The arrival of PPP 2019 brought with it a wonderful roster of films able to hold a torch to the legacy of culturally rich films in Philippine Cinema. The week-long event featured ten different films completely unique from one another, three of which I was able to watch a week after following the initial showing.
LSS is a musical romance film managing to land a spot in the PPP 2019 roster. Contrary to the bitter and strife filled romance commonly depicted in Philippine Media, Last Song Syndrome better known as LSS provides more of the brighter aspects of love. LSS follows the blooming romance between two emotionally wounded characters, whom are brought together listening to their favorite indie band “Ben&Ben.”
This love story unravels all too conveniently, but not without the relationship’s occasional bumps and cracks. Although somewhat cliched and predictable, the film is far from being mediocre and still managed to provide audiences a pleasant experience.
LSS follows the story of Sarah (Gabbi Garcia) and Zack (Khalil Ramos) both struggling to satisfy their hearts. Zack, who is having trouble finding his romantic partner, and Sarah, who just can’t seem to make it big as a musician. Both these characters try to figure out their own problems alone, Sarah being concerned about carrying out her passion in becoming a professional musician and Zack who has his heart broken not too long ago. They have completely different problems but all of the sudden the two become acquainted with each other via their common interest in music, more specifically the up and coming local indie band, “Ben&Ben.”
In LSS, it comes as no surprise as to how the two characters are able to develop a unique connection through something as simple as music. The film is targetted towards a much younger demographic, hitting all the marks for millenials and generation-z audiences and satisfying the Filipino youth’s desires of falling in love with a fitting soundtrack to complement their romantic adventures. LSS aims to cater to the sweet tooth of its audiences and is able achieve that marvelously.
The dynamic between Sarah and Zack is portrayed beautifully by real-life couple Gabbi Garcia and Khalil Ramos. Despite all the cliches that LSS constantly pours out onto the screen, the romantic tropes are not an issue at all and don’t get in the way of the story. The relationship between the two feels far from being fabricated just for the film, in fact LSS does a good job of pacing the developing relationship between Sarah and Zack which makes the story of LSS to feel a lot more fulfilling.
Throughout the story Zack gives Sarah the support she really needed when no one else would, helping her take steps in producing her music and just simply being the one to help her remain steadfast in pursuing her career. Though Zack acts as Sarah’s helping hand through most of the film, we rarely get a grasp of Zack’s main conflicts whereas Sarah’s problems lay bare. It’s through Zack’s connection with Sarah where he comes to a realization of his own personal passion. The two develop a very realistic relationship which goes beyond the simple idea of romance. Sarah and Zack learn to value the importance of their own goals, deciding to choose their own paths to grow independently.
LSS did wonderfully to create a modern-day setting reflecting that of our own society. Integrating cultural and political representation such as the LGBT as well as the portrayal of a divided household. To put it simply, the film is able to draw parallels from the real world to relate to audiences familiar with modern-day happenings. Although just an insight, I would like to point something out. We, who live in such a globally connected world tethered together by things like internet often have a hard time being able to feel involved in other peoples’ lives. Ironically, access to worldwide communication can make us feel a lot lonelier than we ought to be. The world begins to be viewed as a place full of differences when we start viewing it from a bystander’s perspective. In LSS, it directly uses something like music as a medium of understanding and connection, essentially breaking the walls between everyone’s differences. The film does not really go beyond the themes of a typical RomCom, but still manages to deliver an exaggerated yet tasteful depiction of modern-day romance.
Aside from romance comedies, PPP 2019 brings a lot to the table. “Watch Me Kill” has a lot in store for those who crave a dramatic action story, complete with interesting character dynamics alongside some nail-biting moments that leave audiences on the edge of their seat.
Watch Me Kill and its ruthless main character, Luciana sets up the story of the film to be one filled with violence and death. Though early on we find out that Watch Me Kill has more to offer than just bloodshed. To give context, Luciana is a hired-gun, famous for her merciless ways and take-no-survivors mentality. At the beginning of the film it is shown she essentially has an entire hitlist of people, one of which being a person who, unbeknownst to Luciana, has a young girl captive. The young girl, Aurora ends up taken in by Luciana and from here on we begin to witness a shift in Luciana’s character. Luciana’s personality goes into turmoil when her maternal nature begins to show under the shell of her cold and violent behaviour.
