Personal Connections
posted on Thursday, July 02, 2009 in Movie Reviews
The main titles of Dose proclaim it to be “a personal film by Senedy Que.” I do not know exactly what that means, or the implications of such a statement laid on a film with such sensitive subject matter, but it does feel somewhat accurate. Because what ultimately makes this film stand out is its ability to let you in, to so rigorously allow you to get to know the main character of the story. Dose has flaws, but your personal connection with the movie might allow you to ignore them. Edy (Fritz Chavez) is a twelve year-old boy who feels unloved by his own family. His only comfort is his love for local cinema and the matinee idols of the era. He’s sent away by his mother to live with his aunt Helen (Irma Adlawan) in Manila. There, he meets Danny (Yul Servo), a lonely gardener and strikes up a friendship with him. But as the two get closer, certain lines get crossed, and what began as an innocent friendship develops into something far more scandalous, changing their lives forever.
Dose touches on a pretty sensitive subject. Thankfully, it does so without the usual sensationalism that accompanies “provocative” pictures, focusing instead on building a full portrait of the main character. The movie does of a really good job of letting us understand Edy, allowing us access to his idiosyncrasies. The movie does well by showing clips of the movies that Edy loves so much, providing context for his mindset, and immersing the audience in the gestalt of the era. It is the understanding of Edy’s character that makes the events that follow so effective, despite their difficult nature. The script loses points for a largely unnecessary framing device, which just stretches things out without adding much insight. And there are parts in the narrative that don’t really flow into each other as well as they could have. Overall, though, this is a clever script that handles a lot of tricky spots rather well.
The movie is shot in a decidedly lo-fi style. I can’t tell if that’s an artistic choice or a budgetary one. Regardless of the reason, I think this film could’ve used a little more definition. I’m a big fan of lo-fi filmmaking, but this movie thrives on small details, most of which are lost in a mess of pixels. The movie benefits from a pretty strong cast. As I said earlier, this movie hinges on our understanding of the main character. Fortunately enough, Fritz Chavez is more than up for the task, offering layers of bareness and honesty that contribute a lot to our knowing his character. Yul Servo does a great job as well, alternately impenetrable and accessible, a friend and a mystery all at once. Irma Adlawan puts up a great performance as well, offering a lot of color in a fairly small role.
It’s always difficult to just personal films, and when one proclaims itself to be one right in the title credits, it only makes things more complicated. I think it has some major flaws in structure, and the choice to present it in a lo-fi environment was not a good one, but the movie does have grace, a strange affable quality that makes it easy to forgive some of its missteps. We are allowed so much access into the mind of one character that by the end of it, there’s a person there instead of just a movie. I still have reservations about Dose, but I do not mind recommending it.
My Rating:
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