Freedom

           The story was about a mute woman, Ada McGrath, who was sent away by her father to marry a wealthy land owner, Alistair Stewart. She was shipped to an island together with her daughter Flora bringing her piano with them. The weather was not welcoming them upon their arrival yet she still stayed and waited for her husband to pick them up. Stewart, on his way to his wife, was clearly shy yet he showed respect and authority. He fetches his wife and child leaving the piano behind for his house had no room for it. Ada had been mute since she was six and the piano had been her only way of expressing her emotions. The great attachment she had with the piano was the reason as to why letting go of it was so hard. As her husband left the second day, she went to George Baines, an illiterate friend of her husband, to accompany her to the shore where her piano was left. She played the piano all day as her daughter danced. Baines’ facial expressions obviously showed that he had fancied Ada. The next day, Baines made a deal with Stewart; to trade in Ada’s piano with the swamp. Stewart agrees regardless of Ada’s refusal. Baines added that he would want Ada to teach him to play. At first, Ada refused to play it for she thought it was out of tune but as soon as she heard that it wasn’t, she immediately played it. Baines took pleasure on seeing Ada play which was the reason as to why he asked her to teach him by showing him as an alibi. He had even made a deal with her to play a number of keys with certain consequences. With the lusting going on, Flora had been left outside. As days passed, they were bound to be caught. Stewart found them but instead of stopping them, which I expected, he lay under the house and listened to them. He tried to win her but he had no hope. He chopped a finger from Ada out of anger but in the end, he still had to let go. In the end, Ada left with Baines and Flora to live a better life, sinking the Piano under the sea.

            I certainly felt angry towards the movie as to the betrayal done by Ada to her husband. But, I still couldn’t blame her for doing it. Baines was the complete opposite of Stewart. Stewart was more focused on tending and growing his land, having no romance with Ada while Baines was a desperate romantic. With the affection he showed towards Ada, such relationship was meant to happen.

            The movie is character oriented. The actors and actresses portraying the roles are very effective in drawing people’s emotions along with them. Holly Hunter, as Ada McGrath, is truly great in portraying the characters heavy and complicated emotions without the use of verbal dialogue. Harvey Keitel, as George Baines, also did great in his role as a mad, desperate lover. Sam Neill, as Alistair Stewart, also did well given his role as the confused husband. The actress who made the movie truly effective, worth watching, and entertaining was Anna Paquin as Flora McGrath. The movie would’ve been dull without her. The theme of the movie was about the expression of one’s love and being free. We could clearly see in the movie that each of the characters has its ways of showing their love. It had also shown Ada’s search of freedom. The setting, at a forest in New Zealand, was appropriate for the story as it gave a dream like image which, I think, is the style of the director Jane Campion. The cinematography was also great with the effect of the film that it brought like the travel from Scotland to New Zealand.

            In the beginning of the film, we’d see Ada’s fingers, which in our point-of-view would seem as if we were peeping on it. This also seemed like bars or the keys of the piano which symbolizes Ada’s imprisonment. The use of voice over may also denote her imprisonment as she said that she’d never speak again. In the end, the piano had been sunk in the ocean which basically implies that Ada is no longer imprisoned but was now a free woman. She had also practiced speaking as shown in later part of the ending.  According to Alan A. Stone, “Campion's symbolism, like Freud's, makes the connection between the sacred and the profane. Playing the piano is Ada's consuming and sacred passion, a cry of the free spirit up to heaven. But playing the piano also has a sexual meaning that comes straight out of the Freudian text as a symbol of autoeroticism. The man who is to be Ada's husband is oblivious to all this. He abandons the icon on the beach. No film ever had a more perfect title.” 

Too good to be true

            Mark Meily’s Baler is a historical film about the Siege of Baler which, according to Wikipedia.org, was a battle of the Philippine Revolution and concurrently the Spanish-American War. Filipino revolutionaries laid siege to a fortified church manned by colonial Spanish troops in the town of Baler, Philippines for 11 months. The battle is considered part of the Spanish-American War since the Filipinos were allied with the United States at the outset. That war ended in December 1898 with Spain's surrender and annexation of the Philippines to the United States. However, cut off from communications with their own government and military, the Spanish forces continued their defense against the Filipino forces until 1899.

