Jason Paul Laxamana's "Magkakabaung" - A Gem in a Festival

Randy Alcantara (Allen Dizon) lives a facile, albeit joyless life as a single parent to sickly 8 year old Angeline (Felixia Crysten Dizon) in bucolic San Vicente where dust settles on crops and its murky river. Randy is a coffin maker in nearby Santo Tomas where he takes home P285 for a day of carpentry work. A devout father to his child, Randy’s only vice is mischievous town beauty Neri (Chanel Latorre) who mostly takes him for a ride in exchange of phone load and the occasional night out at the cinema. One day, Randy, along with his colleagues, gets hired for an overnighter to rush 60 coffins for a Congressman’s charity project. This will earn him P800 and a day off work thereafter.

Before rushing to work, Randy buys antibiotics (Amoxicillin) for Angeline who’s febrile and coughing, and tells her to take the medicine while he’s out to work. Later that night, Randy comes home to a child who’s barely breathing. He rushes Angeline to the hospital, but it was too late. Fraught with guilt for having given his daughter a drug she’s allergic to, Randy is helplessly unhinged. What’s worse, his P800 salary doesn’t suffice to claim his daughter’s corpse. Where will he get P1,500 to pay the hospital bills?

But like an expeditious reply to his cry for help, Pablo Canda (Emilio Garcia) comes along offering him P2,000, saying “We’ll settle this loan later”. Canda turns in profits by peddling corpses, albeit illegally, to medical schools in need of cadavers. Now, Randy is torn between selling his daughter’s dead body for a P20,000 profit or paying Mr. Canda P10,000 so Randy could finally take home Angeline who now lies in Mr. Canda’s funeral home.

In the morning, Randy makes an unexpected visit to Mabel (Gladys Reyes), Angeline’s biological mother, now blissfully married to an American. He asks for her help so they could claim Angeline’s corpse. Mabel acquiesces. After all, Angeline is her daughter too. But she wants Angeline’s body to undergo autopsy. “Ako na’ng bahala,” she insists. This presents a dilemma for the still-discombobulated Randy who’s aware that he could be pinned down for his daughter’s untimely demise. What to do?

The film tells its story like a slow burn, thus you won't miss any of the salient points the film tries to convey. This richness of ideas thrives within the story: lessons on self-medication; single parenthood; desperation of people who treat corpses like salable commodities; that sending a dead body to a hospital can cost you P2,300; and the anecdote of the coffin maker who eventually ends up making one for his own daughter.

Allen Dizon, as Randy Alcantara, makes a career-best performance that unusually reeks with cinematic paradox, i.e. emotive vulnerability and confidence we’ve never seen from the actor’s previous works. Without any hint of awkwardness we usually find him in (e.g. Joel Lamangan’s “Kamkam” and Joven Tan’s “Paupahan”), Dizon immersively loses himself in portraying the beleaguered father who may have caused his daughter’s death. His character is adequately entangled in a bind where the harder he tries to extricate himself out of his self-inflicted predicament; the deeper he digs himself a hole. And there seemingly is no light, or ladder if you will, at the end of the tunnel.

Director Laxamana makes adequate use of the region’s local color, giving the film a crisp atmosphere that’s typically rural and a visually fresh scenography. He likewise succeeds using local language to convey a deceptively laidback atmosphere without alienating his audience (i.e. those who don’t understand Kapampangan or are allergic – not just to Amoxicillin – but to subtitles as well). What’s better, his ensemble is a commendable lot: Gladys Reyes, Chanel Latorre, Emilio Garcia, Bor Ocampo and even the comebacking former-sexy star Tonio Ortigas all contribute to a suspenseful cautionary tale. 

Jason Paul Laxamana’s “Magkakabaung” (The Coffin Maker) benefits from the script’s anti-drama swerve, refusing to spiral down into melodramatic sentimentalism despite obvious avenues into the story. Laxamana deftly employs long takes to tell his narrative sequences; a ploy that usually requires patience, precise blockings and time-consuming rehearsals or re-takes. What unravels before you is an organic flow of events - and a very cohesive story telling that’s hard to shake off. Laxamana’s compelling yarn-spinning feels like the perfect delivery of a promise seen in his earlier works, “Astro Mayabang” and “Babagwa”. There are a few misplaced snippets (like the scene showing the “possessed or convulsing girl”) but most of the details harmoniously settle into a fully realized cinematic work. Without a doubt, “Magkakabaung” is my favorite; it is undoubtedly this MMFF New Wave edition’s best picture, and one the year’s finest.

