Sinag Maynila shines with some quiet films

Here's another quick look at some of the films being shown at the still-ongoing Sinag Maynila (March 18-24, SM Cinemas), a festival of five Filipino independent films, a pet project of Solar Entertainment head Wilson Tieng and acclaimed filmmaker Brillante Ma. Mendoza.

• "Bambanti", dir.: Zig Dulay, written by Dulay, 90 mins.

This film (whose title literally translates to "scarecrow" in English) works on a seemingly simple premise: an expensive gold wristwatch gets stolen and all fingers point to a poor mother and child (played by Alessandra de Rossi and Micko Laurente), who do some household chores for a relative (played by Shamaine Buencamino), whose daughter owns the item in question. It's the kind of simple storyline that's teeming with richness and subtlety that's often found in the films of such master Iranian filmmakers as Majidi, Panahi and Kiarostami. This one is in fact a depressing tale, moving at such a patient pace, with De Rossi and Laurente both providing quietly heartbreaking portrayals, as they are threatened to become completely drowned in a system of prejudice and lies, where truth and honesty are mere exceptions. Providing upliftment from the film's downbeat tone is the exceptional sacrifice that a mother can make for her child, which provides "Bambanti" an emotionally compelling core. A significant facet of mother-child relationship is thus highlighted by way of such narrative arc, a relationship that Dulay likewise touched upon in last December's "M. (A Mother's Middle Name)". If it says anything, the film's final shot shows the mother and child walking along a ricefield "guarded" by a couple of scarecrows, these latter dummy figures perpetually utilized as tools of deception in the service of some discernible gains. 

Film verdict: Very good

• "Balut Country", dir.: Paul Sta. Ana, written by Rona Lean Sales and Sta. Ana, 90 mins. 

This film can be both a coming-of-age and a homecoming tale, somewhat along the lines of a neorealist docu-drama, the sensibility that similarly informed Sta. Ana's previous work, "Oros" (a Cinemalaya entry). It's a likewise quietly-told story that possesses an unhurried rhythm, with once again the fate of the poor (this time, a family of farm workers, with Ronnie Quizon playing the father) lying in the hands of the well-off (in this case, a landowner, played by Rocco Nacino). The latter's character isn't really vile and greedy;he's in fact warmhearted and amiable. But because of his indifference towards the family business (a Pampanga-based duck farm that hatches eggs to be made into balut, penoy and itlog na maalat), he puts a family who has worked faithfully in the farm for so long at risk of displacement. Gradually and patiently, "Balut Country" puts forth a food-for-thought that concerns those invaluable riches that even though already laid right before our own eyes, we still lamentably take for granted. Nacino and Quizon both do a great job of tackling the moral quandaries of their characters. I've always believed in Nacino's sensitivity as an actor since "Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa" (a Cinemalaya film) and "Bayan Ko" (a made-for-TV mini-series);while I may not have been totally impressed by Quizon in "Rekorder" (also shown in Cinemalaya), but here in "Balut Country", he turns in an affecting performance. There are even some rich symbolisms that can be gleaned from the film that further lend it with quiet power. 

Film verdict: Very Good

(Quiet: Zig Dulay's "Bambanti", top and Paul Sta. Ana's "Balut Country", below.)