            The twist in the movie is that within this war, two lovers seek to find freedom to love each other for one is a half-Spanish, half-Filipino soldier, Celso Resurreccion, and the other is a Filipina, Feliza Reyes. What’s worse is that the father of Feliza, Danial Reyes, is actually one of the heads of such rebellion against the Spaniards. Her father had hated the Spaniards after what they did to him and his family and would kill anyone related to them. He had even hated his son for choosing stay and help the church rather than staying with him to fight the Spaniards.

As the story goes on; days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months and the soldiers starved. One Spanish soldier successfully escaped and tried to help the Filipinos by convincing Capt. Morenas but he failed. The starvation made the Spaniards go mad; crying and shouting. Capt. Morenas died and was replaced. The Filipino soldiers attempted to escape to see their loved ones. Two succeeded but the other two failed. Betrayal between the two occurred which led to the death of Resurrecion. The general found out that the Spaniards had lost and agreed to surrender. Feliza, who gave birth to their son, cried over Resurrecion’s body. The last scene showed Feliza walking at Baler with her son few years older. This goes to show that the film is plot-driven.

            Although the film had garnered numerous awards, I still wasn’t that content with the film. It may be different from most of the films done by Filipinos but it still had much to improve on. The setting was actually great as it gives us that 80’s feeling. All of the characters did great although I think Jericho Rosales as Celso was not believable as a half Spanish, half Filipino soldier. He really looked more of a Filipino. Same goes with Anne Curtis which was a Filipina. The both did their roles well but their physical appearance was not appropriate. Philip Salvador, on the other hand, amazed me as he swiftly changed emotions from a furious when his son helped the priest; fearful when he thought of his son’s protection; and then blissful as his son returned to him. Baron Geisler as well is indeed a very good actor and indeed is effective as Capt. Enrique Fossi de las Morenas. He was first seen commanding his troops which might give you a negative impression but during the war, but seeing how he welcomed Gabriel, son of Daniel, would change your mind. The use of music was effective and so did the use of voice over. The use of lights, on the other hand, was disturbing. There was one scene where in Feliza was reading a letter and the lamp she held was below her. How could you read a letter with the light below the paper? It was also clearly shown that the light did not touch her face but for cinematography’s sake, I presume, light was given during medium close up shots.

            The symbolisms in the film were pretty simple to me; the use of white flags as a sign of peace or ceasefire; the eating of dog showed how the people were starving, the dog itself, Bravo, symbolizing a link between Feliza and Celso; the church as the Spaniards shelter and which later on symbolized the last war between the Filipinos and the Spaniards and the death of Celso; the flowers blown by Celso trying to get Feliza’s attention symbolized that regardless of what their in to, their love would never be separated.

Heartwarming Food in the Fridge

In the bottom of the globe where nothing seemed to exist, not even a virus, eight men were assigned to conduct a research leaving their family or loved ones behind. They thought that having such privilege were the greatest achievement that they’d ever have, but as days passed by, different emotions played with they’re minds. There were happy, sad, frustrated, and silent times, but with anything that came their way, there was this one thing that would always keep them motivated: food.

It was Jun Nishiruma, a navy cook, who was assigned to cook for the men. The movie, The Chef of the South Pole, was actually driven by him. Each man had different characteristics, just like any family, they got together during meal time. Each food he makes is done with carefully with love and care. Each food was delicate. He’d take pleasure seeing the crew eat his food with joy. The food was the men’s source of strength.

 The film simply showed how those men lived at an isolated place; how they fought each day from being sorrowful, and how they strengthened their friendship. They were set at Dome Fuji Station at the heart of Antarctica.

The characters also did greatly and effectively. According to Catherine Munroe Hotes, “Sakai is the master of subtle expression, and his comedic talents are balanced by an amusingly diverse cast of characters who deal with their isolation from home comforts in a variety of ways: the doctor (Kosuke Toyohara) decides to train for a triathlon in undershorts, mittens, and boots in the freezing cold on a bicycle, taichō (Kitarō ) goes hilariously balmy when the station runs out ramen, and the chief of the station (Kanji Furuda) longs for long hot times in the bathroom due to the rationing of water.”

The use of music was also appropriate in accordance with the scenes. The music in a way helped in the suspension of disbelief. Not that the film wasn’t true; it dragged the people along making it seem that they were in it too.

The cinematography was done exquisitely. The framing plus the shots were very good that it made it believable. I would also credit the way the food scenes were taken. Each scene made me hungry every time it was shown. I personally do not like Japanese food but this film made me crave to have some.