THE REST OF THE MMFF NEW WAVE ENTRIES

While we're at it, you may not want to miss Zsa zsa Padilla's delectable turn as the cancer-stricken, foul-mouthed lawyer Bella Monteclaro in Zig Dulay's  "M (A Mother's Maiden Name)" where Nico Antonio likewise delivers a spot-on portrayal as Joven, Bella's gay son. Dulay's film is peppered with hilarious one-liners that render this film its stab of irony, i.e. to be funny despite its theme tackling morbidity and mortality. Get this: Bella dresses down her secretary with a caustic one-liner: "Mas madami sigurong tanga sa mundo kung hindi mo sinasarili." Nga naman. Or when she says, "Allergic ako sa pretensions. Nangangati ako sa plastic." Or when Bella discusses the essence of real beauty with son Joven and he says, "Ang ganda ay di nakikita sa labas, kundi nasa kalooban ng tao." Bella counters this with, "Yan ang argument ng mga pangit."

The film eventually takes a road trip that uproots Bella to a small town where her mayordoma, Manang Minda (Gloria Sevilla) lives to tend to her sick daughter Liway (Sue Prado). This chapter somehow meanders, but is leavened by scenes involving Joven and a strapping barrio lad named Anton Tumacder, middle named "Malaki" played with flirtatious mien by Marx Topacio and the adorable Nico Antonio who never resorts to thespic excesses common among "screen fags". Yes, not all gays are screaming, flaming fags. Antonio's restrained act smacks of discipline. His performance frames Padilla's acerbic disposition; Antonio's "yang" to Padilla's "yin". And they make a truly complementary pair too pleasant to ignore.  

Arlyn dela Cruz's "Maratabat" is a cautiously made, must-see flick that should remind people of the excesses of power. While Kristoffer King is rightfully sinister as doped out Mayor Ismael, we have trouble picturing his deportment as mayorly, and we require just a hint of this. You get no argument from me though on the fact that he was vicious and scary. His rape scene with Chanel Latorre is particularly jarring, and should not be watered down by mere suggestions. It deserved to be captured on cam. Ping Medina (playing Ronwaldo Maharlika) may have an uncanny semblance to Mr.Toto Mangudadatu, but Medina's performance is compromised by a technical flaw in his delivery of lines - a bothersome breathing technique. His inhalatory excursions are placed midway between sentences, and are thus disturbing. This is most obvious in his speech before his supporters to announce his candidacy as governor of the province running head-on against a sturdy political nemesis Salvador Abubakar (Julio Diaz). It felt like he was going into an asthmatic exacerbation.

We're not quite sure how to "digest" Ma. Diane Ventura's "Mulat" and it's confounding vicious cycle of arguments and counter-arguments about relationships. At some point, it got too exhausting I just wanted them to break up already and just shut their yappers. Take your dose of lithium already, Samantha. One thing's sure though, Loren Burgos is a cinematic find though she needs to work on her "crying technique". You cannot sob away like there's no tomorrow sans tears, unless you have Nasolacrimal Duct Obstruction, but then that's remediable. An ophthalmologist can irrigate on your lacrimal duct for 5 minutes and then you're good as new. If however, for some reason you want to acquire a slice (or two) of tension headache amid lush cinematography, try Ato Bautista's "Gemini". And bring two boxes of super-strength, extended release Ibuprofen with you.   

Guaranteed tension headache.

Mabel receives news of her daughter's untimely demise.

