There's a good story in Everything About Her, one that's about two women finding each other through unlikely circumstances. One of them has lost out on the opportunity to bond with her son, while the other lacks a mother figure. As the film goes through the motions there's a good deal of humor and at the same time, there's great chemistry between lead actresses Vilma Santos and Angel Locsin.
Unfortunately, it all falls apart in the last third. The movie's greatest weakness is the romantic subplot that it seems to shoehorn in at the last minute. This has the unfortunate effect of influencing the final moments of the movie, which should have been the most poignant part of the film. Given that this is a mainstream, Star Cinema production, I had expected a somewhat happy ending (or at least one that wasn't too heavy.) Even then the end result was a bit disappointing. The final montage, built up on an almost nonexistent love pairing, ends up being ineffective.
I have to note the fact that this film does its homework with regards to its medical aspects. It's probably one of the best researched local films in terms of medical facts, the disease in question and modes of treatment. Of particular note is the scene where defibrillation is done right (and not on a flatlined patient,) a sin even Hollywood movies commit.
Long before we saw Angelica Panganiban and JM De Guzman waltz around Baguio and Sagada and pine for lost love, we had Mike De Leon's Kung Mangarap Ka't Magising. I was lucky enough to attend the premiere of the restored version of this movie, as part of ABS-CBN film restoration's week-long screening of restored Filipino films.
Christopher De Leon is Joey, a college student who is at a crossroads. He feels like he's going nowhere in life and tragic circumstances from the past have prevented him from going forward. He soon meets Ana (Hilda Koronel,) a woman who is stuck in a marriage that she no longer wants.
The cinematography really brings out the most in 1970's Baguio and Sagada, and gives the place a strange, dreamy feel. Baguio and Sagada (especially the former) weren't as populated as they are now, and this relative isolation feels serene; it's a perfect place for romance.
But it is not romance that drives the conflicts of these two individuals; Joey and Ana's problems are more about them facing up to and overcoming their own insecurities in life. Joey needs direction; perhaps symbolic of the ennui consuming the youth of the seventies as they started to break away from traditional values. The same can be said of Ana, who is younger than Joey but is ironically more world-weary. Her controlling husband is the amalgamation of every sexist trope around - that of the 'traditional' husband who would rather see his wife in the kitchen than living any modicum of independence. These are pretty progressive ideas, given that this film was released only as Asia was starting to feel the effects of women's lib and second-wave feminism.
Their love story can be best described by the picnic sequence, which is my favorite part of the film. It's supposed to be a lighthearted scene, but there's a pervading sense of dread and uncertainty all throughout it. In one particular shot, Joey and Ana are facing each other but they are forever separated by frame's negative space; behind their heads are two rocky cliffs that will never touch. They struggle to move on with their lives, just like how Joey struggles to complete his song (and he only does it with Ana's help, meaning that they help and complete each other.) They are two people who have found each other in the confusion of their lives; yet they know their time together is fleeting, and they know that once the dream is over and they've woken up, it's time to get out of that damn bed and start the rest of their lives.
You can catch this film (and many others) for a Valentine's Day date over at Power Plant Mall. They'll be screening films until at least next Wednesday.
I have to note the fact that this film does its homework with regards to its medical aspects. It's probably one of the best researched local films in terms of medical facts, the disease in question and modes of treatment. Of particular note is the scene where defibrillation is done right (and not on a flatlined patient,) a sin even Hollywood movies commit.
Christopher De Leon is Joey, a college student who is at a crossroads. He feels like he's going nowhere in life and tragic circumstances from the past have prevented him from going forward. He soon meets Ana (Hilda Koronel,) a woman who is stuck in a marriage that she no longer wants.
The cinematography really brings out the most in 1970's Baguio and Sagada, and gives the place a strange, dreamy feel. Baguio and Sagada (especially the former) weren't as populated as they are now, and this relative isolation feels serene; it's a perfect place for romance.
But it is not romance that drives the conflicts of these two individuals; Joey and Ana's problems are more about them facing up to and overcoming their own insecurities in life. Joey needs direction; perhaps symbolic of the ennui consuming the youth of the seventies as they started to break away from traditional values. The same can be said of Ana, who is younger than Joey but is ironically more world-weary. Her controlling husband is the amalgamation of every sexist trope around - that of the 'traditional' husband who would rather see his wife in the kitchen than living any modicum of independence. These are pretty progressive ideas, given that this film was released only as Asia was starting to feel the effects of women's lib and second-wave feminism.
Their love story can be best described by the picnic sequence, which is my favorite part of the film. It's supposed to be a lighthearted scene, but there's a pervading sense of dread and uncertainty all throughout it. In one particular shot, Joey and Ana are facing each other but they are forever separated by frame's negative space; behind their heads are two rocky cliffs that will never touch. They struggle to move on with their lives, just like how Joey struggles to complete his song (and he only does it with Ana's help, meaning that they help and complete each other.) They are two people who have found each other in the confusion of their lives; yet they know their time together is fleeting, and they know that once the dream is over and they've woken up, it's time to get out of that damn bed and start the rest of their lives.
You can catch this film (and many others) for a Valentine's Day date over at Power Plant Mall. They'll be screening films until at least next Wednesday.
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