Cinemalaya 2014: Bwaya, Ronda, 1st ko si 3rd, S6parados and a little extra

A little something before I start with the reviews: during the last post, in my review of Hustisya I mentioned a scene near the end that seemed superfluous. After asking screenwriter Ricky Lee about it, I finally got what the scene was about and it fits a little better with the film. The editing problems and execution of the otherwise decent script still sadly fall short, buoyed only by Nora Aunor's performance..

Now that that little issue is out of the way, lets get on to reviews:

New Breed

Bwaya

Five years ago, a young girl named Rowena Romano was killed by a crocodile in the marshes of Agusan Del Sur. It made the news, headlines were made... and the story disappeared into obscurity. Agusan later figured in the news because of the discovery of Lolong, the world's biggest crocodile. (It's even been suspected that the crocodile was responsible for the girl's death and the death of another fisherman.)

Bwaya is based on that girl's story. Helmed by Francis Xavier Pasion, the story is structured in a pseudo-documentary fashion, with interviews with Rowena's real parents interspersed with the movie's depiction of the events of the movie.

It's hard not to compare the style of this film with that of Pasion's earlier Cinemalaya entry, Sampaguita. Both utilize the same not-quite-documentary story structure and it seems to be a distinctive style for this particular director. The visuals are one of the film's strengths, and the film is filled with many great aerial shots that are some of the best I've seen in the festival. There may be some technical issues with CGI, but I didn't find these special effect scenes to be particularly jarring.

Angeli Bayani deserves credit for playing Rowena's mother with the intense grief only a mother could express towards a dead child. Karl Medina delivers a relatively low key performance but is adequate enough. One scene just after the disappearance is relayed to him is particularly telling.

Also interspersed during the many segments are narration from the story of Dinagye-an and Dehunajun, which is basically the creation myth of the Manobo. It fits some of the story really well, and may offer some insight into character motivations if you read between the lines.

Once the central problem resolves, however, the rest of the story, where there are figurative "crocodiles on land," seems underdeveloped. The rest of the runtime rushes towards an ending that feels a bit incomplete, leaving a lot of plot points unanswered. This is detrimental to the rest of the story and takes away from it somehow.

Bwaya is a fascinating look into the lives of these people in the marshes. But with an ending that feels incomplete the overall effect is blunted a bit. 7 Crocodile Eggs/10.

Ronda

Ronda takes us into a Manila steeped in the darkness of night, where thieves and criminals can either be caught or get away with anything.

Ai-Ai Delas Alas plays Arroyo, a tough cop patrolling the streets of Manila. Her patrol partner is your typical womanizing cop with mistresses to the side like collectible cards.

Together, they catch petty criminals, pimps and prostitutes, and talk about their lives together. Around them is a Philippines where corruption trickles down from the top of the rung to the very bottom. News reports tell horrid tales of political corruption and plunder, while on the ground, people steal, kill, and swindle their way through the darkness.

Above all this, Arroyo is faced with a problem; her son has not come home in days, and she is growing worried. The film follows her as she searches for her son.

The film moves by slowly; one by one peeling back facets of Arroyo's life and the lives of the people around her. Once the whole thing unravels at the end, we are left standing, shocked as much as the characters in the film are shocked, and abruptly, the film cuts to black.

Technically the film is solid. Ai-Ai takes a dramatic role and runs with it all the way to the end. The supporting cast also does a great job of immersing us into this world.

Much like Hustisya, Ronda presents us with a world drowning in corruption. Like Hustisya, it does not offer us a solution or challenge us to change; the world merely is, and that is how it shall be. But Ronda presents this world far better than it was presented in Hustisya; it is less blatant and less obvious to the viewer. 

Ronda may be a bit slow, but it is far from boring. The plot does drive us forward like any good mystery should. Ultimately, Ronda as a film is an effective one, giving us a (tantalizingly small) slice of life gone slowly out of balance.

7 Policemen/10.

1st ko si 3rd

I noticed while watching 1st ko si 3rd that people were laughing along with the jokes and having a good time. I was having a good time too.

