bow for the best

With her world-class talent, Ms. Nora Aunor is not resting on her laurels as "best actress." For her performance in Brillante Mendoza's 'Thy Womb', she made history as the first female performer of any nationality to become the critics' choice for the Bisato d'Oro (Golden Eel) prize at the 69th Venice International Film Festival--a feat validated by her victory as the first Filipino actress to win at the 6th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) in Brisbane, Australia. 

That does not mean, however, that Aunor--ranked as the topnotcher of the Best Asian Actresses of the Decade at the 2010 Green Planet Movie Awards in Hollywood--is no longer excited about receiving another trophy in her own country. Recently, she reigned at the 38th Metro Manila Film Festival where she holds the record of being the most-awarded actress with eight wins so far.

On a roll for more honors, or so Aunor seems to be as she figures prominently in the Top 5 Movie Performances of 2012. A timeless portrayal, according to the reviewer: "Thirty years after 'Himala,' Nora Aunor gives another performance for the ages. As Shaleha, a barren Badjao wife who goes on a mission to find a woman who could and would give her beloved husband a biological child, Aunor is hypnotically still, bracingly intelligent, and devastatingly emotional, often all at once and without uttering a single word. She is, in a word, divine in what is the most hauntingly sublime piece of acting in all of Philippine cinema not only this year but in the last 30 years." 

That's hardly suprising for Mendoza, also a history-maker as the first Filipino to win as best director at the Cannes International Film Festival in 2009 as well as at the recent APSA. In the following video, the feisty but gentle filmmaker attests to Aunor's greatness even as he talks about other issues pertinent to his struggle as an independent artist out to push the borders of Philippine cinema.

FILM REVIEWS: more blessings from the bloggers

True to the thumbs-up from film critics who came and were conquered by Brillante Mendoza's 'Thy Womb,' the blogosphere continues to echo the exclamations of awe from a  selected group of bloggers who were invited to a private screening. Validating its victory at the 38th Metro Manila Film Festival where 'Thy Womb' won seven major awards, more bloggers continue to add their voices to the chorus of acclaim:

Exploring the interactions of culture and nature:  “Set in Tawi-Tawi, the Philippines’ southernmost isles which have become infamous for being torn by warring government and Muslim secessionist forces, the film valiantly avoids sensationalizing war and instead delves into the human condition of a people who have grown accustomed to military presence…indulges in its depiction both nature and culture. Mendoza does not hide his fascination, relentlessly breaking his storytelling to make way for gorgeous images of endless seascapes and colorful tradition. He takes time revelling at whale sharks under the sea, or turtles’ eggs hidden dearly beneath Tawi-Tawi’s remote beaches. He stages elaborate Muslim ceremonies and rituals. Surprisingly, the film never feels as if it is treading too closely to exoticizing its subject locale. The overt visualization of both nature and culture seems essential to Mendoza’s goals of exploring the interactions of culture and nature and the people who rely heavily on them for both sustenance and identity.

Henry Burgos’ screenplay is admirably spare. It is unafraid of being judged not by the lyricism of the words spoken by the depicted ordinary folk, but by the measured silence. It allows the couple’s relationship to simmer, to take root, to emotionally attach to the peering audience, before exposing the fissures that will unavoidably grow bigger. It masterfully orchestrates heartbreak, without any hint of artifice or machination. It gives Mendoza enough breathing room to scrutinize the world, which he does so without hardly any hesitation.

Aunor, who has been absent from Philippine cinema for several years despite being renowned as one of its living acting treasures, is the film’s beating heart. Her dutiful portrayal of Shaleha is both spontaneous and intelligent. She cleverly interacts with her surroundings, not as an actress inhabiting a role but as a human being naturally reacting to very real scenarios. When the film requires silence, she makes use of her eyes, which seamlessly hypnotize the audience to believe her character’s plight and sacrifice…” -- Lessons from the School of Inattention  (Click the link to read the full article.) 

