History as both personal and grand

"Alienasyon", the recipient of QCinema's 2-million-peso full production grant and which served as the opening film of this year's edition of the festival, marks a departure for its director/screenwriter Arnel Mardoquio. In his last two features, "Ang Paglalakbay ng mga Bituin sa Gabing Madilim"

(Gawad Urian Best Picture winner) and "Riddles of My Homecoming" (Best Director winner in last year's Cinema One Originals), he tackled political issues besetting his place of birth, Mindanano. In his latest film, he shifts his attention to the historical legacy of his place of residence, Quezon City - and more. 

Once again, the filmmaker delivers a sublimely powerful and beautiful work that further cements his reputation as one of the visionary and original directors working in our cinema today. "Alienasyon" tells of a retired and widowed UP professor, Paulino (portrayed by the incomparable Spanky Manikan), who faces threat of eviction from his childhood home in Diliman, now totally decrepit without electricity and water. It would be quite painful and sad for the old man to leave his home, as it is rich in historical legacy and has been a cradle of memories, both happy and sad, of his family's struggles through the war. 

Evoking Ingmar Bergman's "Wild Strawberries", Akira Kurosawa's "Ikiru" and Vittorio de Sica's "Umberto D.", the looming threat instigates the old man into confronting his treasured past, bringing up memories that are tinged with joy, sorrow, hope, pain and guilt. At this point, we come to realize that it's not just the story of a man who both cherishes and is being haunted by his past, but is also about a city's - or perhaps, a nation's - rich history. How the director connects Paulino's personal story to his city's grand story is the film's strong and best point. 

In the hands of a less able director, such a narrative framework would most probably be reduced to a sentimental and self-conscious trip down memory lane, with the "historical" bits being a tad too academic. But under Mardoquio's masterful stroke, the interweaving of the personal and the historical becomes a subtle and poignant evocation, relying less on spoken words than on profoundly-composed images, greatly aided by Arnel Barbarona's gorgeous cinematography that utilizes the interplay of light and shadows and lends a vintage photography look to the picture and Jesse Lucas' wondrous harmonica that stirs in you noble feelings without actually crossing over into fiery nationalism. As in "Paglalakbay" and "Riddles", the images we encounter in "Alienasyon" assume the quality of being both magisterial and surreal, with a few close to being infernal in such a way that one might start to recall Kon Ichikawa's "Fires on the Plain". 

And of course, while the film boasts of performances from actors who mostly rely on gestures and suggestions, lending a poignant urgency to the film is Spanky Manikan's commanding central performance. On the face of this man of the academe who's in the twilight of his life and career, one can glean years of both a glorious and pained past etched with not much need for words to express such. If "Alienasyon" is any indication, then the rest of our cinematic fare in this year's QCinema is really something to look forward to. 

(Arnel Mardoquio's "Alienasyon" is sublimely powerful and beautiful.)