The telephone symbolizes the communication they have with their families. It was clearly shown that it was their only way to connect with their loved ones. The snow symbolized how the men tried to overcome their sorrows, being cold. They had to be cold to survive such an isolated place. The necklace that the chef wore, containing his eight years old daughter’s tooth, symbolizes the love and the memory that he has of his family. The Food symbolizes the men’s motivation to continue. It was their source of strength. This could clearly be seen in two scenes from the film where first, one got too depressed to know that they ran out of ramen; and second, as they were gathering ice for water, they cheered “fried lobster” each time they dug. It warmth of the food touched their hearts regardless of the temperature.

Over all, the film was great. It has turned a film that was thought to be melodramatic into an enjoyable one. It was something unusual in Filipino and American films which we Filipinos are used of watching. I do advice viewers to eat before watching the film to prevent themselves from extreme envy and hunger. 

Guilty Pleasures

            El crimen del Padre Amaro, or The Crime of Father Amaro, a character driven film directed by Carlos Carrera depicts a life of a priest who has been newly ordained. He was assigned at Los Reyes, Mexico, the place that changed his life. He was to assist the old priest, Father Benito. In the beginning of the movie, we see how kind the priest was. He lent some of his money to the man who sat beside him after being robbed at the bus. At the church, he showed integrity and compassion to keep the church in order. As days past, he sees what the church had kept from the eyes of the people. He found out that Fr. Benito had sexual relations with a local café proprietor Sanjuanera and accepts money from drug lords to be used at the building of the hospital. He also found out that another priest was helping the guerillas. A young girl who was madly in love with the church fell in love with Fr Amaro which her boyfriend noticed. Such conflict occurred which led to a breakup, and further led her boyfriend, Ruben, to write a story about the church regarding the money laundering. As problems rose, so did the lust of Fr. Amaro towards Amelia. He gave in to the temptations and had sexual relations with Amelia which impregnated her. Instead of being a father to his child, he pushes Amelia to abort the child. The abortion caused Amelia’s death which Fr. Amaro all passed the blame to Ruben.

            After watching the film, I questioned if it were banned from the cinemas for almost all the citizens of Mexico were catholic which means that they respect their priest. If such movies were shown, it might cause the people to question the church and loose its trust. I found out that Roman Catholic indeed tried to ban such movie but they failed which made this film a huge hit.

            The movie was set at Los Reyes, Mexico, where Fr. Amaro was assigned. Gael García Bernal, who played Fr. Amaro, was truly excellent. He had done his role well which kept the people guessing what he’d do next. Ana Claudia Talancón, as Amelia, also did her work gracefully. She showed how a young lady would do in such cases. The theme was about love and sin: Love between him and his priesthood, and love between him and Amelia; and Sins in forms of lust, betrayal, and greed shown by the priests themselves. The use of music in the film was appropriate including the sex scenes. If both were not in movie, it would have made really dull. Accroding to Malone, the style of the film is that of the telenovella so popular in recent years in Latin America. Critics from less emotional societies find the telenovella style particularly melodramatic, highly volatile and emotional with characters and situations often presented in broad and sweeping strokes. This is an accepted way of storytelling. As the critic for Variety shrewdly pointed out, the audiences for which El Crimen was geared would have no trouble in appreciating its style. There was one cinematic flaw that I noticed. It was when Fr. Amaro was beaten up by Ruben who gave him bruises but as he went to the church and saw Amelia, the bruises were suddenly gone.

            People would directly question the church after the movie, generally speaking. But as for me, I came to a conclusion as to what the movie was really trying to tell the viewers. The movie is trying to show what could happen behind the walls of the church or it may simply depict the natures of any men and women.  Basically, the movie itself was a symbolism how easily people could be tempted to commit any form of sin. 

The water inside the swimming pool

            To write something, one must be inspired. Just as in the movie “Swimming Pool”, a crime novelist, Sarah played by Charlotte Rampling, needed to continue her book series but she couldn’t for she lacked inspiration. Her publisher, John, whom I assumed she fancies, allowed Sarah to use his villa for her to continue writing her book. Sarah was having a peaceful time writing her book until someone arrived. It was the unexpected arrival of her publisher’s ill-disciplined daughter Julie, played by Ludivine Sagnier. Things didn’t go according to plan for the peacefulness of the building was always disrupted with Julie’s bring-home-guy every night. As time passed by, Sarah grew interest in writing a story about Julie instead which led the two to become friends. Unfortunately, Julie found what Sarah was writing and got disappointed but she never confronted Sarah about it. Julie then brings home a waiter who Sarah most often meets, and also I assume she fancies. All went well until the waiter refuses to have sex with Julie, the cause which led Julie killing him. Sarah discovers what happened and helps in burying the body and cleaning evidences which she’d know for she writes stories about it. Julie decides to go leaving a book which her mother wrote. She shows it to her publisher who thought it was bad but she had the courage to have a different publisher. What gave me a shock was at the end of the story where the real Julie arrives at the office.

