Mishaps and Miscasts

I think I've gone insane

Every film has its strengths and weaknesses. At times they qualify on certain aspects and wane on others because of elusiveness. Ambitiously persistent, the character Sisa is brought again in the limelight. But its light has faded and turned dim. The historical perspective lacks precision. Its elaborate set design is a bit quizzical. The set of clothes looks like a tailoring made for an amateur high school play. Its deliberate use of theatrical style did not correspond to the very aim of the film which is characterization, centered on human emotions. The characters in the film come out as embellishments and caricatures. This material is so grand which needs to be backed by a good financier. But why not give all you got if they believe in their undertaking.

Narcisa “Sisa” Dalangin (Jodi Sta. Maria-Lacson) is a young Filipina lass living during the Spanish Occupation. She lives with her grandmother Ising in a tiny hut. Pedro Magbuhos (Carlo Maceda) tries to get Sisa’s empathy. But Juanito (Christian Vasquez) is more esteemed to seize Sisa’s heart. Things changed when Pedro disclose a hearsay to the Guardia Civil that Ising is a member of the cult group Confradia. This prompted her to be imprisoned but later dies due to an accident. Soon enough, Sisa was caught by Pedro in the woods and was beaten and eventually she was raped. Then, they were married for that matter and had two children: Basilio and Crispin.

I am quite confounded with the casting of some characters. Padre Damaso (Dido dela Paz) is supposed to be pure Spanish. That character is a complete bastard, but he must possess this imperative charisma in a wicked way which dela Paz has failed to recognize. Dona Consolacion (Aleck Bovick) has achieved a circus-like characterization in terms of makeup but her performance has tendencies to be over-the-top. The director must have guided her in delivering a bitchy attitude with a more humanitarian bearing. Maceda as Pedro is wearing a tight fitting pajama in the entire film which is deeply unappealing. It is just goofy in a way to watch period films with misconceived understanding of accurate clothing. The accessibility is more prioritized than suitable casting. But it is all true that bad casting ruins a great aspect of the film’s authenticity and sincerity.

Sisa’s character is indeed the most vibrant character in the novel Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not). Aside from her surname, there is nothing new to my senses offered in this film. Andaluz’s Sisa lacks vision to give a new perspective of Sisa that will mark his directorial debut. The execution is nothing triumphant. It has a certain feel of dreariness. At some point, you might suspect the directors’ lack of confidence over the material itself. Filipino Period Films must enable to convey or let a feel to the audience of a certain degree of authenticity. It did try to experiment with its editing technique to make it more contemporary and appealing to the youth but it is not careful with its function. That is why its result looks cheap and gimmickry. Its zoom lens is all used up just to give some spice to each scene but has not achieved a positive effect that it purportedly put across. Instead, it gives a severe confusion with its technique.

Something that is right in this film is no other than Sta. Maria-Lacson herself as Sisa. I could feel her endeavor to rightly portray a delicate character. Sisa lost her reason and state of mind in the end, indeed. But it’s her heart that is most seen. She made us understand the significance of her plight and her passiveness. Her acting is not perfect but it’s most favorable I have seen in recent years. And she is an attractive Sisa. This makes me wonder of the implication of the controversial confrontation scene between Rizal and Sisa. Jose Rizal knows Sisa during childhood. Rizal knows that Sisa did have a happy life. Sisa is with her lover contrary to what is narrated in the story and in the film. Although the confrontation is a bit staged, Rizal answers her back that Sisa will forever be in the heart of every Filipino.
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Charlie Koon's Rating:

Let the Culture War Rage

We're in deep trouble!

Irony plays a big element in these hapless yet quite hopeful social beings which originated from the tenants of the railways. It is a mixture of hysteria, paranoia that has outwardly corrupted the ethics of the known squalors of Philippine Society. Give them a crying statue of the Virgin Mother Mary, they will acquire faith. They will flagellate their selves within a given opportunity. Give them a few metal scraps, some tube and powder; without any difficulty they make a gun. It’s a free killing world. Yes it is.

Helen (Aiza Marquez) travels during Semana Santa (Lenten Season) to Southville. She wants to ensure a housing unit named under her Auntie Jessica (Ana Capri). When she arrives in the village, she was helped by Bro. Girlie, (Bo Vicencio) a faux faith healer. She soon visited the unit but was repelled by a group of gay syndicates, headed by Kirat (also played by Bo Vicencio). Then she stayed again for a little longer in the Chapel of Crying Virgin and assisted Bro. Girlie’s healing antics. Soon enough, Bro. Virgie’s father Mang Lazaro tries to rape Helen. This resorts her to stay in another house by two helpful brothers: Barok and Abel.

Ala Pobre, Ala Suerte is the third installment of the Ala Verde series. Unfortunately, I was not able to see the two previous films namely Ala Verde, Ala Pobre and Ala Suerte, Ala Muerte. It is advised to watch this film with caution. If you think that their lives in the railways are worse, you might be befuddled with how shoddier their lives has become in Southville. At times, the story’s progression is illogical. But boy, this film made me scurrying from my wee-wee break not to miss any of its sequences.

The story’s progression is flabbergasting. It is confidently maneuvered most especially with its bizarre scenarios. Helen’s character has instantly been in the swing of things with Bro. Girlie. When Helen moved to Abel’s house, she agreed without hesitation. Every scenario leads to a provocation. This in the end has justly been vindicated. You know, I have great admiration with how Santos has drawn a society with a great appeal of sordidness without loosening its artistic panache. Surprisingly, his experimental techniques are not amateurish. But rather it is a well-thought-of aesthetics in its entirety.

Bo Vicencio has made me applaud for his versatility. He played the character so well and so rich, this is the first time I clapped during its credits. As well as Carlo Migue’s demanding portrayal as a drug addict and pusher is very much admired. Despite his flaws, he was able to have a good rapport with a possible love pair with Helen. Ana Capri’s short performance has shown her range of emotions like rage, grief and repression. Aiza Marquez as the heroine Helen has weaved the story in a way that you will never get to notice that her mere presence is enough to have chaos.

At times we get too attached with our malevolent nature. It is a healthy exercise of how films must be. It is free flowing. It is willing to convey the lives of both innocent and culpable. We might not agree with how this works. The film lacks a clear course of action. But there is still a possibility of escape. Ala Pobre, Ala Suerte has delivered a just rendition of a society that has tarnished. It has not yet escaped its past’s bigotry. But it tries to move along and survive.

Charlie Koon's Rating:

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Director's Trivia: (an excerpt taken from Cinemanila Pamphlet)

Briccio Santos is a European-schooled artist who has maintained a consistently adventurous and markedly experimentalist approach in the various mediums in which he has worked since he directed his full-length feature film Manikang Papel (Paper Doll) in 1970, when he first attempted to take up residence in the Philippines. Cavaliers of Wind (1994), his last major film project, was made in Moscow at the height of the revolution that had dislodged the Communist leadership in Russia and East Europe and had conveyed a sense of the Kafkaesque in the political upheavals of our time.