"When I originally wrote the very first draft of the script I visualized a lot of what I was writing (location wise) because I had spent some time in Cavite when I was a kid."
Such is how Neill Dela Llana explains the title of the indie movie he and Ian Gamazon have made; an indie film currently kicking lard ass out west. In virtually every film festival it has participated in, reviews have showered the two guys behind the movie with all kinds of praises even saying how they're the team to look out for in the coming years.
Personally, my ritual response is to stop, look, acknowledge the achievement, and move on. But I have a problem with this one. Check out the synopsis from the official site:
In the town of Cavite, Philippines, people will do just about anything to survive. This is the harsh reality for many Filipinos living in a poverty stricken nation.
What an asenine way to present your story--apart from clumsily using "Cavite" as the title just because you spent part of your childhood here and your knowledge of Philippine geography is limited to that of a fruitfly. Using Cavite as the backdrop to symbolize the struggle for survival in the Philippines is like using a bowling ball for soccer. Yeah, sure, there are squatters found in certain places here but that is more incidental than anything.
The truth is Caviteños have owned their land for generations and actually have fairly decent means of livelihood. If you see anybody in Cavite living in shanties, you better understand that these people were either relocated from Manila or couldn't find any more vacant lots to pollute over there so they settled in Bacoor (where the Mayor has conveniently dettached himself from reality). When urban areas swell over, the surrounding areas have to take in the displaced volume.
Going back to my point now. Cavite is no urban slum and we certainly want to avoid that. As much as possible, we want to keep the wide open spaces as they are: free from human spoils to allow nature to do with it as she wishes. It is alarmingly inaccurate, therefore, to have a fictional movie about Abu Sayyaf kidnapping (!) set in this province.
It would have been more believable if they had some mob syndicate or the NPA be the antagonists. These things are closer to real events here.
Imagine, Abu Sayyaf kidnapping in Cavite for a movie! Come on, you guys could have done better than that.
No comments:
Post a Comment