Sigwa (2010, Joel Lamangan)

Director Joel Lamangan admitted that he was quite nervous with his first Cinemalaya film during the second day of the Sine Taktakan forum. He had apprehensions about how his film compare to those made by young filmmakers.

Sigwa is a film that Lamangan can be proud of although it is not what I was expecting from Lamangan and scriptwriter Bonifacio Ilagan, both activist victims of the harsh Marcos regime. It is not, and does not pretend to be, the definitive movie on the volatile seventies. It is more of a nostalgic search for the missing children of the Left movement. The film examines what happens to activists when they grow old.

The filmmakers took a risk in making a Fil-Am mother as main protagonist. Dolly (Dawn Zulueta/Megan Young) is a former journalist turned activist who was deported to the United States of America after her arrest in the 1970s. She came back to look for her daughter who she initially thought to be dead. The character is well wrought but she is too tame and American to represent the fiery generation of Filipino activists.

Dolly is no longer the firebrand she used to be. Two of her colleagues have mellowed down as well. On the extreme end is Oliver (Tirso Cruz III/Marvin Agustin), a student activist leader who has made a 180-degree turn to become a defender of the status quo. Instead of serving the people, he is propping up the administration of an unpopular president. Azon (Gina Alajar/Lovi Poe) was traumatized by a rape-torture incident and led a quiet life in the province raising a family. Only community organizer Rading and New People’s Army member Cita continue to be involved in the movement.

The film blends the star power and polished performances of a mainstream blockbuster with the relevant, edgy story of an indie film. It is not a smooth marriage because of the film’s difficulty in straddling the line between mainstream and indie filmmaking. Lamangan should have used hand-held camera tactics to capture in-your-face rally break-ups. The massive rally at the start is stagy and lacks gritty realism. It doesn’t help that it came after stirring footages of actual First Quarter Storm rallies were shown that set the screen ablaze. It will take nearly the entire movie before a scene of such power and courage is shown again.

The explosive ending is something that will never see light in a mainstream film. The convoy of Cabinet Secretary Oliver is intercepted by a group of rebels. An irate Oliver gets down from his car and meets face-to-face with his ex-lover and ex-comrade Cita (Zsa Zsa Padilla/Pauleen Luna). The scene cuts to a medium shot of the beautiful, smirking amazon fighter and then, the screen fades to black. The ending works because Lamangan leaves it up to the viewer to imagine the kind of punishment (or redemption?) befitting the treacherous Oliver.

Sigwa, the box-office hit at the Cinemalaya 2010 festival, is a good advocacy material that will probably make the rounds of the vast human rights network here and abroad. It may not be as bombastic and intense as Dukot nor is it as dramatic and epic as Dekada ’70 but it surely kicks ass.

Mano Po 5: Gua Ai Di (2006, Joel Lamangan)

There are still Chinese parents in the Philippines who strictly follow the tradition of pairing off their kids to fellow Chinese. The elders mean well when they keep up with tradition. They only want the best for the kids. But then, we hear stories of Chinese guys marrying Filipina girls. It might be because they have open-minded parents or they have enough courage to fight for their love. What is rare though is the case of a pure Chinese girl marrying a non-Chinese guy.

Mano Po 5 focuses on a forbidden love between a pure Chinese and a non-Chinese. Issues and problems of the Filipino-Chinese community have seen their fair share of screen time in Mother Lily Monteverde’s Mano Po films. While some of the films don’t deserve to be given the Filipino-Chinese slant, the fifth film of the series deals significantly with a uniquely Filipino-Chinese problem.

In this film, culinary student Charity Co (Angel Locsin) is unica hija of a pure Chinese couple. She gets fed up blind dating Chinese guys. One day, the beautiful lady catches the attention of a good-looking veterinarian at a mall. There is a spark that pushes the guy to chase the girl. In a contrived kilig moment, they even get to share an umbrella while rain pours. Soon enough, a montage features even more kilig moments for the couple.

Months pass before Charity gets the courage to present Filipino boyfriend Nathan (Richard Gutierrez) to her family. Nathan’s lack of Chinese ancestors is not only the obstacle that he has to hurdle. He is also born under the sign of Rooster, which in Chinese zodiac is not compatible with Charity’s animal sign Pig.

