Cinema One Originals 2017 | Si Chedeng at si Apple has the "supporting" cast take center stage

Chedeng (Gloria Diaz) and Apple (Elizabeth Oropesa) are two friends who have a long history together. They couldn't be more different: the former has lived a long and productive life with her now ailing husband Francisco (Dido dela Paz) while the latter is in an abusive relationship. When both Chedeng and Apple's partners die of varied causes, the two of them decide to go to Cebu to find Chedeng's first and greatest love, a woman named Lydia.

In the spirit of last year's Patay na si Hesus, Si Chedeng at si Apple is yet another fun, quirky weird road trip about two ladies, a severed head, and tons of crazy hijinks. Road trip movies are structured so that the main characters have personal realizations and catharses aside from the actual purpose of the trip. In this case Chedeng and Apple find both themselves and each other in more ways than one.

Perhaps the most memorable movie of this type is Ridley Scott's 1991 film Thelma and Louise, where the road trip serves as a n unadulterated window into women's experiences, unhindered by any attachments or connections to men. Si Chedeng at si Apple adds its own special magic to this type of movie, challenging gender roles and expectations with a distinctly Filipino flavor. It attacks the chauvinistic notion that women be dutiful wives or subservient spouses. Perhaps in another film, Gloria Diaz's Chedeng would be a perfect Maria Clara, concerned only with the welfare of her children and her family. But in this film Chedeng is more than that: a woman with her own thoughts and feelings.

It's best encapsulated during a scene near the very beginning of the film, where it's revealed Apple once had a very minor supporting role in a big film. While she only really has one speaking line, her role is crucial to the main character reaching their own personal moment. In many levels, this sees itself echoed in the rest of the film: as women, both Chedeng and Apple have been relegated to supporting roles in society, with both of them suppressing their true feelings and desires in deference to their expected roles as women: wife, provider, mother, grandmother. It's only when they are freed from those expectations that they begin to explore their own, true selves. In the context of Chedeng and Apple's friendship, this supporting-main relationship is reflected through their willingness to do anything for each other.

The film solidifies this friendship in an emotional resolution to the trip that proves to be surprisingly moving, despite being relatively bereft of dialogue. It might not be as deeply felt as the ending to Patay na si Hesus, but it's still resonant nonetheless. And in the film's ending, both Chedeng and Apple are in wedding dresses, with no groom in sight. In more ways than one, both Chedeng and Apple are married to each other; united in a distinct and unique bond stronger than any relationship they've ever had with a man.

Though a bit slow at the start, Si Chedeng at si Apple is fun, quirky, riotously funny and surprisingly moving. It's not perfect, sure, but it's a Cinema One Originals 2017 film worth checking out.