Set in the quiet town of Sampaloc, Quezon, Lem Lorca's Ned's Project is a finely made character drama, going forward from last year's Water Lemon. The premise is simple: Ned, a lesbian tattoo artist, wants a child of her own, and sets off to try to get pregnant through natural and artificial means.
Her desire to have a child stems not only from an innate sense of motherhood, but also out of a fear of being alone. Ned's friend and mentor, Max, tells her that people like them are destined to die alone, and this statement haunts Ned for the rest of the film. We see this throughout the film as Ned goes through the relationships in her life, breaking some while strengthening others.
Her determination to get pregnant leads to her auditioning for a local talent contest. The contest itself sort of reflects how the Philippines views its LGBT population: relegated to the fringes and treated as some sort of side show. Throughout the film characters look down on lesbians like Ned, their prejudices rooted in old cultural ideas and religion. Ned's performance tries to counter that, and it's a way of saying that she isn't some freak or oddity, she's a real person with her own hopes and dreams.
All in all it's a character study that's handled competently, and while it has its fair share of drama it manages to balance it with some lighter moments.
As an overweight guy myself, much of what Ang Taba Ko Kasi says hits close to my (cholesterol-choked) heart. I appreciate the fact that it portrays relationships between people that are different from the usual hunky and sexy types. It can be viewed as a companion piece to Jason Laxamana's Love is Blind, where in both works, people are treated as people with their own positive and negative qualities and not as stereotypes, for good or worse.
The film is enjoyably funny, and overall it's light fare. There is the issue of the development of the relationship between Olga and her swim teacher Noah. It develops too fast to be believable and I'm not totally sold on it. The points raised during certain dramatic confrontations in the film show (at least for me) that fat people can think and judge superficially too and that not every negative thing in a person's life is necessarily due to how fat they are.
There's nothing too remarkable in the technical side of things, in any case it's decently made. Ryan Yllana and Cai Cortez are great in their respective roles and they have great chemistry together. Of all the lighter films in the festival, this is the best one.
The last feature film in the Cinefilipino lineup is 1st Sem. It's an odd beast - it mixes drama and comedy but I can't reconcile the two. It features a plot that could have been solved if the main characters would just sit down and just talk to each other. I guess this lack of communication between parents and children is kind of the film's point.
While the film's framework looks solid I'm not sure if the end result works. The film could have delved a bit more into the mother-son relationship, but the scenes consist mostly of the two of them fighting. The film then suddenly extends the relationship drama from just the mother and her eldest son to all three kids, which indicates a lack of focus.
The film meanders into a conclusion that, in the context of everything that happened, is relatively satisfying, but the film muddles through a lot to get there. I'm not really sold on this one.
The simple lack of a bridge that connects a remote barangay to the town center creates ripples that resonate throughout the small town of Suba. While the case looks open and shut (meaning: just build the damn bridge already,) the documentary film Forever Bridgeless shows us that things are far more complicated than it seems.
If I wanted to show outsiders how the byzantine machine that is Philippine politics works, I'd show them Forever Bridgeless as a case study. Arguments for and against the building of a bridge are presented via interviews with townsfolk. If a bridge were made, travel to and from the town would be cheaper and easier compared to the riskier use of boats. People would get better access to health care and education. The place may even be viable as a tourist spot, boosting the local economy. But decades have passed and no bridge is in sight. It all boils down to conflicts of personal interest and opposition from parties that benefit from the status quo.
What's missing from the film is the perspective of the local government, the one entity that technically has the power to have this bridge built. Any answer would be helpful. In fact, even a statement of declining to comment would have strengthened the film's central thesis.
The film ends with a personal justification from the director for making the film that could have been fleshed out and integrated with the rest of the documentary, but ends up feeling tacked on, like a footnote. I feel the docu could have ended more conclusively if it had been succinct.
We Want Short Shorts Cinefilipino 2016 Edition
This year's shorts program features a very strong lineup; I even think that based on the collective quality of all the shorts, I like them more compared to this year's full length features.
Shorts A:
Oktopus: 4/5
Really funny, despite the film having someone die. It's poignant in some moments too. I want a longer version of this with the grannies going on awesome senior citizen adventures.
Kung Ang Ulan ay Gawa sa Tsokolate: 4.75/5
From the makers of last year's Sleepless comes this gem. It's just my kind of thing because of the genre and the way the story and themes (which, if you are a parent, are universal regardless of circumstance) are adapted for the genre. Out of all the films in this fest, short or long, this is my absolute favorite.
Katok: 4/5
It's very effective, even with no dialogue. (Although when someone asks for alms in traffic I do jazz hands instead.)
Dipa ning Alti: 4.5/5
This fascinating film is relentlessly dark, and by dark I mean pitch black. It made me regret the fact that I haven't seen Dayang Asu yet.
Saanman Ngunit Dito: 3.5/5
I felt a bit lukewarm on this tale of moving on and climbing mountains together. It's still nice anyway.
