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sessayyys-corner · 4 months

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GOMBURZA (2023) - MMFF REVIEW

“Vivan Los Filipinos. Mabuhay ang mga Filipino.”

This film is the story of the three martyr priests. Three Filipinos who were part of the native community who were once under Spanish colonial rule and oppression. If you have been updated, or have been listening in your elementary Philippine history classes, it’s GOMBURZA, not MAJOHA.

Despite it being produced by Jesuit Communications, the film was able to execute (No pun intended) a factual depiction on a turning point of Philippine history without overused emphasis of religion. It was able to capture how the Catholic faith was used as an instrument of oppression during the Spanish colonial period (This was especially ironic considering how return of the religious orders, including the Jesuits, were the reason for the silencing of the secularization movement). What also impressed me is that almost every single detail in the movie, even in the dialogue, came from actual events in history. It is evident that enough research was made to make this film as accurate as possible.

The film’s cinematography was able to capture life during the period whether it was amongst the Filipino liberals, the Spanish priests, the Governor-Generals, or even the three main characters in our story. With every other scenes of the film shifting from light to dark atmospheres, this symbolized the reality of Spanish colonization — warmth, acceptance, and friendship amongst fellow Filipinos; and ruthlessness, inhumanity, and oppression from the Spaniards (and even traitors). Adding emphasis to GomBurZa’s (2023) cinematography is its sound design. Just by feeling the cinema floor rumbling and the deeply-voiced voiceover in the film’s ending segment, this film can come to a point where it deserves its own IMAX screening.

Dante Rivero and Cedrick Juan showcase over-the-top stellar performances as Padre Mariano Gomez (played by Rivero) and Padre Jose Burgos (played by Juan). Both actors have embodied their roles, not only due to the fact that they, especially Juan, share a slight resemblance with the real life Mariano Gomez and Jose Burgos. It is also because that they were able to portray their emotions from having a friendly conversation, to later condemning their unfair arrest, trial, and death.

Pepe Diokno's time and effort in conducting research and including every important detail in the production is evident in the whole film itself, as it was not only ACTUALLY based on true events, but was able to evoke emotion and outrage, just like how the Filipinos of the 1870s did at the time.

With all of this said, GomBurZa (2023) is not only a history lesson, but also an immersion into the Spanish colonial rule and the lives of the three priests. Being a history nerd and a cinephile who has since learned the names of the three martyr priests as a little girl in elementary, I can definitely say that this was one of the only film experiences where I had witnessed the breaking of the fourth wall. The whole time I was in the cinema, it felt like I was part of their conversation, like I was a witness to their lives and execution.

What also added to this experience was that I watched the film on Rizal Day, and what better way to commemorate our national hero's contribution to Philippine independence than to learn about where it all started? Like what I always preached to my family:

Without GomBurZa, there will be no Jose Rizal. Without Jose Rizal, there would be no Andres Bonifacio. Without all of them, the Philippines and the Filipino would not exist.

GomBurZa (2023) is a cathartic experience that is definitely for the family. This film is a testament to the importance of appreciating and learning our history. Hopefully it serves as a reminder of our collective past, national identity, and the importance of our freedom.

[Metro Manila Film Festival 2023]

(my film review of "GomBurZa" is also available on letterboxd!)

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sessayyys-corner · 4 months

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MALLARI (2023) - MMFF REVIEW

“‘Di ba’t isang sumpa ang magmahal?”

Mallari does not only showcase the story of the infamous Fr. Severino Mallari, but also delves into the lives of men from succeeding generations of his clan. The first descendant, Johnrey, a documentary filmmaker in post World War II Philippines, and the second being Jonathan De Dios, a doctor and the lead protagonist of the film. The two descendants of Fr. Severino try to discover their family’s darkest secret, which most likely has contributed to the killings and disappearances in Magalang, Pampanga.

All three generations of the Mallari clan are played by Piolo Pascual, which is perceived to be difficult parts to play. However, Pascual was able to to help distinguish one generation from another and yet was able to establish the connection between all three characters.

What also is depicted in the movie is the presence of important female figures in each of the Mallari men’s lives: Dona Facunda, Fr. Severino’s mother played by Ms. Gloria Diaz, Felicity, Johnrey’s wife played by Elisse Joson, and Agnes, Jonathan’s fiancee played by Janella Salvador. All three actresses gave the three women their respective well-defined characters which was able to show how each Mallari’s love for these women had urged them to take greater lengths, even if it will cost them their own morals.

JC Santos does an excellent job in portraying Brother Lucas in the likeness of Brutus from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, as he showcases his character’s loyalty and later betrayal to Pascual’s Dr. Jonathan.

The film may remind one of Luca Guadagnino’s Bones and All (2022) with its presence of common themes such as gore and manslaughter. It is also important to note how both Carido and Guadagnino have commonly used manslaughter as a dark metaphor for love as a motive of sacrifice and self-discovery, which the former has executed very well and evidently in Mallari (2023). It also bears similarities with Edgar Wright’s Last Night in Soho (2021) not just with the presence of gore and manslaughter, but also with the key theme of time travel, which the two Mallari descendants have used in order to learn about the dark secret of their family for this film.

The film had a well-organized flow of events, as well as a smooth transition in between time periods. It was able to give me and other viewers proper context and a good idea on how to let the story unfold and think about what could happen next. However, Jonathan’s arc was very anti-climactic towards the end yet it established his arc as an anti-hero.

Another thing to love about this film is that not only did it have Gothic themes and the use of the Catholic faith, which are associated as Western literary and cultural elements, but it also incorporated the use of Filipino folk medicine and faith healing, which are indigenous Filipino cultural elements, as important parts of the film.

