Film Appreciation: The Ring: An Indelible Cinemalaya Experience

Cinemalaya is a competition of independent films in our country, the Philippines. It aims to persuade Filipino filmmakers to express their skills and interpret experiences in their own creative ways. It is a non-government foundation that leads to the development and promotion of the Philippine independent film. It is indeed very different from those films that are mainstream because in independent films, slow cinema is the genre. It gives emphasis to long takes or shots compared to mainstream movies. In Cinemalaya, Filipino filmmakers are free to enunciate their insights, feelings and ideas to the people, locally and internationally. That is why it is called “Malaya.”

The opening of Cinemalaya 2013

This was my first time to watch Cinemalaya in the Cultural Center of the Philippines. When I was in high school, I’ve watched indie films that my friend has downloaded and I found it boring. And honestly, because of our subject Film Appreciation, I undeniably admired indie films and enjoyed the Cinemalaya. In this year of 2013, Cinemalaya provides a theme cinesthesia, the synergy of the senses. Based on my own understanding, it means that when one filmmaker combined and interacted with their senses, one will produce a greater effect towards a better film.

Last July 27, 2013, we had a chance to watch three films in Cinemalaya. These are “Sana Dati”, “Babagwa” and “Amor Y Muerte”.

I will first allege about the first film that we watched which is “Sana Dati” by Jerrold Tarog. The main casts are Lovi Poe as Andrea, Paulo Avelino as Dennis, Benjamin Alves as Andrew, and TJ Trinidad as Robert. “Sana Dati” is a story of mystery, love and sacrifice. It is an extraordinary love story that creates heartrending characters which make the film believable. To start with, Andrea was getting married with Robert when she met the videographer, Dennis on that same day of the wedding. It all started when Dennis, as a videographer, interviewed Andrea about her love life with Robert. As she answers all his questions, Andrea seems to notice that Dennis knows her. I found it really confusing at first. Is he a memory forgotten by Andrea? Were they lovers? This scene happened with a deeper gist. Dennis, positioned at the back of the camera, means that he is mysterious at first and was recognized by flashbacks.

“Sana Dati” was indeed unpredictable. It holds your interest from the start to finish. Dennis was the younger brother of Andrea’s ex-lover, Andrew. Andrew died because of a heart disease that hindered the couple to have a happy ending. Andrew was a videographer in weddings, too. Dennis replaced Andrew to get to know Andrea and seek the truth. The wedding between Andrea and Robert was postponed for a little bit because Andrea was missing. This scene also gave the audiences a prediction. Will they be lovers in the end? Will the wedding between Robert and Andrea be cancelled?

Flashbacks are shown on the scene at the rooftop where Andrea and Dennis were talking about their lost loved one. On the other hand, Robert also showed confusion on the audience. Will he give up for the sake of Andrea? The ending of this film turned out to be a blast for everyone. Andrea chose to marry Robert and forget the memory she had with Andrew through leaving her shoes that he gave her. “Sana Dati” truly deserves to be awarded as the best film for the Directors Showcase category. The story goes back and forth between flashbacks and the present day, obtaining a clear transition. As the scenes progresses, more and more sense was perceived and becomes more powerful that holds the audiences’ curiosity until the end of the film.

One of the flashbacks scene

The scene where Andrea let go of her memories with Andrew.

The film “Babagwa (The Spider’s Lair)” by Jason Paul Laxamana was indeed inventive and may serve as lesson for everyone especially for the teenagers. It forms a world where imagination and reality are compatible. Out of the director’s playful mind, the story aims to jumble the audiences’ thinking. "Babagwa" is eventually a comedy of errors. It defines the absurdity of humans for the sake of love or lust. It is very important not to trust immediately to the people which one does not know that well. The characters in this film performed well and suited their roles. Nevertheless, social media nowadays was very rampant. It benefits most of the people. However, it may be also a way to deceit others. Such ways as shown in this film, is what Alex Medina as Greg, a facebook scammer, does to earn a living. He presents himself online as Bam Bonifacio (Kiko Matos), a handsome model and a sex-crazed man. Joey Paras as Marney plays the role of Greg’s friend who needed money and initiated the scam to take away his parents from their house that will be demolished by a local government. He uses Greg to pretend that he is rich and should capture the heart and trust of the victim, and then he will borrow a big amount of money, will not return it and will just disappear with a quick snap by blocking the victim’s facebook account and change his cell phone number to stop direct contact with the victim.

Marley, Greg and the owner of the bank account would then divide the money that they got. Greg complains about the partition of their salaries. He gets the smallest share when he thinks that his job was the most difficult and challenging of all. But the truth is, Greg fell in love with one of his victims named Daisy (Alma Concepcion), a wealthy and middle-aged woman. He found Daisy very kind to outwit. Greg’s conscience startled him and finally admitted the truth to Daisy. Daisy became disappointed but later on forgave him because she likes him too. Greg, not throwing the second chance she gave him, left his job as a scammer and chose to live with Daisy for the rest of his life. The friendship of Marley and Greg was also put into an end.