           

Julie is simply the woman that Sarah longs to be: an emotionally and sexually free woman. Therefore, Julie is actually unreal. Julie is the representation of Sarah as to who she was to be. This would clearly be noticed by the age of the men being brought home. Julie is Sarah. The real Julie has no connection with the fake Julie though. The formation of such persona of Julie may have been from the resentment she had for John for only seeing her as an object and not as a woman, a sexually hungry one.

            We somehow show our true selves when no one’s watching. Just as Sarah, she wants to be herself with no one watching, but of course, there will always be someone. That someone is God which is the reason why she removes the crucifix from the wall. Another motif would be the scars on Julie’s stomach. We were always taught that “bad girls” do things like committing adultery, abortion, masturbation, or using vices. This then gives us an implication that Julie must have had committed abortion or adultery which goes to show that she is a “bad girl”. The part when Sarah and Julie had a row goes to show that Sarah is having a battle with herself; her modest and liberated self. The time Sarah and Julie got along means that she made peace with herself. The killing of Franck did not happen in reality, it simply showed that her journey is about to end. The burying of the dead body symbolizes the burial of who she was before. She had let go of her past, insecure, and confined life. When Marcel noticed the change in the lawn and was thinking of digging the “old Sarah”, Sarah showed her breast, a sign of the new her. She doesn’t want to be her old self. The book that Julie gave her, written by Julie’s mother, shows the result of the new book she had made and the new book of her life. The waving at the end of the movie showed that Sarah no longer needs Julie anymore. The swimming pool was the overall symbolism of Sarah herself. As the pool’s cover was being pulled out, the change in her was also happening. Therefore, it symbolizes Sarah’s change from being covered into being liberated. Notice how she dressed at the first few scenes and in the last. She was like an old angry woman in the beginning and was more feminine and happy woman in the end.

            The movie was obviously character driven; all revolved around Sarah. Charlotte Rampling had a portrayed her role excellently as well as Ludivine Sagnier. The setting was appropriate for the movie. A mixture of thrill and emotion were bursting in the film.  The sex scenes were also appropriate for without it the movie would really be dull. Overall, the movie was done so well as it effectively made people think.

Untangling Sex and Lucia

Words that I would immediately think of when I hear this movie are erotic, confusing, and melancholy: confusing for its plot; melancholy for the theme itself; and erotic for the detailed love making. The plot would be the thing that’s quite impossible for me to tell. It started in the middle and ended in the middle as well. What made it more confusing is the mixture of the novel being written by Lorenzo and the story of Lucia’s love life. It was a novel within a movie, so to speak. For this reason, you’d be guessing which is real, and which fantasy is. But of course, one thing is for sure, the movie was truly about Lucia and Lorenzo’s relationship.

The film was done with the montage style. Clips were joined together in a different order. It begun with Lucia’s heart getting heartbroken. She rushes to see her man only to find a suicide note. A sudden ring on the phone then tells her that her boyfriend, Lorenzo, died. To ease her pain, she went off to the island that Lorenzo kept on saying. She met a man named Carlos who then led her to a house where she could stay in. The house was owned by Elena, the mother of Lorenzo’s daughter Luna. The story then gives us a look at how relationships came to be and how it ended: Lucia’s proposal at a bar and the love making were shown; Lorenzo and Elena’s night at the beach showed how they had a daughter. Lorenzo never knew he had one until a friend of his told him. The thing is, he had to write a story about it. This then brings us to the confusing part trying to decipher which is real and made up by Lorenzo. He looks for a way to come closer to his daughter, and that was by having a relationship with Belen, Luna’s baby sitter. After he tucks his daughter to bed, he and Belen makes love commanding the dog to keep watch. Unfortunately, Luna get’s up and goes to their room which then resulted to her being attacked by the dog. Lorenzo flees while Belen committed suicide. Belen recovers while Lorenzo was trapped depressed. His depression led to the fading of love between Lorenzo and Lucia which brings us back to the break up.