In conclusion, Mallari (2023) was a great watch, and it definitely deserved the accolades. Not only did it bring justice to a dark love metaphor, but it also presented and promoted Filipino culture through folk medicine as key horror elements. It is a must watch for traditional Filipino horror movie buffs and those in need of a fresh face to Filipino horror films.

[Metro Manila Film Festival 2023]

RATING - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

(review is also available on letterboxd!)

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sessayyys-corner · 4 months

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Maren's Soliloquy - A Bones and All writeup

(inspired by the song above; I encourage you to listen to the song while reading this piece)

I try to process, to cope with this sense of guilt lingering through my veins. A sense that lingered ever since he was gone. Lee, the person who gave me security, comfort, and love - all the things I so longed for, is gone.

And it was because of me.

Dying in one’s arms is mostly associated with a situation where a person witnesses someone who’s about to have their last breath. But Lee? He didn’t die in my arms.

He died in my hands. The thing is, I didn’t even want to eat him anyway.

It was his dying wish. I’ve seen how he also suffered during own life, from the stories he told as we drove across the country roads to those he told while sitting in the vast Nebraska grasslands. Losing Kayla, the person who’s got his back way before I came, was the last straw, after enduring years of abuse and the same lingering guilt I am feeling. Losing Kayla meant losing his will to live. And so that was his last request for me. I reluctantly agreed at that moment, and he was gone at the next.

Could I have done something else, rather than having to feed on him?

It continues to ring in my head, along with the guilt living in me. It continues to bother me at my every waking moment. All of nature has witnessed my grief whilst finding my own strength to continue whatever there is for me in this life.

My father left me. Lee has left too. I am left all alone. I am on my own.

If I had cleaned up and rushed to the ER, maybe he would have stayed. Maybe he would have lived. Maybe we would have continued to lead normal lives, like how people do.

But I was not a miracle worker. I was not the Christ. I was just a mere human.

It was his dying wish, and I agreed to it because I loved him. And love also needs sacrifice. He wanted to rest, to be free from all the guilt and the hurt that continuously pestered and bothered him in his life.

And so, I let him go.

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sessayyys-corner · 1 year

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A PALACE OF GALLERIES

One could go inside such a colossal schloss with a blank artistic slate, foolish artistic hopes, an undying passion for art, and a dream.

This “palace”, which settled on a small, Southeast Asian island, had a library and a government office as its next-door neighbors. locals, students, and maybe even a handful of tourists, flock to this place to learn, and relive the history and culture of the nation and the continent it lies on.

Crowds consisting of those I mentioned constantly flock this schloss as time goes by, maybe to see the works of renowned artists, local and international. The latter was one quite an unexpected attraction, as similar places have only displayed the works of artists who’ve come from the motherland.

The locals come to the schloss to appreciate the colorful and eventful history of the island, to praise and uplift the nation, with that sense of nationalism burning in their whole being, body and soul.

The students, especially the little ones, come here for school trips, the locals’ sense of nationalism being instilled and passed on to them through art history, education, and its appreciation.

Tourists, like me, enter the colossal schloss with an eagerness to learn about the island’s heritage, instilling the value of cultural tolerance and relativism through art.

I, a tired humanista with an undying love for the arts, had come here to escape the stress of academia and reconnect with my first passion, from which I have been estranged from for a while.

They say first impressions last, and this schloss had done that for us, the crowd that day. Its European architecture with a fusion of native Southeast Asian elements of housing was met by astonishment as seen in the eyes of the crowd that continuously wandered around the place.

A further look inside, variations of traditional and contemporary art made a spectacle of themselves wherever people went. It even had a gallery paying homage to Chua Mia Tee, a well-known artist who witnessed and captured every moment of the nation’s growth through his paintings. The works of National Artists such as Botong Francisco, Hernando Ocampo, and Fernando Amorsolo could just surprise any Filipino who steps foot into the Southeast Asian art exhibit. The paintings from neighboring SEA countries that stand beside their paintings add to the vibrancy of the museum’s aura despite its raging silence. Sculptures strike a pose from one place to another, flexing their figures and beauty.

And just for a while, it made one feel at home.

This colossal schloss, decorated with ‘obras’, was a place of refuge and strength for a person who had craved for the artistic touch, after having it taken away by academic and corporate demands during the pandemic. The striking and beautiful variety of colors as seen and the coexistence of Cubist, realist, and contemporary art styles were an eye reopener and a way home to a passion for art.

In just a matter of time, the old self had come back. The old, childhood self that also had a blank artistic state, foolish artistic hopes, and a dream.

#creative nonfiction #writing #writeblr #setting #genre #nonfiction #creative writing #entry #museum #dark academia

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sessayyys-corner · 1 year

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welcome and hello (i’m)

heya there !! i’m sissi, 18, and i’m a senior in high school.

what else is there to know?

i love films. i love studying the plot, character development, cinematography, background, and directing styles of films and its directors. i love dead poets society, last night in soho, moonrise kingdom, and before sunrise.

i love music, most especially 80’s new wave and kpop. my favorite new wave artists are duran duran, modern talking, tears for fears, and depeche mode. i’m an engene who just recently stanned enhypen full time this year. i’m so in love with sunoo but i’m a true blue ot7.

i’m a bookworm who just got back from a reading slump. i’m into historical fiction/period and coming of age novels, and comedic plays. my favorites are ari and dante, little women, and the importance of being earnest. the books i read and my creative nonfiction classes are what inspired me to begin this blog.

i’m obviously new to the writing community, and i don’t know what’s in store for me. but hey, feel free to maybe take a peek at whatever i scribble and post here on this blog.

see you in the notes, i suppose.

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