Cinemalaya Backlogs: Tribu (2007)

I have a lot of pending or unedited reviews for Cinemalaya films from the past six or so years, especially the 2008 festival. Here's one of the reviews I decided to finish up.

I managed to watch Tribu during its gala night premiere. Since then it has gained a lot of positive attention here and abroad. Now, having watched the movie again, I found a few new things about it that I wasn't able to catch on first glimpse. It still remains a great film after all these years.

Tribu is shot almost like a documentary, with its camera work and its use of non actors in many of the title roles. Jim Libiran grew up in Tondo and it shows, with lots of dynamic shots moving around the story from one scene to another. His actors sometimes go on set with their own weapons; other times they are shot or arrested in real life.

His movie is a violent slice of life, and at the same time it shows a Tondo that is dichotomous: during the day, the adults rule with their adult concerns, rumors and gossip. During the night, the street gangs prowl the streets like packs of wolves. The two sides seldom meet, and when questioned by their parents or by people in authority, the youth hide behind supposed innocence. During the day they might be your average kid next door; but as night comes you may see them knifing some guy to death.

This clash of cultures, the formation of the culture of gangs, stems from a lot of other things. The film tries to hint at this during the open dialogue. It is a deviant society borne from poverty, from ennui, from the youthful notions of invincibility and wanting to belong. It also comes from a disparity between generations, with neither side wanting (or willing) to understand the other, and with neither side as guilty or innocent as the other. This society comes across as violent, even barbaric. And yet, during a scene near the climax, we see that this society in the shadows has formed a culture of its own. The rap music flows like poetry throughout the film, and reaches its peak before the climax of the film.

We see the movie through the eyes of a child, who drifts in between the warring factions. He is an observer, both of the youth corrupted by crime and the adults who are no better. In the end, everyone looks out for themselves, and the kid is no exception.

I heard that because of their work with the film the actual gang members have formed a peace with each other. That was five years ago; hopefully it will last. And Libiran himself has continued his love letter for his home town: his succeeding film, Happyland, is also set in Tondo, albeit with a different story to tell.