Luna 3.25/5
I liked the film and thought it discussed its central theme well. It almost feels like a poem in the way it was constructed. However I'm a bit iffy on some aspects of the presentation and I wanted more from the film that what it gave me.
Shorts B:
Aki: 3.5/5
First of all, this was directed by Milo Tolentino, who is known for a making a different kind of film. This cannot be further in tone and subject from those films. I liked the idea of the two parallel narratives, but I think the connection between them is too tenuous, making their pairing almost random.
Chicboy: 4.5/5
I laughed. The film is short, but it has a point.
Not Applicable: 4/5
This is one of those films about a situation where everyone loses. There's so much subtext under the table (pun intended...?) with these two characters that it enriches the experience.
Punla: 4/5
It's really well done. There's a tinge of sadness to the whole thing, and luckily the film doesn't delve into cutesy theatrics just because the protagonists are kids.
XXX: 4/5
I liked the way the narrative was executed via radio broadcasts. The voices sounded more or less the same sometimes, which can either be a bad thing, as it indicates a lack of variety or a good thing, as it emphasizes the fact that the showbiz gossip industry is this amorphous beast that judges everyone under a grotesque eye.
That's it for me and this year's Cinefilipino festival. I was unable to watch all of the films, and there's a good reason for that. Next: my overall thoughts on the festival itself and its films.
The film meanders into a conclusion that, in the context of everything that happened, is relatively satisfying, but the film muddles through a lot to get there. I'm not really sold on this one.
***
The simple lack of a bridge that connects a remote barangay to the town center creates ripples that resonate throughout the small town of Suba. While the case looks open and shut (meaning: just build the damn bridge already,) the documentary film Forever Bridgeless shows us that things are far more complicated than it seems.
If I wanted to show outsiders how the byzantine machine that is Philippine politics works, I'd show them Forever Bridgeless as a case study. Arguments for and against the building of a bridge are presented via interviews with townsfolk. If a bridge were made, travel to and from the town would be cheaper and easier compared to the riskier use of boats. People would get better access to health care and education. The place may even be viable as a tourist spot, boosting the local economy. But decades have passed and no bridge is in sight. It all boils down to conflicts of personal interest and opposition from parties that benefit from the status quo.
What's missing from the film is the perspective of the local government, the one entity that technically has the power to have this bridge built. Any answer would be helpful. In fact, even a statement of declining to comment would have strengthened the film's central thesis.
The film ends with a personal justification from the director for making the film that could have been fleshed out and integrated with the rest of the documentary, but ends up feeling tacked on, like a footnote. I feel the docu could have ended more conclusively if it had been succinct.
***
We Want Short Shorts Cinefilipino 2016 Edition
This year's shorts program features a very strong lineup; I even think that based on the collective quality of all the shorts, I like them more compared to this year's full length features.
Shorts A:
Oktopus: 4/5
Really funny, despite the film having someone die. It's poignant in some moments too. I want a longer version of this with the grannies going on awesome senior citizen adventures.
Kung Ang Ulan ay Gawa sa Tsokolate: 4.75/5
From the makers of last year's Sleepless comes this gem. It's just my kind of thing because of the genre and the way the story and themes (which, if you are a parent, are universal regardless of circumstance) are adapted for the genre. Out of all the films in this fest, short or long, this is my absolute favorite.
Katok: 4/5
It's very effective, even with no dialogue. (Although when someone asks for alms in traffic I do jazz hands instead.)
Dipa ning Alti: 4.5/5
This fascinating film is relentlessly dark, and by dark I mean pitch black. It made me regret the fact that I haven't seen Dayang Asu yet.
Saanman Ngunit Dito: 3.5/5
I felt a bit lukewarm on this tale of moving on and climbing mountains together. It's still nice anyway.
Luna 3.25/5
I liked the film and thought it discussed its central theme well. It almost feels like a poem in the way it was constructed. However I'm a bit iffy on some aspects of the presentation and I wanted more from the film that what it gave me.
Shorts B:
Aki: 3.5/5
First of all, this was directed by Milo Tolentino, who is known for a making a different kind of film. This cannot be further in tone and subject from those films. I liked the idea of the two parallel narratives, but I think the connection between them is too tenuous, making their pairing almost random.
Chicboy: 4.5/5
I laughed. The film is short, but it has a point.
Not Applicable: 4/5
This is one of those films about a situation where everyone loses. There's so much subtext under the table (pun intended...?) with these two characters that it enriches the experience.
Punla: 4/5
It's really well done. There's a tinge of sadness to the whole thing, and luckily the film doesn't delve into cutesy theatrics just because the protagonists are kids.
XXX: 4/5
I liked the way the narrative was executed via radio broadcasts. The voices sounded more or less the same sometimes, which can either be a bad thing, as it indicates a lack of variety or a good thing, as it emphasizes the fact that the showbiz gossip industry is this amorphous beast that judges everyone under a grotesque eye.
That's it for me and this year's Cinefilipino festival. I was unable to watch all of the films, and there's a good reason for that. Next: my overall thoughts on the festival itself and its films.
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