Watch Me Kill plays a lot with the idea of death and uses Luciana to convey a message through her character. The fact is that Luciana had killed so many people throughout her career that she has become a hollow shell of herself, becoming numb to the idea of killing and eventually seeking the day where she herself can experience death. When Aurora entered Luciana’s life it’s as if she had a new reason to fear death. In time Luciana’s inner conflicts began to send her into turmoil and the duality between her killer and maternal personalities begin to become more visible.
Luciana seems to be a spin-off of the badass character trope. She possesses some characteristic similarities with hollywood action characters such as Robert McCall and John Wick, ruthless characters who seek freedom from being so closely acquainted with dealing death. The film tries to push Luciana’s character to mature into that of a mother-figure for Aurora, and it definitely shows throughout the film that she has found something to protect other than herself. After finishing the film, “Watch Me Kill” leaves me to think of how much the events of the film reminded me of the recent incidents that happened in the Philippines. I’m reminded of how our country has constantly danced with death in the recent years. Needless bloodshed and unavoidable violence has left fresh wounds on our country’s history, in the end we just want to be rid of it all. Similar to how Luciana wants to escape from her currrent situation, us Filipinos feel like we could also use a little break from war and death. “Watch Me Kill” can also be viewed from another perspective, and that’s when Luciana takes in Aurora and her character begins to go in a different direction. The value of kinship seems to be portrayed in Luciana’s character, often at times she is cold, but when push comes to shove her motherly nature begins to shine through. Friend or enemy, the relationship we have with other people are crucial to helping us mature to be reasonable people. Our family is where we get our headstart to develop affection for others, if you were to take that away, we end up becoming much colder towards other people. The reason for Luciana’s sudden change in character, is most likely her desire for a familial bond, something that was stripped away from her very early on in her life. Aurora was able to unhinge that desire within Luciana, essentially providing for her a bond between mother and “daughter.” Watch Me Kill was very straightforward with its story, being able to provide concrete circumstances for its characters and providing audiences with a sorrowful and touching character dynamic between Luciana and Aurora.
The third and final film I was able to watch takes the idea of death and flips it around. “Lola Igna” is a film that challenges our perception of living and dying, asking whether you would rather outlive everything you love than passing on early.
To briefly explain, Lola Igna is an elderly woman at the age of 118 years old. In the film, she currently holds the title of Oldest Grandmother in the country. Lola Igna’s “achievement” is known throughout the country and tourists come to see her on the regular. Lola Igna is not particularly fond of all the attention and doesn’t seem to want to do with anyone else. One day a man shows up at her front door who turns up to be her great-great-grandson, eager to get a good scoop out of his grandmother to post on his blog.
Although the film isn’t presented as a drama, the themes of Lola Igna are actually quite dark. The tragedy in film is not the fact that Lola Igna may be nearing her time to pass on, it’s the fact that those dear to her were the ones to pass on first. She sees no reason in continuing to live because she would rather be with her late relatives. There’s one scene in particular where she has a recollection of all the funerals she has ironically attended, sorrowing over the idea that she should have joined them long ago. It is all presented in a somewhat lighthearted manner that makes Lola Igna’s struggle easier to digest for audiences. So many moments are filled with comedic relief though thanks to the interactions between Lola Igna and her free-spirited grandson Tim, accompanied by the beautiful cinematography of Lola Igna’s residence takes a load off the chest of viewers. We are provided this welcoming atmosphere in the midst of a burdening existential crisis, and we can’t help but chuckle after one of the characters throws out a little gag line. Lola Igna is a film riddled with ironies, thankfully we get moments filled with genuine intimacy and understanding. It becomes a much more wholesome experience thoughout the journey as Lola Igna begins to find new meaning in living. Being able to view her longevity as an opportunity rather than burden.
In today’s society, it would be a gift to live longer. The world now seems so much larger than in previous eras and because of that there’s so much more to accomplish as a person. Time is our most important resource because it allows us to keep moving forward. Lola Igna is able to turn that idea around and present to us a life which has stagnated, waiting to pass on. This film is especially important to the younger demographic, proposing that there are more opportunities for us at our age. There is always a reason to keep living our lives and Lola Igna demonstrates that life does not just carry grievances, but also moments of joy and purpose.
FILMLANG-DeLeon Film Review 