Originally part of the 2013 edition of the Cinema One Originals film festival, Iskalawags begins with a sendoff to Filipino Action movies and just takes off from there. Iskalawags bathes in nostalgia as our unseen narrator recalls his younger years as a kid living in a quiet coastal village.
He and his friends, the titular Iskalawags (named off of a 1997 Jun Posadas actioner starring Raymart Santiago) do what many kids do during the prepubescent years: they go on adventures, they watch action movies and porn together, they chase after pretty girls, and in the process they start to discover their own sexuality. For children born before the internet and texting like myself, regardless of background, the experience rings true.
It's a tale that works thanks to the performances of its seven young lead actors, who seem like naturals at this sort of stuff. The camera seems content to film them as they are, taking us from slice of life to slice of life. Their eventual quest to find a legendary fruit larger than their dad's bellies (and one that looks like a huge pair of balls) is also a metaphorical search for their own adulthood, a Garden of Eden deal that goes awry. And as innocence is lost, in their final escape away from harsh realities and hidden truths, our narrator knows that there is no going back, literally and figuratively.
Iskalawags is a great film, and proof that 2013 was a damn good year for Philippine Cinema.
It's perhaps by chance or fate that I managed to see Remton Zuasola's other works before his feature film debut, Ang Damgo ni Eleuteria. Many of the trademarks of his filmmaking style are evident here, most notably his usage of the single take. Compared to Swap's use of the single take, however, this one brings about even more logistical challenges as it takes place in a wide open space and not in a closed set. For a first time full length feature effort, the result is nothing but impressive.
There is a scene near the beginning of Ang Damgo ni Eleuteria that sticks in my mind; Eleuteria (Terya for short) walks along the beach with her sister and her parents. They are met by the town crazy, Carlito, who wants to plant a tree on the beach. Terya remarks that the tree is not meant for the beach, but crazy people being what they are, the tree is planted anyway.
Terya is like that tree, as we soon find out: before the film ends, she is to leave the island to wed an older German man. She leaves for her family's sake, as they are mired in debt and have difficulties securing money to send Terya's younger sister to school. But certain things still bind her tightly to her home: a fisherman boyfriend who chases after her, warnings from her cousin Merle that she will be a fish out of water abroad and life will be difficult, and the family whom she loves. The film walks us through her decision to leave or stay.
Ang Damgo ni Eleuteria literally means "Eleuteria's Dreams," meaning her aspirations in life. And the true tragedy of the film is that, we really don't know what Terya's own dreams are. Throughout the start of the film we see and hear other people projecting their own aspirations and dreams onto the poor girl, but her own thoughts are a cipher. In fact, we don't even get to hear Terya speak until 15-20 minutes into the film. And in the middle of the movie, this comes to a head as Terya's own emotions boil over and we get to see her ultimate decision. Depending on how you view events, there's a sense of either despair and acceptance (or perhaps both) in what Terya decides to do.
The film takes place during the Baliw-Baliw festival in Olango, Cebu. The festival itself, where village men dress up in one piece dresses, give birth to cats who fight roosters, and so on, is a way for people to show their struggles and hardships in life in a rather colorful way. In a way, the island itself is telling Terya that while she may have her own dreams in life, people like them don't always have the means to live them out - even if that means making (or not making) a decision that is, on its face, baliw.
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Friday is the last day of the festival. Today's screenings were held at the UP Manila College of Public Health Auditorium. As the CPH building is relatively new, with revamped facilities, the auditorium is far better than the CAS Little Theater in terms of picture quality and sound, and both screenings went off without a hitch. The seats were very comfortable as well. it's a bit of a change of pace being a spectator, as the previous few times I've been to the CPH auditorium was to give lectures or exams.
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Okay, time for an extra unrelated announcement: I've been revamping the Cinemalaya Reviews Aggregator, (which compiles all of my Cinemalaya reviews) that you can access at the sidebar to the right. Users viewing the mobile version of the site can access these by either switching to the web version, or by clicking the gray thingy that says "home" right below the picture. Major changes include the addition of years 10 and 11 of Cinemalaya, as well as conversion and re-assessment of all previously viewed films from a 10 point scale to a 5 point scale. A Rating Criteria Section has also been added so that you can figure out what a particular score means.
Also, after the festival ended, I've been getting questions from friends on how to access some of these films on DVD or other types of distribution. I've updated the "Copy Available?" column on the review aggregator to indicate if a particular Cinemalaya film is or was available on digital or physical media. So the next time you ask, "Is (insert name of Cinemalaya Film here) available on DVD?" you can find that out.
For the lazy or confused, here are direct links to these pages:
Also, I've edited the "Ask John T a Question!" part to link to an Ask.fm page, so if you have any questions on what I wrote or just want to chat about something, you can ask me over there. I'm a bit of an introvert, but talking with people is nice once in a while, so go there if you are curious about something.
A section on the short films is forthcoming, but only when I get around to it. I currently don't have plans to make review aggregators for Cinema One Originals, mainly because I've only started watching that festival from 2013 onwards, and that means I haven't seen a significant number of movies from their lineup yet.
Anyway, that's it, and see you again next time.
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