REVIEW - Sineng Pambansa 2013: ‘Badil,’ ‘Sonata,’ & ‘Ano ang Kulay…?’ (Part 2)

By Randy Renier I. Espinoza

Despite minor setbacks, the recently concluded 2013 Sineng Pambansa National Film Festival: All Masters Edition has produced a few noteworthy films from an otherwise lackluster lineup.

‘Badil’ – a modest masterpiece

 

Director: Chito Rono

Cast:  Jhong Hilario, Dick Israel, Nikki Gil

A microscopic look at vote buying in a rural town, it follows Nonoy (Hilario) as he takes over the duties of his father as the party leader in their area. As a rival party infiltrates their domain and threatens to “kill” their votes, Nonoy takes on the grueling task of monitoring the neighborhood and ensuring votes for their party. Beginning on the eve of the polls and ending the next morning on election day, the story depicts the moral dilemma of a man straddling between his loyalty to his father and his party affiliation and his personal happiness, which includes his pregnant girlfriend, an election officer and daughter of a rival party leader.

With Badil, Rono returns to his native roots in his home province of Samar, which serves as the perfect geographic milieu for the narrative. The rustic charm of the province is captured and rendered in colors that border on the dreary shades, in almost the monochrome of gray, perhaps highlighting the film’s theme and mood. A quick break comes with the crisp texture and tonal quality of the scene where Nonoy’s girlfriend is imagined ebulliently bathing in the sea. The squid hanging on a cord along the country road is a powerful imagery that foreshadows conflict and death, also a metaphor for badil, or dynamite fishing, or the tinting of those who have been bought by the other side, which translates to “killed” votes.

Badil is a surprise masterpiece that seeks to analyze a known corrupt practice in the electoral system. It succeeds without aspiring to epic greatness or technical sophistication, but by creating an intact narrative, with a sequencing that follows a crescendo that builds suspense and leads to a potent climax. The moral dimension consists in Nonoy’s dilemma, his hesitation in the beginning, and then his avowal of bequeathed duty in the end. Nonoy’s internal struggle, his thoughts, and his decisions are not explicitly expressed, but are implied by his actions and facial expressions. In the same manner, the film does not denounce corruption; rather, it describes and analyzes it. It leaves the judgment and the decision to the viewers.

Ensemble acting is superb. Hilario ably evokes the nuances of his ambivalent character, and Gil is convincing as a country girl whose father’s death is bound to turn his love for Nonoy into wrath. Israel commands attention as the patriarch who will ensure his party’s victory to preserve the status quo that benefits him and his family.

RATING: 9/10

‘Sonata’ – A heartwarming tale of renewed love for life

Directors: Peque Gallaga and Lore Reyes

Cast:  Cherie Gil, Chino Jalandoni

This is a story about Regina, an accomplished opera star in Europe who loses her voice and is forced to retire in seclusion at her ancestral estate in Negros. Called by household staff as the nega-star, the diva fights bouts of depression and a troubled love life, until a boy makes her rediscover life.

Cherie Gil fits the role to a T; in fact, it’s too custom-made for her that the characterization almost seems effortless. She deftly shifts from moody depression to unrestrained enthusiasm and then back to unexpected gloom. The dark aspect of her fallen diva role is reminiscent of the doomed ex-burlesque queen character that her mom, Rosemarie Gil, essayed 35 years ago. Jalandoni, portraying the boy who brings optimism to Regina, lacks the charm and radiance to completely own the role. The rest of the cast complements Cherie’s adequate performance.

Gallaga and Reyes, who have churned out mainly forgettable fares of mixed genres in recent history, score a success with this heartwarming tale that will make the audience smile and cry at the same time. Sonata’s simple but inspiring narrative is enough to make it worth watching. The almost lyrical music and cinematography that captures the idyllic beauty of the countryside contribute to make the film an ode to life.

RATING:  8/10

‘Ano Ang Kulay ng mga Nakalimutang Pangarap?’ – Lesson in growing old wisely

Director: Jose Javier Reyes

Cast: Rustica Carpio, Ryan Agoncillo, Jackie Lou Blanco, Bobby Andrews

Teresa has spent most of her life serving a family as a nanny. When the household’s matriarch passes away, the children agree to sell the family’s estate and must decide on what to do with the now-elderly Teresa. All based abroad with respective lives of their own, they resolve to secure a retirement place for Teresa and leave her with a lump sum for her needs. Upon Teresa learning of her fate, she leaves the house, uncertain of her future.

Reyes deserves kudos for turning the spotlight on the plight of elderly people, especially those who grow old alone and without possessions of their own. He has always exemplified a grasp of the language and culture of middle-class families, but this time he has taken a special interest in a person in the household who is often overlooked: the nanny. And he intersperses in this the issues of sibling conflict, migration, issues of the elderly, friendship (between Mercy, the matriarch, and Teresa) and loyalty (Teresa to Mercy). Flashbacks establish history and the dynamic of the relationships in the household. Appropriate music and cinematography build the flow of the narrative and the smooth transition from present to the past.

Carpio delivers a poignant portrayal, even without much dialogue. The forcefulness of her performance, though, is weighed down by her character’s obstinacy. One is not likely to completely sympathize with an old grumpy lady who chastises a help who assists her in the maintenance of the house; a person who hasn’t saved up for herself because she has been helping relatives, who passes up the chance of forming a family of her own because she decides to stay with and serve her then-ward, Mercy, who has constantly told her it’s all right if she runs off with her boyfriend. And when it almost ends up that she is to stay in a retirement home, she shows refusal by walking away. For an elderly who has no relatives willing to take her in, right mind will dictate practicality. After all, a life among other elderly people is preferable than a life of a vagabond. Agoncilio’s vacillating character doesn’t earn him much sympathy either. Just when the viewer thinks that he must be the one who will look after Teresa’s concerns, he disappoints in the end.

The story could have been more truthful had a more thorough research into geriatrics and statistics on what motivates elderly people’s thinking and decisions been made.

RATING:  7/10

(NOTE:  This review does not include Eman, Lauriana, Isang Tag-araw ni Twinkle.)

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Sineng Pambansa 2013: Veterans, politics, sex (Part 1)