Twenty-two years later, the festival of independent cinema offers a curation of some of the best films in its history. What makes this year's entries more important is how a number of these films center on Filipino women and children.
I will plow into a more incisive analysis of the recurring themes that seemingly reverberate in some of the best entries this year: the sadness of women and the loss of innocence of children. What is more important than citing what the filmmakers want to say in the here and now is an understanding of why these films resonate in this volatile year of political turmoil, duplicity and most of all, a search for meaning amidst an atmosphere of desperation.
Two of the more impressive movies center on the sadness of women.
The ignored and seemingly unloved heroine of STATUS: REJECTED and the victim of everyday bureaucracy in a country that has failed its citizenry in 2 VALID IDs are the two most impressive contributions of the festival this year.
Van Leinard Pascual's STATUS: REJECTED is an unfiltered depiction of loneliness and the feeling of uselessness and abandonment in old age. When Biring (Ruby Ruiz) decides that her only salvation is to cross the Pacific Ocean and join her son who is an illegal alien in Trump's America, her best friend Tess (Beverly Salviejo) decides to introduce her to online dating apps where she meets her American Prince Charming.
Early on, one could already predict where that road would lead but the engrossing performances, especially of Ruiz and her daughter played by Alessandra DaRossi reveal more than just competence delivery but an evident commitment to a project meant to give very clear and definite statements. The desperation of Biring is not merely an economic challenge but that of what to do with the rest of her existence and Ruiz embraces that character well.
Similarly, Ma-an Asuncion Dagnalan's 2 VALID IDs tackles another level of despair, illustrating the frustrations of everyday bureaucracy and the glaring failure of our health care system where the poor prefer to die than to suffer the inhumanity of systemic requirements. Based from the screenplay of Abet Pagdagdagan, this film leaves no room to breathe freely. Instead, it entraps the viewer into that germ-infested claustrophobic atmosphere of a hospital ward where the poor grasp for the last straws of hope that medicine can save them from a seeming irredeemable situation.
Whereas Ruiz as Biring embodied the desperation brought by loneliness and isolation, Marietta Subong (more popularly known as the comedian Pokwang) embodies the bane of womanhood and poverty combined, a farmer's wife who struggles through the complexities of requirements and deadlines ... only to realize that all these are mere exercises in futility.
If there is one thing in common about these two impactful films about women maneuvering their way through this urban labyrinth, then it is that sense of dreadful naturalism. No one can escape heredity and environment as we are all victims of circumstances and must learn to accept our limitations granted onto us upon birth.
But despite all the bleakness and heaviness of the heart these films carry, it is the success of the performances that again prove that Cinemalaya provides the venue for our cinema artists --- especially our artistas to show just how much they can give.
Pokwang already showed the range of her acting prowess in Dwein Baltazar's Oda sa Wala but it is here that we see an even more surprising performance. Indeed, comediennes wield extraordinary talents that when tapped reveal a far greater acting range than what is demanded of them in their regular gigs. Similarly, Joey Marquez and Zaijan Jaranilla add gravitas to Dangnalan's piece: Jaranilla as a child actor already showed the promise but, after all these years, it is Marquez who still surprises the audience with his capacity to show the depth of pain ... and the embodiment of everything wrong about our system as he becomes just another body, just another victim.
If only for these two films --- from a first-timer in Van Leinard Pascual --- and a filmmaker in her sophomore entry to Cinemalaya, then the effort to go all the way to the cinema and brave these rains is guaranteed a worthy adventure. Pascual handles his first feature with confidence and focus --- while dear Ma-an has shown how she could do great leaps from Blue Room to this seething statement on the plight of every Juan.
If only for these two films, we need not argue that Cinemalaya is an important annual event which we, as supporters of evolving culture, must never allow to die.
And for those who have a mouthful to say about the garbage-like quality of Filipino movies in your arrogant if not inutile generalizations about our cinema, manood nga kayo ng Cinemalaya. Give yourself the chance to be proud of who you are in the stories your countrymen tell in the language of films.
No comments:
Post a Comment