filmmaking to their own means. Disillusioned by this inability to express the truth his own way (a metaphor for the inability to be creatively independent) he leaves.

He then joins the ranks of some other people who work with the working class, perhaps people similar to him. Under the guise of working for the laborers, or the people behind the scenes, it can be a reference to a separate independent collective from the studio bigwigs and mainstream people of today. Under the promise of using his power of Filmmaking for good, the Filmmaker seems swayed, but is still confused.

Again, we see these people receive money from the bigwigs. Money signifies everything, it makes the whole world go round. They are no different from the politicians we see earlier.

Irene Gabriel, the mysterious girl we see, can be a symbol for the muse of creativity. She advises the Filmmaker that to be truly able to use the power of Film, he must go it alone. And he does. He leaves the place, leaving the people to fight for themselves and decides to go back to his exile. He takes his camera with him, and realizes he is no longer bound by it. The camera's destiny was to be free of any kind of control, as Film is truly free if the artist is similarly unbound.

Upon returning to his exile, however, is a warning: his exile only signifies self indulgence and giving into hubris. While freedom in and of itself is liberating, it can also be seeds towards arrogance and self importance.

SPOILERS END -------------------------------

Ta-dah! There. What I wrote is either complete bullshit or a valid alternate interpretation of the film. Your mileage may vary.

Metaphor style rating: the whole film is a metaphor. You can't get any more meta than that.

Thus ends my week long cinematic journey through promising talents in the world of Philippine Cinema. Next, my closing thoughts on the festival and random shit on our industry in general.