Lawrence Fajardo's Posas - Social Commentary as First Rate Entertainment

It’s just another day in the life of Jestoni Biag (Nico Antonio), a petty cellphone thief operating in the backstreets of Quiapo and the contiguous areas. Jes is a devoted brother to a mother and a younger brother who are entirely dependent on his daily earning, dismissive of Jes’ means of finding his keep. Her mother keeps reminding him, “Magpapakabait ka, anak” as though it would suffice to keep Jes out of trouble. One day, he finds Grace Rosuello (Bangs Garcia) waving away her new iPhone. He easily snatches the gadget away from Grace, unaware that the call center agent has actually seen his face and could easily identify him from a line-up. Jes then peddles his loot to Musngi who buys them at a fraction of their original price.

Meanwhile, Grace is desperate to recover her phone for its “sentimental value”. Truth is, she has sex videos with a married man conveniently hidden in her phone. She has to claim the phone before her dilemma gets out of proportion – and no bureaucratic red tape is too tedious for the frantic girl. She seeks the help of SPO1 Santiago (Jake Macapagal) and PO1 Damian (Nor Domingo) who are receptive for the wrong reasons: “Ang laki ng dyoga.” Like a bizarre twist of fate, Grace spots Jes. A mad pursuit ensues until they finally collar the suspect who’s reiterative of his innocence. Jes is booked at the police station (Sta. Cruz Central Market station) where he meets Police Inspector Domingo (Art Acuna). They take Jes to a holding place where he is subjected to torture until all that’s left is his resolve to come out of the situation alive. Jes takes Inspector Domingo and his cohorts to Musngi. They recover Grace’s phone back. Jes is eventually released, but becomes part of a bigger web of criminal enterprise. From here on, he has to hand a percentage of his loot to Inspector Domingo as payback for the P100,000 bail that the precinct loses upon Jes' release. Was he truly scot-free? As a valedictory deed, there’s one more mission he had to accomplish; one that would pull him deeper into the iniquitous mire.

Director Lawrence Fajardo once again tackles a gritty tale that covers the repulsive bureaucracy that a willing complainant has to go through just to report a crime and pursue its rightful claim in the judicial system. It also spotlights the incongruous exercise of law enforcers where regulations are concerned to protect the right of any accused individual “until proven guilty”. This chasm of malfeasance is deftly depicted by Zig Dulay’s interminably succulent script. In fact the audience is roped into this long drawn out situation where, sometime in the narrative, you feel the need to come up for air. Rich with an atmosphere of fraudulency and corruption, the audience is given insight into a bureaucratic stigma that haunts the different arms of the government. It just leaves you cold. In fact, the closing scene shows a sign that underlines the raison d’etre of these institutions: “to prevent crime” and “to enforce the law”. But what have they become?

“Posas” (Shackled) is buoyed by a consistently competent ensemble. The actors have somehow embraced realism giving “Posas” a sense of urgency. In fact, it inspires neurosis. Who can you trust? How do you distinguish the good from the bad guys? These questions become exigent when viewing this film.

Nico Antonio has consistent characterization, sufficient enough to inspire empathy. He has a distracting affectation (the way he stares), but he’s a newbie. He will surely finetune his thespic skills with time. Bangs Garcia, on the other hand, has evolved into a compelling actress. When she’s on screen, you feel the energy emanating from her. To think I used to consider her a mediocre presence. How things have changed in two to three years. Susan Africa makes the most of her screen time. When she tries to convince the officers that “Mabait ang anak ko,” she was more than believable, only to change tunes when she finally saw Jes behind bars, “Walang hiya ka! Sinabi ko sa yong mag ingat ka!” She knew all along what kept her son busy.  

But the revelation in the movie is theater actor Art Acuna playing Inspector Domingo. With his lean frame, calm delivery and mild demeanor, he succeeds to impart a level of malignity and truculence without even raising his voice. He scared the bejesus out of me. He likewise imparts charm in savagery, which is antipodean at best.

“Amok” is still my favourite Lawrence Fajardo film, but “Posas” isn’t too far behind. It’s a good thing that a week after Cinemalaya closed the festival, “Posas” found its way into commercial theatres. In fact, people were able to see “Posas” for a mere P109 at most SM Cinemas. How’s that for inexpensive, albeit world-class film making? This is social commentary and applicatory entertainment. What more do you want in a film?

Nico Antonio as Jestoni Biag, the cellphone thief.

Bangs Garcia as Grace, the call center agent who loses her cellphone in Quiapo.