Dodong, the main character of Ara Chawdhury’s Miss Bulalacao, is asked this gay beauty pageant question at the beginning of the movie: what is the essence of being a woman? To this, she replies, “motherhood.” This idea is tested in this story, which finds Dodong suddenly becoming pregnant following a mysterious encounter on the night of the said pageant.
The film then goes on trying to answer that very first question, viewed through the lens of a very small town in Biliran. Like many places in the Philippines, it is a town built on strange contradictions. It is both religious and superstitious. People are able to talk about angels and aliens in the same breath. It is a town that has a gay populace that is simultaneously accepted and ridiculed. The pregnancy is only the catalyst for action in this film. The real story spirals out from the bizarre occurrence, as several characters are made to examine who they are and what they want in light of the strangeness that has now entered their lives.
I love everything about this movie. It is both delightfully funny and deeply moving. I love its use of the 4:3 aspect ratio, which infuses everything with a kitschy nostalgia. I love the unusual compositions. The image quality gets pretty grainy in the darker shots, but it only adds to the lo-fi charms of the movie. I love how strange it gets. I love how it allows this premise turn into a serious examination of women, and where they are within the context of this society. I love the actors. I especially love Mon Confiado in this, who in just a handful of scenes conveys all the strangeness of this movie perfectly.
I could go on. Having viewed all nine competition films, I can confidently say that this is my favorite film of this year’s festival. Ara Chawdhury is yet another talent to watch from Cebu, which is clearly bursting with filmmaking talent.
I have always been of the opinion that art is rarely made better through explanation. This is my main problem with Sari Dalena’s Dahling Nick. The docudrama takes several approaches to studying the life of the late writer Nick Joaquin. There are interviews with friends and other writers. There are staged scenes of various parts of his life, with the author played by Raymond Bagatsing. There are adaptations of his stories. There are clips of films adapted from his work. There are little bits of recorded interviews with the man himself. There is footage of him giving a speech, and also footage of his friends eulogizing him at the CCP when he died.
It’s a lot of stuff, and it all adds up to three hours of movie. That’s an unreasonable length for this film. It ends up repeating itself a lot. A lot of the interviews end up saying the same thing, and then the movie then dramatizes that event. And then often, another interview will follow to sum up what those were really all about. The clips from movies adapted from his work are excessive. At some point, it just starts feeling like we should just be watching those movies instead. But what really caused me to lose my patience was all the explaining. The film would often follow a segment about one of Joaquin’s stories or poems with interviews with people explaining what that was all about. One of the great joys of art in general is being given the chance to interpret it in any way you want. The film imposes interpretations of Joaquin’s work through these interviews, and it feels like a really bad way to pay tribute to this man. It ends up limiting the work.
Also: I will admit that this is wholly unreasonable given his friendship with the subject, but I really couldn’t stand watching so many interviews with F. Sionil Jose. I mention for the sake of full disclosure. I fully admit to this bit of personal bias.
Raymond Red skews personal with Mga Rebeldeng May Kaso. The movie is basically a fictionalized version of the day leading up to the closing night of the 1st Independent Film and Video Festival in 1986. The organizers of the festival scramble to get things ready for the big night, where they expect stars and luminaries from the industry in attendance. The movie mostly focuses on Rem, who throughout the day is supposed to pick up programs and fliers from the printing, and find ushers for the event. And he’s also supposed to finish his film, which is scheduled to show that night. The only thing is, he’s still kind of heartbroken over a girl.
It’s really thin. The movie doesn’t end up telling much of a story. It mostly gets caught up in personal nostalgia for the trappings of the period. A shot might linger on the main character dropping three twenty-five cent coins in a payphone. There might be a whole scene with the characters talking in admiration of the institute’s new computer with a 386 processor. It’s kind of funny, but it just isn’t very substantial.
The film ends up being a tribute to the alternative cinema scene of that era, with the film kind of playing out as a personal love letter to Nick Deocampo. And that’s the most interesting thing about it. But there just isn’t enough vitality behind it. The film portrays an era of experimentation, a brash new cinema pushing the boundaries of thought. This movie, however, isn’t nearly brash enough. It’s a little too gentle. When the punks arrive on the scene, the film feels like it’s posturing. It just doesn’t have that attitude.
With all nine competition films done, I can make some solid recommendations. My favorite film is Miss Bulalacao, and it’s the one film I’d recommend everyone see in this lineup. Manang Biring and Hamog are next. I’m still not sold entirely on the nihilism of Dayang Asu, but I completely respect the craft that was put into the film. Those more willing to embrace the void would do well to find that film.
