I have no qualms about admitting that I didn't get most of Arnel Mardoquio's latest film, Riddles of my Homecoming. But this is precisely why Mardoquio is so important. He is a chronicler of his native Mindanao, committing its stories and culture to screen. And with Riddles, he goes all out. The movie plays out without any dialogue. The only words in the film appear as text in the beginning, explaining that the Lumad of Mindanao believe that when they die, their spirits take a journey back to their homeland to watch over it.
And it’s a riddle, all right. The film provides no easy answers, no solid narrative to hang on to. It doesn’t offer context to understand the symbols or allusions. What it does offer is a visual richness that conveys a wealth of ideas and emotions. I may not have fully understood what the film is specifically referring to at any given moment, but I got the feelings behind them. The film seems to begin in intense despair, practically screaming in anger and frustration. It then gets quieter, taking on a more mournful form. It then allows itself to get sillier. And angrier. And happier and more hopeful and then sad again. It’s a film that doesn’t seem to want to settle for capturing just a slice of its setting. It wants to share something greater than simple depiction. I came out not knowing the answer to this particular riddle, but I thoroughly enjoyed my confusion.
Ian Loreños’ Saturday Night Chills is billed as a film that explores the world of illegal sports gambling. But it’s only really partly about that. It follows three Filipino-Chinese friends (Joseph Marco, Rayver Cruz and Matteo Guidecelli) as they spend their nights getting drunk, partying, and paying women for the pleasure of their company. One night, they run into a former classmate that seems to have made it big somehow. He eventually reveals that he’s become one of the country’s largest bookies, and he offers the boys some work in the trade.
The film isn’t really all that concerned with its plot. There are huge jumps in this narrative that are never really explained to any satisfying degree. But the film gains much from its frankness about what young male friendships can be like, particularly among the middle-class Chinese. The film doesn’t function all that well as a story, but it’s a pretty effective indictment of a very specific lifestyle. Here are these young men who seem to get into trouble more out of boredom than anything else, having grown up in a family situation that has really provided everything for them. Naturalistic, profane language lends the film a verisimilitude that just isn’t present in other films that tackle young male relationships. The film could definitely get deeper into its subject, but it does manage to find something intriguing in the frank depiction of these terrible young men.
How to discuss Timmy Harn’s Ang Pagbabalat ng Ahas? We could start with the fact that it’s a loving tribute to 90s Filipino cinema, both in its mainstream form and the underground video scene. It painstakingly recreates the aesthetics of the era to tell the story life inside a gated village. Without any warning, Allan Borromeo announces to his mother that he and his family are going to be living in her house from now. Allan, his wife Donna, and his teenage son Jasper try to fit into this upper middle class world. Meanwhile, largely in scenes shot on video, we meet Dr. Dimalanta (the legendary Roxlee), who as we’re told, has no sex and no religion. Inside some dark, dank part of his house, he hides something rather strange.
The film is pretty funny, especially if you’re familiar with the elements it’s parodying. It seems especially appropriate that this film emerges from the Cinema One Originals, since the Cinema One channel (and other local cable movie channels like it) are responsible for keeping this particularly aesthetic familiar. But this film isn’t just an easy joke about a bygone era of filmmaking. It fully harnesses the power of these elements to deliver this melancholy take on life inside a subdivision. It’s an indictment of the life that can emerge from what is actually an isolated existence, one built only on aspiration and materialism. It all seems quite genteel, but as it is in the movie, there seem to be snakes hiding within those walls. It’s terrific stuff.
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Cinema One Originals Festival 2013 runs until November 19, 2013. Screenings are held at Trinoma, Glorietta, and Robsinsons Galleria. Screening schedules below (click on images to expand), schedules subject to change without prior notice.