The portrayal of Paz Vega as Lucia was truly effective. She acted naturally that you won’t see her have a single sign of nervousness. Tristan Ulloa also did great in portraying Lorenzo. He effectively drew people’s attention. The setting was at the “floating island” which basically was where everything revolved. The theme was about love. Love between a father and his daughter, and a love between lovers. The sex is the main attraction.  This kept the people eyes glued to the screen. The lovers’ exploration of their bodies and sexual tastes during their whirlwind courtship is erotic and tasteful; the scenes are arousing, but are also beautifully constructed to create a sense of true intimacy between the characters. The use of music weren’t that noticeable for me because the scenes were already seemed like music. The cinematography must be given an applause knowing that they only used a high definition digital camera.

According to Simon Wardell, “The director's trademark use of elemental symbolism also gives the movie other meanings not tied to plot, with the sun and moon joining the sea as forces shaping the characters' lives. Even the island that draws Lucia, Lorenzo, and Elena to it reputedly floats unsteadily on the water. And everything revolves around sex, from procreation to pornography, portrayed in the sort of unembarrassed, explicit detail in vogue in European arthouse releases these days.” Lorenzo also told something about making a good ending. He said “The first advantage is at the end of the story. It doesn't finish, it falls in a hole. And the story starts again halfway. The other advantage, and the biggest, is that you can change course along the way.” Just as the movie, it ended by showing the middle which again boggles your mind. 

Too much love

           

           A girl’s dream is to become a queen, but would they still want to be after seeing this? This is an historical movie about the life of Queen Joan of Castile. What makes this historical different from others is that this focused more on the “madness” or the mental illness of the queen. Political aspects or her being a mother was almost concealed in the movie.

            The film was obviously character driven. The movie revolved around Queen Joan as to know the cause of her insanity. It begins with showing her at a very old age, imprisoned, talking about her love and affection to his husband, King Philip “The handsome”. This then turns into a flashback showing how she was forced to marry Archduke Philip of Flanders to strengthen political ties. From this point on, the reason as to why she had gone mad were shown. . There were surprising moments like the time she gave birth to her daughter by herself. The ending was how I expected it to be, death of the king.

What made the movie more effective are the actors and actresses themselves.  Pilar Lopez de Ayala, as Joan, portrayed her role well. She both showed her role as being a queen of Spain, yet being obsessively in love with her husband. Daniele Liotti, as King Philip, wasn’t as good. Although he had portrayed it well, as a womanizer and a selfish king, more would have been done. He gave similar stares and emotions throughout the movie that almost made him dull. The minimal act maybe because the director wanted us to only see him that way. But, a shift of emotion changed during the ending when he was dying and asking for Joan’s forgiveness. I really felt his sincerity, but unfortunately he was never forgiven.

The movie is mainly about love. A love that is too much that it leads to madness. The love that the queen has for her husband is so great that she had forgotten her duties. This then brings up questions such as love or career; heart or mind? Such questions are still dealt with today. Numerous people whom I’ve known are obsessed with their love that they’ll give up anything just for them. A symbolism showing the Joan’s pure love for his husband is the time when the king was dying and she kissed him, even at his chest filled with bloody lumps. The movie has also traced why she is seen as mad woman. Who wouldn’t be if you find out the death of your mother plus the unfaithfulness of your husband in one day? But in today’s modern world, she acting that way may be seen as normal. It happens nowadays, especially the obsession with sex. According to Wikipedia.org, “Most historians now agree that she had melancholia, severe clinical depression, a psychosis, or a case of inherited schizophrenia at the time, and was not insane or 'mad' as was commonly believed.” Her way of thinking must be of a modern woman. She was born way past her time. The way she breast fed her child shows it. Another that symbolized her desperation to feel her husband’s love is how she’d always spread her legs in front of her husband.  There is another thing shown by the movie is the people’s capability to sin as shown by King Philip. He cheated, lied, and longed to have all power. The dark spell conducted by Aixa, the king’s favorite mistress, symbolizes how something so dark could happen anywhere. Sin could happen anywhere, even at places we thought was pure. This part of the movie though is just made up. Aixa never really existed during that time which goes to show that this historical movie is mixed with a hint of fiction.

The setting was nicely done. It was how anyone would imagine 16^th century Europe. This made the movie believable. The clothes worn were detailed as well as the lighting. The sex scenes shown also helped, not only to get people’s attention but also to show the character’s emotions. The use of voice over was essential for some scenes were not easily understandable by simply watching it. Overall, the movie was great. I highly recommend anyone to watch this film and see how they’d judge the Queen.