Heartbreaking and haunting: Despite a considerable career and acclaimed breadth of work, Thy Womb is Mendoza’s first true masterpiece... a hauntingly poignant reflection of human devotion, tradition, desire and joyful exploration of Badjao culture, shot across gorgeous landscapes, with sensitive, yet high-tech cinematography... the film creates a world rich with visuals that draws us into the slow-paced world of barren midwife Shaleha (Nora Aunor) and her fisherman husband, Bangas-An (Bembol Roco).

Indeed, Mendoza meticulously creates the world of Tawi-Tawi for his audience... The film continues to linger at such a sedate pace, that the entrance of Mersila (Lovi Poe), instigating the brief second and final act of the film arrives with such abruptness to emotionally dislocate the audience. Mendoza proceeds to rapidly dismantle and destroy the entire world and the lives of the people he created. When the extraordinary final scene arrives, you understand why Mendoza’s camera lingered in the first act, you understand why he took his time building this rich world and in the process, making the audience invest in his reality, that when it finally shatters, it is heartbreaking cruel and haunting. You may not feel it straightaway, but as you leave the cinema, the events of the film replay in your mind, as if you were in Shaleha and Bangas-An’s marriage, making the ending that much more potent.

Nora Aunor pulls off a sublime performance of the same calibre and dedication as her previous internationally awarded roles under Lino Brocka’s directorship. Perhaps, another performance of a lifetime to add to her belt. She depicts the humble and sun-worn Shaleha with such authenticity that she completely disappears into her role. From her knife-work scaling fish to her quiet looks of hopefulness, then desolation, Nora’s quiet portrayal of Shaleha lingers with you long after the film..." -- Millie Morales (Click the link to read the full article.)

An array of emotions, a great cultural immersion: “We found ourselves deeply engrossed and taken by every detail presented in the beautifully photographed film…

Nora Aunor, who set the acting bar in Philippines cinema, did not fail to impress. Her brilliance is only heightened by the implicit performance of Bembol Roco…

‘Thy Womb’ isn't all about Nora Aunor however. While the performances were quietly powerful, the film was a feat itself. It presents a reality so fascinating and so authentic, you can almost touch it. It depicts a way of life that is as colorful as it is chaotic, simple and unjust. It feeds you with an array of emotions and right before it ends, it lets you take it all in and experience an unbearable pain…

This movie is also a great cultural immersion for the uninitiated… on our Muslim brothers and sisters and how they go about their daily lives…”—Bum-Spot (Click the link to read the full article.) 

Above the mainstream audience: “Thy Womb is a restrained quiet film as it lets the visuals do most of the talking. Small moments are lingered on even if it does not move the story forward. At times it felt like you are watching a documentary because of the film’s naturalistic vibe…

The film gives us slices of life from the regular townsfolk exchanging small talks to the local market activity to the intriguing and lavish marriage proposal rituals. But what got me the most is the way it captured how life goes on in a place that is often burdened by violence…

Aunor and Roco gave restrained but very effective performances. This film has little dialogue in it but thanks to the strength of the actors they don’t need words to show their characters’ inner pain and complex feelings. The scene when they met the future second wife for the first time is the best example how an actor can do so much without uttering a single line. It’s all in the eyes…

Admittedly, it’s a tough sell to the mainstream audience due to the way the story is told but Thy Womb presents a picture of a culture that is fascinating and is definitely worth watching…”— forg files (Click the link to read the full article.) 

Finding what’s lost along the way: “…Through those famed eyes of Nora Aunor and in those remaining few seconds as the camera pans towards her face, I read at once exhilaration, pride, love, sadness and complete surrender to the fate that awaits her. Then the movie ends.

I can understand why cineastes in many parts of the world trooped to see ‘Thy Womb,’ even paying good money to watch it. Or how in Venice, it received a 5-minute standing ovation… Many Filipinos might even scoff at the story, perhaps dismissing it as no longer relevant in this day and age where love, sacrifice and word of honor are nothing but words written on paper boats bobbing violently on rampaging flood waters. 

