Rites of Passage

Isang paglalakbay sa katahimikan at kamatayan.

Biyaheng Lupa (Soliloquy)
Director: Armando Lao
Cast: Jacklyn Jose, Julio Diaz, Coco Martin, Angel Aquino, Eugene Domingo, Susan Africa, Shamaine Buencamino, Mercedes Cabral, Carlo Guevara, Allan Paule, Andoy Ranay, Archie Ramos, Jess Evardone, Jose Almojuela, Isabella de Leon, Mely Soriano
2009

Sabi nga ng cliché, “it’s not the destination that matters, it’s the journey itself.” Kesehodang may naghihintay sa iyo sa terminal ng bus, o sa end of the road, ang importante ay ang naging paglalakbay. Ilang tula na ba ang gumamit ng paglalakbay bilang metapora ng buhay? Hindi naman sa gasgas na, pero siguro hindi na rin road less travelled ang ganitong alegorya.

Pero interesante ang mga estilong ginamit ni Armando Lao para sa biyaheng ito. Di tulad ng kumbensyonal na mga pelikula na kung saan may bida at kontrabida, walang iisang tauhan na sinundan ang naratibo ng Biyaheng Lupa. Dahil walang pokus sa iisang tauhan, nagagawang idistansiya ng filmmaker ang mga manonood mula sa tauhan. Sa halip na lumikha ng mga indibidwal, ayon kay Joel David, ang nalilikha ng multiple character film format ay ang social milieu bilang karakter. Sa kaso ng Biyaheng Lupa, ang karakter na sinundan ng naratibo ay ang biyaheng Manila-Legazpi.

Not Another Yellow Solidarity of the Bourgeoisie

Noynoy's new video: Who's da man?!

Hindi Ka Nag-Iisa
Artist: Regine Velasquez
Director: Onat Diaz
Cast: Sharon Cuneta, Kris Aquino, Boy Abunda, Regine Velasquez, Ogie Alcasid, Bea Alonzo, Dingdong Dantes, Marian Rivera, Ai-Ai delas Alas, Mariel Rodriguez, Bianca Gonzales, Erik Santos, James Yap, Kerby Raymundo, Willie Miller, KC Canaleta, Cyrus Baguio, Enrico Villanueva, LA Tenorio, Larry Fonacier, Paulo Bugia et. al
2009

It all seems so easy. No obstacles, no pain, no sadness, no struggle, not even a drop of sweat. Halaman lang ang sagabal. Whoever thought hope and change would be this effortless—and beautiful?

Noynoy’s latest campaign video, the music video “Hindi Ka Nag-Iisa,” mobilizes a strong troupe of Kapamilya and Kapuso players, all clad in yellow, all bearing torches and candles, marching through the darkness to bring light, blazing and yellow, to the country. The splendor and magnificence of the spectacle, however, brings to mind the age-old aphorism, the standard precaution to consumers: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

The Aswang’s Narrative of Anti-Insurgency

Guada: the aswang as detainee.

Patient X
Director: Yam Laranas
Cast: Richard Gutierrez, Cristine Reyes
2009

They hide in the jungles. They massacre innocent people. May mga kasama siya. Gusto kong malaman kung sa’n sila nagtatago. At kung paano sila mapatay. Kahit ano’ng gawin ko, hindi ko siya mapatay. Sabihin mo sa’kin kung paano sila mapapatay. Hindi tama na ikulong lang sila. They must be annihilated. They are evil. Hindi sila tao. Sino ka ba? Ano kayo?

If it weren’t for the raucous growls and decaying teeth of the Gollum-like monsters, one would swear that they were talking about rebels. This, however, was not one of the military’s anti-communist forums, nor a press conference by the Bantay or ANAD partylists. This was Patient X, the latest horror film by Yam Laranas, and the heartless creatures were not guerrillas but aswangs.

Memories of Underdevelopment

Lovebirds Mario and Alexis with, you guessed it, a pair of real avian lovebirds.

Lovebirds
Director: Roni Bertubin
Cast: Joseph Izon, Andrés Alexis Fernandez, Boots Anson-Roa, Tommy Abuel
2008

On the surface, Roni Bertubin’s Lovebirds is a lighthearted romantic comedy, filled with trite-and-tested tidbits characteristic of the genre. Mario (Joseph Izon) is a closeted mama’s boy in the province. When his Spanish cyberfriend Alexis (Andrés Alexis Fernandez) flies to the Philippines to meet him, the forward-thinking foreigner’s presence challenges the backward community’s beliefs. His conservative mother Amelia (Boots Anson-Roa) freaks out at her son’s apparent homosexuality, and tries to nip the fledgling relationship in the bud. Mario and Alexis fight for their love, of course, and the story ends, like all rom-coms, with a wedding—or at least something resembling it, because obviously, the gay marriage battle is far from won.

In spite of the conventions, however, Lovebirds manages to paint a thoughtful picture of why homosexual relationships are so difficult for Filipinos like Mario. Indeed, more than just the topical boy-meets-girl (or in this case, boy) scenario, Lovebirds is a film about underdevelopment in both the private and public spheres.

Sequestering the Visible

A copyright infringement? Garcia's Obama photo for AP (left) and Fairey's Hope poster (right).

The Associated Press, in calling out graphic designer Shepard Fairey for appropriating an AP image in his famous Obama posters, puts itself in a strange position, since agencies like the AP thrive precisely on appropriation, whether in syndicating reports, or, as their extensive image bank shows, appropriating what is photographable—ergo, what can be seen.

“To photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed,” says writer Susan Sontag. “It means putting oneself into a certain relation to the world that feels like knowledge—and, therefore, like power.” Should people like Obama sue photographers like Mannie Garcia and agencies like the AP for appropriating his likeness? (Can Obama even lay claim to his likeness in the first place?) In turn, should artists like Fairey raise a howl when photographers and news agencies publish photographs of their artwork in various media? Should artists be obliged to secure permission whenever they use a found image as reference? The Fairey v. AP case raises a multitude of questions on art, photography, design, reproducibility—and inevitably, politics and power.