Alma Concepcion as Daisy Simbulan

In the finale, I least expected that Greg would finally live the life he wanted, together with his beloved Daisy. But in the inner side of my mind, I also predicted that Daisy does not exist. The reason why is because the phase where they will see each other is slow that Daisy did not immediately appeared. It made some of us guess that Daisy is pure imagination too. And certainly, the crime that Greg did to others was unfortunately reimbursed into him. He, too, was duped. The Daisy that he knew was just a fantasy, and that she’s faking an account too. The real Daisy was stout and not so well-off. In the modern world, teenagers call a person who use fake facebook profiles as “poser.” The film “Babagwa” is a humorous film played by outstanding characters. It never failed to make us wonder what would happen next.

Cesar Evangelista’s film “Amor Y Muerte (Love and Death)” gave me visualization about the way of living of ancient Filipinos, especially when the Spaniards colonized us. During the Spanish rule, the Philippines was governed through the union of the Church and State. They introduced new beliefs, institutions, and practices in the political, cultural and religious facets of the Filipinos’ lives. These were all shown in the said film. Amor, played by Althea Vega, was an Indio woman and a daughter of one of Lakandula’s relatives who married a Spanish official named Diego (Markki Stroem). Amor has nothing to do but follow her husband’s rules. She was ordered to dress up and behave like a Spanish woman, and was converted into Christianity. She was also not allowed to go out of their house without her husband’s consent or even having conversation with her friends. As we can see, the way of living of Amor has been influenced and changed by Diego. She obeyed him simply because of love for him. However, each time her husband arrives from another town, he would allure and use Amor for pleasure. It was proved that during Spanish colonial times, women are used only as objects of men. Women are inferior to men. They are treated unequally, with less rights and privileges.

As Amor’s husband summoned to Manila to suppress a rebellion led by Lakandula, Amor cheated her husband by having an extra-marital affair with her old lover Apitong. She would often go to the forest where Apitong lives, and there she releases the urges she has been resounding. Their voluptuous affair lasted when Apitong was Christianized by a town friar, deflecting Amor’s sexual advances because Apitong considered it a sin. He confessed their affair to the friar which made Amor definitely mad and fearful at the same time. On the other hand, Tia Soledad (Ama Quiambao), Amor’s aunt and a Catholic convert but still returns to her pagan gods secretly.

Amor and Tia Soledad

Amor found out what Tia Soledad has been doing and dared to tell Diego. Nevertheless, Tia Soledad also knew about Amor and Apitong’s sexual affair which made Amor astonished and ashamed. People believe that there are no secrets that are not revealed. Diego discovered Amor’s infidelity to him through the friar when Apitong confessed his sin. He discovered Tia Soledad’s veneration to the pagan gods too. These circumstances made him very angry that he killed Tia Soledad, called her beliefs as creation of the devil. Diego brought the head of Amor’s father because Tagalogs are known to not betray their own kin, and yet Amor’s father was also associated in Lakandula’s revolt that resulted into deceiving Diego. Amor was too fed up and surprisingly, became violent and out of love, killed her own husband to defend herself. “Amor Y Muerte” is beyond those sex scenes. It is more about the Philippine history that we Filipinos should be cognizant. Although the acting of the characters was not that excellent, I loved the flow of the story since I appreciate the events that happened in the history of the Philippines. I am thankful enough that we are not under the Spanish colony already. This film helped me a lot in our subject Philippine History and gave me a better understanding of how do Filipinos lived when they were conquered by the West.

The three films that we have watched are certainly remarkable, including the additional film that we’ve also watched, the “Rekorder” by Mikhail Red, one of the youngest independent filmmakers.

This film is about the story of Maven (Ronnie Quizon), who illegally records movies in theaters to earn a living. The character of Maven is one who is out of the world. He does not relate to other people and separates himself to the society where he belongs. He only finds refuge whenever he is at home watching videos of his wife and daughter, a remnant of an inevitable blissful life. Suddenly, he witnessed a crime and using his camcorder, captured the vehement rumble between children. Maven was disturbed by the situation he is facing and was forced to go with the policemen to show the recorded crime. But on the latter part of the story, he finally participated in the same society that has once betrayed him, proven that his daughter was killed by unknown men. “Rekorder”, although it has faults or errors that did not satisfy the audiences, certainly succeeded in portraying of our world today, a world which is occupied by crimes, leading people to detach themselves in the society.

This is an unforgettable experience in my college life and that I would proudly share my experiences, thoughts, and ideas with others. Watching these indie films is worth spending time and money. The audiences could learn and could be entertained at the same time. However, people should also be critically aware of what they are watching. On the other hand, Cinemalaya, served as an opening door for those who are aspiring to be filmmakers. I am a Mass Communication student and I, too, somehow hope to be a filmmaker. The directors, especially those young ones, paved the way for me on how to be more imaginative and creative in making films, how to be consistent in storytelling, and the like. Being a filmmaker requires unique abilities which I think I do not possess but I know that if I pursued working, I will be able to achieve my goals.

These are some photos (me and my friends) I would like to show you.