thy womb: from Italy with love

10/15/12

from Italy with love

Among all the 55 films both in competition and in the Orrizonte sections of the recent Venice International Film Festival, only two films--Paul Thomas Anderson's award-winning "The Master" and Brillante Mendoza's "Sinapupunan" (Thy Womb)--scored the highest 5-star rating in the critical evaluation of a prestigious Italian cinema foundation. (Click the link for the summation of ratings for all films shown in the festival, and read the review of Mendoza's film and the "immensity" of Aunor's dramatic interpretation.)

Italian critics continue to be enthralled by the latest masterpiece of Brillante Mendoza who "found a perfect ally in his star Nora Aunor, with whom he has an artistic relationship. This underscores the equal contribution of the star, Nora Aunor, to make Thy Womb the powerful film that it is." (Click the link for the original text in Italian.)

"Heartwarming and heartbreaking…A film that deserves a prize,” according to a renowned Italian critic charmed by its “modesty, grace, fluidity and lightness admirable…the ways of the best ethnographic film..." (Click the link for the original Italian text.)

"Moving toward brighter latitudes...amazing...the wonders of this liquid landscape of indescribable beauty... Nora Aunor, intense and very good..." So gushes another.. (Click the link for the original text in Italian)

"The most intimate and poetic film in competition at the Venice Film Festival," according to the Italian edition of the magazine Vanity Fair. (Click the link for the original text in Italian.)

Calling it "high cinema, (with) images freighted with emotion and poetry," another critic lavishly praises Mendoza's film, especially "the interpretation of sumptuous Filipino diva Nora Aunor. A jewel that shines in a film that touches the heart." (Click the link for the originaltext in Italian.)

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A STORY AS DEEP AS THE SEA

“I am making a film about the Bajaus, with the aim to celebrate a nonviolent people amidst a very violent world. It’s an intriguing premise about a particular people of peace living in a place of endemic violence.

One of the most interesting peoples in southern Philippines, the Bajaus are native sea-dwellers that are also found in the neigh-boring Malaysian and Indonesian archipelagos. They are the so-called sea gypsies who are skilled in building various types of boats, and widely known as fishermen, pearl divers and mat weavers.

As a film, Thy Womb examines the opposing natures of two women (Nora Aunor/Shaleha’s sterility against Lovi Poe/ Mersila’s fertility) to reflect the prevailing condition in Tawi-Tawi, a place endowed with natural beauty and rich resources but mired in economic and socio-political crises. A quiet hell of a paradise, Thy Womb’s “birth place” and its environs are constant reminders of yesterday’s conflict that has remained unresolved up to the present.

The Bajaus are considered to be the most primitive and oppressed among several ethnic groups in the region; and they assume a subordinate status in their diverse and divided community, which includes the Samal and the Tausug, among others. But in spite of this, the Bajaus are generally perceived to be non-confrontational, forgiving, seemingly contented and happy people.

When wronged, it is said that the Bajaus would simply move to another place, bringing their houseboats (lepa-lepa), constantly roving, living in harmony with nature. To this day, they are mostly looked down, degraded and much maligned by their ethnic neighbors and others, thus rendering them harmless, helpless and almost powerless.

But in their heart of hearts, are they really so, or is it just another way of life merely misunderstood by those inured to violence? With this thought and theme, and my curiosity further piqued, the narrative voice of the film has emerged loud and clear.

With intensive research and truthful depiction of certain characters and their circumstances, as articulated in the poignant tale of an aging, childless couple who resolve to find the mother of their much-wanted child, I hope Thy Womb would show a slice of life in the best possible light."

– BRILLANTE MENDOZA