Most of the time, however, I was crying like a baby. (That's a good thing in this context.) 1st ko si 3rd is one of the best films in this run of the festival, and also one of the saddest.

Corazon (Nova Villa) is recently retired. She now deals with increasing boredom at home living with her husband Alejandro (Dante Rivero.) One day she sees her first love Third (Freddie Webb) and memories of first love come bubbling towards the surface.

1st ko si 3rd is a movie that deals not only with the pain of first love, but also with the pains of getting old. It's similar to the earlier Cinemalaya film Bwakaw, but whereas Bwakaw deals with how the main characters deal with death, this one deals with how the characters, in their advanced age, deal with love and their own relationships.

Nova Villa treats Corazon as a woman suddenly untethered from a life of work and obligation. She has freedom, but she doesn't know where this freedom will take her. One scene early on in the film where she retires was heartbreaking to me (which then started the periodic crying fits I experienced while watching this film.) There is nothing more terrifying than the thought of impending obsolescence. Throughout the film, Nova Villa's Corazon struggles with a sense of self worth and tries to seek refuge in old memories.

On the other hand, the other star of the show is Dante Rivero. As Corazon's husband, he only wants to do right by his wife in the only way he could - by trying to fix the couple's car. The chemistry between the two leads is palpable and real - a veritable treat to watch.

1st ko si 3rd talks about commitment, but the points it makes can also apply to anyone, old or not. One scene near the end where love and commitment is compared to taking care of a plant is fantastic writing (and probably a future source for a thousand and one Facebook quotes.)

At heart, the film is a comedy and delivers some really nice funny scenes that had the audience laughing out loud. It works in multiple levels, and it's one of those films that manages to touch people the right way. 1st ko si 3rd is a very nuanced and poignant look into the lives of people in love (that happen to be senior citizens) packaged in an easily accessible, crowd pleasing fashion.

Now excuse me while I get some decongestants. *sniff*

8.5 love letters/10

s6parados

Like I said earlier, I was not enthused by seeing this film in theaters, because of how Astig turned out (and how I didn't like it that much.)

But as luck would have it, I was pleasantly surprised at how this film turned out. Separados (stylized as s6parados) is still not as good as I'd hoped it would be, but it's a fairly entertaining experience.

Much like the interlocking plot structure of Astig (and many other Cinemalaya films) Separados deals with the stories of six individuals and how they separated from their long time spouses. Some separations are mutual; some are justified on one side or the other, and one is particularly weird (although I'll talk about that later.) All of these men converge in a wedding, where we see their stories and how they are connected with each other.'

That's half of the fun watching the film: how the different characters are involved with each other and how the interactions between characters plays out.The movie also has a lot of funny scenes, either intentional or not.

What should be the film's strength, however, becomes its weakness: with six separate stories to tell, some are fleshed out and some are not. Some can be summarized in one short sentence because of how little plot they actually contain. This leads to a loss of focus. The interesting stories are the ones that get the most time, Victor Neri's being a prime example. Others are interesting but lack resolution and ends with an implication, like the story arc for Erik Santos. And some, like Jason Abalos' separation story, are barely even touched upon.

Then there's the last story, the one involving Alfred Vargas, which has a tone that ranges from weird (his motivation for alcoholism at first seems to be because of vague religious reasons, but it turns out to be something completely out of the blue) to grossly exaggerated for the sake of drama (crying in an elevator in a fetal position with dramatic lighting).

Technically the movie is fine. The acting ranges from passable to great. However there seems to be some post production or technical issues. The wedding scene, for example, that draws all the characters together has a weird orange/yellow tint, probably added during post prod/color correction that makes Alfred Vargas look like he ate too many oranges.

There's one interesting thing I noticed while watching the film, and that it feels the most mainstream of any Cinemalaya production I've seen in the years I've been going to the festival. But let's forget the labels for a moment. Separados is a film with a nice premise and good acting, but a weak plot with a general lack of equal character focus. At least I liked it better than Astig.  6 marriages/10.

update: made a few proofreading edits. Don't write stuff at 3 in the morning. lol