An Sadit na Planeta
a film by Arjaman Rebeta
‘An Sadit na Planeta’ was, to be completely honest, difficult to watch at first. It’s the story of Arjan who wakes up in Planet I, woken by the voice of the planet that speaks directly to his mind. The planet is small and the film is shot completely using a 360 degree camera that creates a very interesting visual.
But nothing really happens for the first few scenes, the actions are repetitive and the dialogue is delivered in a manner that feels scripted and lacking in emotion. This goes on for a while and the novelty of the interesting visuals start to wear off until Arjan begins to explore the little world and we start to see more interesting things. I actually drowned out the planet’s monologue until I start to realise that Planet I’s musings to Arjan is not meant for Arjan but for the audience.
‘An Sadit na Planeta’ is a hypnotic meditation on life, a sort of memo to living and when I finally stopped resisting, the film began to dig into me. And, just like Arjan in the film, we go on our own journey and the film gifts us with a visually magnificent ending that makes the whole experience worth it.
Looking for Rafflesias and other Fleeting Things
a film by James Fajardo
James Fajardo’s ‘Looking for Rafflesias and other Fleeting Things’ starts off very strong: the cinematography by Rocky Morilla is crisp and so very pleasing to the eyes. Except the pretty framing detracts from the story rather than highlights it. The rest of the film suffers from strange choices of shots that keeps the audience away from things that we should be able to see — close-ups of faces and reactions — and a still frame that takes the energy away from the scene. There are no cut-aways to some scenes and so the narrative feels static when it should be moving. The editing cuts some scenes abruptly while other scenes linger for no real reason.
It’s the story of Gubat, who is rumoured to be the son of a Tikbalang, and he is blamed for the deaths that are happening in the provincial town. A girl he likes has cut ties with him and not getting any answers from his mother, he runs into the forest and meets with a foreign botanist looking for rafflesias. There are scenes between the two that are missing from the film — their first meeting is violent and hostile, then they bury a body they found together, and next they are swimming in a lake until Gubat runs away from him — there are essential beats that are missing in this film that is needed to connect the film’s symbolisms (the tikbalang as a gay metaphor) and the two character’s growing bond.
What is lovely is the way with which Fajardo creates a world that is deep into superstition and religion; how he makes the two collide and how it plays off in the town. It’s weakest when it’s just Gubat and the botanist, and unfortunately, their story makes up most of the film.
The concept is wonderful — and they even show us the tikbalang, which is very reminiscent of Irene Emma Villamor’s ‘Ulan’ — but the film relies on one essential look that Gubat gives to deliver the whole film but by the time it comes, I fear it may hit the audience cold.
Out of Body
a film by Enrico Po
‘Out of Body,’ very simply, is about Elle, a new commercial model, who lands her first gig. When the initial idea for the shoot is scrapped, Elle is coerced into a situation she knows nothing about, and is manipulated to be a part of this new idea that she is totally unaware of.
While the film is not particularly layered—what you see is what you get—‘Out of Body’ is so excellently executed from the cinematography of Tey Clamor, the editing of Benjamin Tolentino, and fantastic cast lead by Kelley Day and includes a host of remarkable theater talents such as Nelsito Gomez, Joel Saracho, Dylan Talon, Tarek El Tayech, and a stellar performance by Leo Rialp. With the direction of Enrico Po, the film has really good energy. It’s frightening, it’s creepy, it’s disturbing, and it really makes you feel for Day, as Elle is really pushed into something she’s uncomfortable in doing.
It’s the many faces of how exploitation happens: from the seductive, reassuring tones of the director to the dismissive, by the numbers assistant director. Even the way her manager threatens her or how her co-actors just accept. ‘Out of Body’ is a glossy and refined piece of work—an indication of form informed by its content—that can be triggering for a lot of people and it really details how one can get sucked into something they don’t want to do.
Simple in concept but exemplary in execution that the message rings loud and clear.
Ang Pagdadalaga ni Lola Mayumi
a film by Shiri de Leon
Shot almost like a play, ‘Ang Pagdadalaga ni Lola Mayumi’ is a charming concept about a senior woman—a virgin—who hires a sex worker to be her first sexual encounter. The connection between Ruby Ruiz’s Lola Mayumi and Julian Roxas’ sex worker is delightful as Ruiz wonderfully plays off of Lola Mayumi’s embarrassment and Roxas delicately manages to navigate his character’s curiosity about his much older client. They are both cute and funny and deliciously human in their portrayal of their characters and the scene.
What’s lovely about ‘Ang Pagdadalaga ni Lola Mayumi’ is how it really emphasizes the hypocritical views of our country on sex. The shame of Lola Mayumi booking a room at a motel and the way she dodges talking about it directly is contrasted by how openly she talks about it on the phone with her friend, who claims she’s finally going to do it and can’t believe she has never done it before.
But what happens is a study of why Lola Mayumi is a virgin and there’s something that needs to be seen in the flashback that is kept from us—instead we see a reaction shot—and it obscures the film’s central conflict. By not showing us the visual and instead denying us of the image, we are made distant and separated from the film’s interesting final act that doesn’t hold as much sway as it probably does on paper. It almost crumbles apart in the third act but it is saved by the clever, brilliant reality-slap of an ending that puts everything back into place.
‘Ang Pagdadalaga ni Lola Mayumi’ is a great concept with a solid cast that hits all the right notes at the beginning, makes a pivotal choice to withhold an important image, but manages to redeem itself with the perfect ending.
Watch the thirteen finalists of the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival 2021 on KTX.ph via pay-per-view until September 5, 2021. The films for the main competition are divided into two Set A and Set B, with each set available for only P150. Visit the CCP and Cinemalaya websites for more information.