In Tawi-Tawi a Badjao midwife loves her husband unconditionally and he means the world to her that she would risk losing everything even him so that he could find fulfillment and be happy even in the arms of another woman. Too strange for your taste? In places like Tawi-Tawi where love still runs pure, it isn’t. To them it’s more personal-- simply put, it’s just their way of life. A long time ago, it used to be ours too, we just lost it somewhere along the way.”—Film Fanatix (Click the link to read the full article.)

Mendoza’s best film so far: “Brillante Mendoza is blessed with performers as seasoned as Nora Aunor and Bembol Roco…

If I liked her performance in ‘Bona’ because it revealed Nora Aunor’s feisty side as an obsessed fan, I liked her performance here in ‘Thy Womb’ because as much as there are painful moments, there are happy moments too—happy to see a whale shark swim with them and share the happiness with her husband and happy to receive a surprise gift from her husband, a new scarf to cover her head with for an upcoming wedding they would both attend later. For a serious topic, there are light moments where Shaleha was shown happy. And if she’s happy, it’s not enough that she would expose a hearty smile. The happiness would cross over to her eyes and they would glow. It is her performance that makes you realize that award-winning performance doesn’t always have to be based on hysterical / dramatic moments…

For a movie this good, the chances for it to stay longer for a commercial run has reached depressing levels that it makes you question whether it’s still worth it to make movies like these when you have an unappreciative audience. These films are inspired by actual events that occur in the Philippines and are obviously intended for the Philippine audience. But it’s the foreign audience that ends up appreciating this kind of films even more.

The market itself doesn’t know what does it want. It keeps demanding for quality films every opportunity it gets but whenever amazing films like this come along, they prefer flocking to the crappy mainstream offerings. I hope this bitter reality won’t discourage folks like La Aunor and Direk Mendoza from making quality films. This is Mendoza’s best film so far and the least depressing too which kills the notion that art films often talk about the filth and grime of the poverty-stricken that we live in. Go see it before your favorite cineplex would make true its threat of pulling out the film to fade into oblivion. You have no idea what your missing…Just in case you miss this film and find it hard to come across another quality film again, well, you had your chance and you screwed it. Walang sisihan.”—Filipinas in Showbiz (Click the link to read the full article.)

FILM REVIEWS: delight of discerning viewers

True to the full tide of critical acclaim from international and local reviewers for Thy Womb, the social network has been abuzz with awe. From Facebook, for instance, a raft of erudite analysis has been floating around the film's virtue as a work of art. Here are three samples: 

Transformative cinema, a gem of a film...

"'Thy Womb' could've been more fortunately titled, and the pacing could've been fine-tuned here and there, but it's doubtless a great film, soaked in the inks, forms and movements of our southern islands' natural splendor on one hand, and entirely committed to the task of a closely observed life on the other, braiding both rhythms into each other, as is the way of the people whose little-known story it attempts, in its own careful and admittedly limited way, to tell.  Moreover, what seemingly impedes it--the narrative oscillation, the doubleness of its vision as documentary and as drama--is revealed, in the end, to be part and parcel of its insight, as embodied in the placid greatness and numinous depth of Nora's exceptional performance: the heroism of the devoted and barren wife, her largeness of heart and self-abnegating love for her husband, is indissociable from her world, which permeates her very being, entwined as her spirit and character must be in the weft and woof her culture's ever-imperilled and resolutely enduring life. Cherished, in their innermost faith, by their gracious and compassionate God, the people of Tawi-Tawi dance in the midst of gunfire and depredation, hunger and drought, and it is very same ethos that animates the barren woman's actions, for as her own people remind her, life must be lived for others, and with hope, no matter how difficult and tight-fisted it often is. Once more, nora sears into our memory the persona she enacts into powerful art, and we cannot help but recognize, in the luminous alchemy of a face that's been softened by the rheum and chastised by the exertions of eventful age, the sadness and pain (as well as horror) of the knowledge of our own forfeited happiness, as well as the glimmerings of a stubborn joy that our own abiding faiths must urge upon us...Transformative cinema, a gem of a film. Go watch.