A bigger obstacle for Nathan is the return of Charity’s childhood friend, Timothy. The latter is well-known across Asia as singer Felix Yan. Successful, good-looking, and Chinese, he is the one that Charity’s mother Yolanda dreams of having as son-in-law. She cooks up a plan to get rid of Nathan.

The movie then follows the Star Cinema template for romance films. Boy and girl split up. Boy moves to a far away place. Time passes by. Boy returns and finds the girl still single. They reconcile. Happy ending… or is it happy ending only for box-office-focused producers such as Regal Films and Star Cinema?

Romance films are routinely made in our country. Several of them are generally well-made but the sad part is most romance films look the same. In order for romance films to really stand out they must have an interesting, intelligent storyline and should excel in most technical aspects of filmmaking.

Mother Lily Monteverde collaborated with several writers on the story of Mano Po 5. It is said that the Mano Po series shows autobiographical details of the Monteverde family. This film takes liberty with Mother Lily’s colorful romantic life. Mother Lily disobeyed her parents by marrying a non-traditionalist Chinese guy. Her parents disliked her husband because of his refusal to pay the dowry.

The film has a unique storyline but failed to show us why Chinese parents prefer Chinese partners for their kids. What is behind that tradition? Is it because of deep concern for a daughter’s future? Is it because of the dowry? Or is it something else? The script is also full of contrived situations. Several characters suddenly have a change of heart. I disliked the stereotyping of Yolanda, the mother of Charity who speaks in atrocious Tagalog. The film’s technical aspects are not something to brag about, too.

Films about the Filipino-Chinese experience have been wanting although I liked Chopsuey. This neglect may come to an end as Cinemalaya 2010 has Chinese-Filipino (Tsinoy) filmmaker Ian-Dean Loreñas as one of its finalist. His entry The Leaving deals with how Tsinoys confront the slow demise of their culture.

Dukot (2009, Joel Lamangan)

The film starts with call center agent Maricel Villacruz (Iza Calzado) meeting up with activist boyfriend, Junix Etrata (Allen Dizon) on October 24, 2006. A group of alleged communist guerrillas abducts the two lovers. The abduction of the pair thrusts their parents into the world of activists and desaparecidos. It is a world of paranoia, treachery, love, political awakening, and sacrifice.

Dukot is a courageous film dealing with the then worsening human rights situation in the Philippines under the administration of President Gloria Arroyo. The film also highlights the work and advocacies of militant youth group Anakbayan and human rights alliance group Karapatan. The latter group noted an increase in the number of involuntary disappearances in 2006. 93 people became desaparecidos in the first eleven months of that year. A total of 185 political killings were also recorded.

Director Joel Lamangan and scriptwriter Bonifacio Ilagan carved the film based on their experiences as activists and political detainees. Lamangan was tortured during his incarceration. A sibling of Ilagan is a desaparecido. The rally and torture scenes are realistic because of the filmmakers’ inputs and the participation of actual activists.

The script captures what it is to be an activist in a martial law-like atmosphere. Ilagan situates the film in Central Luzon and Metro Manila during the year 2006. He alludes to the reign of terror by an official whose surname sounds like the Tagalog word for airport. During this grim period, leaders and members of party-list groups and militant people’s organizations are killed or abducted almost every month. Human rights defenders and social workers in rebel-infested places are branded as communists.

Dukot easily becomes one of my favorite Lamangan films. It boasts of fine performances by Iza Calzado and Allen Dizon. The pair portrays the star-crossed lovers. The film’s love angle is a well-thought out element. Several activists have to sacrifice their personal romance in favor of love for country. The film is marred somewhat by a confusing, crisscrossing type of editing but the film’s gritty message of the need to stop involuntary disappearances and political killings is more than enough to forgive that lapse.

Dukot belongs to this year’s trio of powerful movies about extra-judicial killings and desaparecidos. The two other films are Engkwentro and Bente. These are the films that should be seen by our countrymen in order to understand the growing culture of violence in our country.