Diyos-DIyosan mainly follows two characters. It starts in 1986, with teacher Estrell (Princess Punzalan) lauding her students who took part in the People Power Revolution. Her most promising student is Bernard Mojica (John Prats), an illegitimate son trying everything he can to be acknowledged by his biological father. Bernard’s graduation takes the two on very different paths. Estrell moves to the provinces, where she works for an NGO that is secretly funding the rebels. Bernard goes to UP, where he joins a fraternity and becomes deeply involved in some illegal activity.
Over the course of 150 minutes, the film follows the two characters through thirty years. Estrell’s forays into rebel activity cause tension in her marriage. Her husband is a pastor, and there are military men in his congregation telling him that Estrell is now under surveillance. The rebels suspect her husband of informing on the movement, and this sets off a series of events that will force Estrell to reconsider everything that she believes. Meanwhile, Bernard continues to fall deeper into the affairs of his fraternity, and this eventually leads to him becoming a senator, and running for president. The two reconnect because of an upcoming class reunion, and the now-religious Estrell discovers some distressing things about her favorite student.
The film makes the point that all the ills of Philippine society can be pinned on a single problem: a lack of religiosity. It argues, for example, that despite the good intentions of the People Power Revolution, nothing actually changed because we didn’t believe in God enough. It puts aside the fact that the Church played a major role in that revolution, and that there was a lot of prayer involved. The point is, everything evil in this country is caused by our belief in ourselves over God.
In the film’s version of the world, there is no change, and there is no justice. It just isn’t possible, so we shouldn’t even try. The only real justice comes from the heavens, and so everything we’re doing is pretty much pointless. This might seem like an exaggeration, but it is really is what the film seems to be trying to say. Estrell, for example, never pays for the crime that she commits. But it’s okay. We’re supposed to root for her anyway, because her conversion has absolved her of her sin. Never mind that her actions led directly to the death of an innocent person. These Earthy prisons aren’t the real justice anyway.
In one of the film’s biggest moments, Estrell tells her former students that she was wrong to tell them to believe in themselves. She was wrong to teach them the Gandhi quote: “be the change that you wish to see in the world.” The film’s remedy to the ills of society is simply prayer. That’s it. The supposed “good” characters of this film still aren’t able to do anything to make things better. Even given the weapons to fight this good fight, they falter. This isn’t a tale of prayer winning out in the end. It’s just a cautionary tale of what evil comes from a lack of belief.
It isn’t a very good story, and it isn’t a very good film. Diyos-Diyosan is a bloated, poorly written, badly filmed, overacted piece of work. But really, the worst part is its lack of belief in us, the people. Its brand of theology doesn’t make room for the possibility of the divine moving through people, enacting good outside of the religious framework. The movie only sees the worst in people, and looks to the heavens for solutions to this country’s problems. Maybe that works for the filmmakers. But maybe there is something to expecting the best of people, in banding together and trying our hardest to make this world a better place.
My Rating:
