Of those who live by night:Cinemalaya X, part 4

Even if this film urchin has already seen eight films thus far in the ongoing Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival, it's still premature to tell which among these will be honored the Best Picture prize in the separate categories of New Breed and Director's Showcase. Let's now check out another entry in the former category. 

• "Ronda" by Nick Olanka (80 mins)

I have yet to see two more films in the festival, but I think this one is going to be my favorite. Anyone of us who has a good grasp of European cinema, in particular the Romanian New Wave, will immediately recognize that "Ronda" bears traces of it. Of all the entries that I have seen so far (nine altogether), this was the only one where there was no immediate applause from the audience. I don't want to conclude that such a response necessarily means that they didn't like the film. It could only be that the film just left them puzzled. In any case, from this, we can probably say that "Ronda" is not to everyone's taste. Except for the basic conflict wherein the night policewoman character of Ai-ai delas Alas worries about the whereabouts of her teenage son, Olanka's film doesn't really have any discernible "story" to speak of. It works more like a real-time slice-of-life documentation of a typical night in a policewoman's job. This is more or less established by the long-take opening scene wherein the policewoman (Delas Alas), together with her partner (Carlos Morales), just drive through the streets of Quiapo, in constant look-out for any untoward incident that may disturb the peace of the night. In a sense, the film is a kind of homage as well to Ishmael Bernal's "Manila By Night", as the patrol officers have to regularly contend with the nocturnal creatures who ply their "trade" at a time when everyone else is asleep - robbers, pimps, hookers, drunkards, bystanders, streetchildren, night-beat reporters, etc. If it ever comes up from time to time Ai-ai's increasing worry about the whereabouts of her son, it almost feels like incidental or just one among the many "happenings" of the night. Else, everything just unfolds in a slow-burn, no-frills fashion, with the camera (superbly lensed by Albert Banzon, who frequently collaborates with Adolf Alix, Jr., one of the script's co-writers) acting as a dispassionate observer. "Ronda" runs for just a mere 80 minutes, but it may require a good deal of patience from the viewers, with its narrative technique and pace, just like some works from the Romanian New Wave ("12:08 East of Bucharest", "Tuesday, After Christmas"). 

Of course, I won't end this note without mentioning the performance of the film's lead actress. The role, if not the entire film itself, was a daring choice for Ms. Delas Alas. Cast against type and deglamorized, she completely shuns her loud antics in her past comedies but instead fashions a low-key and unassuming everyman approach to a character who must struggle between the fulfillment of a public duty as a night patrol and that of a personal duty as a caring mother. 

Summary:

"Ronda" - excellent

(Ai-ai delas Alas as police officer Arroyo, a mother distraught over her son's emotional state in Nick Olanka's slow-burn neo-noir "Ronda".)