There's a scene in Mikhail Red's third film Neomanila that serves as a statement of its central thesis. Raul (Rocky Salumbides), a killer for hire, tells young Toto (Timothy Castillo) that in this day and age, there really isn't a difference between suspects and victims. Toto then counters it, saying that one of the unfortunate victims of one of their operations - a small child - is a victim, and just that.
Whether we like it or not, we have entered a new age of Philippine film. Cinema has always served as a mirror to the zeitgeist, and cinema in the time of this present administration has definitely done that. While most of the films about the country's war on drugs have been trashy, self righteous garbage, there are some films that offer insightful commentary on the implications of this war and its culture of impunity.
The world of Neomanila - the Neo- prefix seems appropriate - looks the same as it's always been, but it's a Manila that's changed. It's a city whose moral landscape has increasingly gone grey, with no true good or evil characters anywhere in sight. Perhaps such moral greyness has been around even before the war started. There's just no use in hiding it now.
The film is shot mostly at night, and is framed in such a way that we see skyscrapers in the distance, as if what is going on exists in the underground, far from the concerns of the city center. Neomanila is a city that is filled with seedy elements, drug couriers, sex dens, and 'sponsored' assassins: as gritty as a city can get, hidden under bright neon lights. It's not for the weak willed or the squeamish.
Yet in a world where things get as dark as it gets, there's still room for human relationships. The central relationship in the film is between Irma (Eula Valdez) an assassin for hire, and Toto. She obviously treats Toto like her son, the two going out on an trip around the city singing Karaoke and bonding. It's uncertain if Toto feels the same way about Irma, and if the camerawork is any indication, his feelings may be tinged with Oedipal undertones. In any case, both leads constitute some of the festival's best acting work yet, and I wouldn't be surprised if either Valdez or Castillo win something for their performances in this film.
This is all done with Mikhail Red's confident directorial hand. From his earlier short film work to Rekorder to Birdshot to this film, Red has proven himself to be a capable director with a high level of technical finesse. I'm excited to see how he develops further on his next film.
I really have only one complaint about the film and it's more of a nitpick than anything else. Also, I can't really talk much about it without spoiling the film. Let's just say that when the film introduces a new character, the film doesn't take its time with that character, which weakens the film's ultimate resolution a bit. Perhaps some viewers will see the film as too edgy or lurid, but that's up to personal taste.
In any case, the film ends with real news reports of grisly deaths from the current drug war, and that's probably the most unsettling thing about the movie: Neomanila may be fiction, but there's more of it based on reality than one may think.
Neomanila is, in my opinion, a worthy addition to a solid body of directorial work. Though Birdshot remains my favorite film of his, I get the impression that a lot of people will rank this among the year's best. Considering that Red has made only three full lengths so far, that's pretty insane.
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