C1 ORIGINALS 2019: Reviews of SILA-SILA and TIA MADRE

November 30, 2019

SILA-SILA

Gabriel took off to work in Cagayan de Oro for a whole year, and never communicated with any of his friends back in Manila in that whole time. When he came back to Manila, a high school batch reunion made it necessary for Gabriel to reconnect with everyone he left behind, including his best friends Kev and Nicole, and his ex-boyfriend Jared. This reintegration process was not going to be easy for Gabriel. 

The cast is composed mainly of theater actors. Gio Gahol was on the screen almost 100% of the time as Gabriel, and he never once lost his troubled character. Topper Fabregas felt as if he was being just himself and not really acting as he played the sensitive Jared. Phi Palmos came across naturally and sincerely as boisterous best friend Kev. Writer-director Dwein Baltazar now also adds actress to her resume, playing quirky girl Nicole. Bart Guingona played Gabriel's married sugar daddy. Meann Espinosa played Gabriel's chatty co-worker at the education NGO. Adrienne Vergara was extraordinarily shrill as rich girl Linda. Boo Gabunada and Jasmin Curtis Smith were only seen in a single scene each, yet they certainly made their presence felt as a pothead driver and Jared's younger sister respectively.

Director Giancarlo Abrahan has an expertise with talky films about relationships. "Dagitab" was about the relationship of husband and wife. "Paki" was about elderly mother and her adult children. "Sila Sila" is the first film Abrahan directed which he did not write himself. This incisive and witty script was the first work by Daniel Saniana, and it won deservedly won him the Best Screenplay award. This film was a very frank depiction of a modern gay relationship. While its scenes of sexual nature may not be comfortable to everyone, the character flaws and the quirks tackled in this film can be seen in any relationship. 7/10.


*****

TIA MADRE

Camille Montenegro was 10 years old when her mother brought her back to their old ancestral house in the province. Her Mother was much older woman, probably in her fifties. She was disorganized, moody and depressed, rarely showing any affection for Camille, spending her days smoking, drinking or having a casual dalliance with a neighbor. Daughter harbored a dark obsession with enchanted creatures, a departed elder sister and a mysterious woman taking over her mother's person, which peaked with a violent outburst at school. 

This was a dreadfully dismal movie as intended by writer-director Eve Baswel in her feature film debut. We are watching a mentally-unstable middle-aged woman wreak her terrible brand of abuse on her impressionable young daughter, and it was a very unnerving experience. There were several weird photography and soundtrack choices that give a surreal atmosphere. The horror here is psychological, so there was a blurring of boundaries of what was real, imagined or any version in between. Watching this can give you a headache in more ways than one -- brutal stuff.

Cherie Gil had been the archetypal villain in Philippine cinema since 1985 when she played bitchy Lavinia Arguelles and splashed the contents of that wine glass on virtuous Dorina Pineda's face. She totally deglamorized herself and went all out unhinged contravida in this latest role of hers as she wreaked torturous anguish on her child's vulnerable psyche. Now if that child had the adorable face of Jana Agoncillo, this mother's blatant neglect and was even more cruel and unforgivable. I hope Agoncillo was debriefed properly after portraying this traumatic role, a sadistic challenge to foist on any child. I do not think it was worth the potential psychological scars. 4/10.