It's not perfect, this film. But the flaws are forgivable. And they are even possibly necessary, to confound its own claims to authenticity. What Mendoza succeeded in doing, by threading Shaleha's life so unobtrusively into the fabric of this world--the oscillation I was referring to, between the dramatic and the ethnographic--is to render inevitable her decision to be selfless: it is notable, but also entirely possible, in this kind of life. The dignity of our people, caught between inexorable forces (national and global), dancing through the minefield of abject precarity, yearning towards the consolations of tradition, seeking again and again the truth of the spirit: a story Nora tells so eloquently, using little else than the quiet scripture of her face."-- J. Neil Garcia, U.P. professor and prize-winning author

Performing the aesthetics of patience...

 "I don't really care about what people say or think about Brillante Mendoza. I admit that I haven't seen his earlier works, and after hearing the stories, I personally don't think I can muster the courage to ever watch them at all. Besides, I am never a fan of blatant, sensationalized violence.

But can I just say that 'Thy Womb' is such an impressively subtle and beautiful film? That these days, it is just very rare to encounter a sensitive, honest and delicate storytelling such as this one? That Nora Aunor becomes, not simply as a mere character, but as a complete human being before our eyes? That it is a magnificent exercise on dramaturgy and anthropological truth, making it not only as a narrative, but also as a well-researched documentary? That it contained such clever signs and foreshadowings, thus proving that a story does not only run on the course of dialogues, but continues on with the silences, the gazes, the positioning of characters, the gestures, the rituals of the hands, the reserved expressions of love, the meeting of the eyes.

And of course there are flaws. Art is done by humans after all, and not by gods. And the sooner that people will finally get this fact into their skulls, the sooner that our criticisms will become more constructive and less nit-picky. With that said, the local audience members are always disappointing for me. I dare say: it does not matter if you come from the upper or middle or lower social class. If you lack an education that emphasizes on literary inquisition, then you are left with nothing but the sparseness and mediocracy of a literal intellect. Truly, it is quite exhausting to cater to audiences who would rather settle for less.

But 'Thy Womb' refuses to bend. Because perhaps, more than pleasing the shallow pleasures of our so-called civilized audience members, it chooses to be an honest representative of the Tawi-Tawi community instead. That it chooses a subtle and reserved filmmaking approach because there is simply no other way--it is in parallel with the peaceful and modest culture of our Muslim brothers and sisters.

Oh, but if only the Filipino audience member can finally understand that patience is an aesthetic performed by no one else but s/he. If only s/he uses this facility when encountering a film, play, prose or poetry, then works such as Thy Womb can finally achieve its significance in full circle.

'Thy Womb' requires one to exercise and thus, eventually, labor one's way to beauty. Watch it when you are fully rested, and that all of your six senses are sharp and activated. If you are willing to participate in the task of patience, then perhaps you will experience what I had experienced: I was hypnotized, melded, and purged with the film's details." 

-- Jenny Logico-Cruz, cinephile

Elevating acting to its purest and powerful form... 

"The massive weight of 'Thy Womb' has been placed on Nora Aunor's shoulders--a tall and daunting order for any actress. Yet she breezed through her role with aplomb and quiet dignity--making the audience believe that she is indeed that barren midwife toiling in some faraway island in the hope of giving joy to her husband. Nora Aunor shines because she stayed in character throughout what must have been a grueling shooting process, never faltering in her role as Shaleha. In the end, she gave the audience another gift: a glimpse of her unparalleled talent as an actor. Here, Nora elevates acting into its purest form: to not call attention to oneself, or latch on to a "big" moment and display a fireworks of emotions. What she did here was to get lost in the many nuances of her character and be the flesh and blood of her director's vision. What a brave actress she is for allowing all her faculties to be used and to inject her own passion into a most challenging role. Not a movie for all, definitely. But a movie for those who find magic in the seemingly mundane. 

Nora Aunor's performance in 'Thy Womb' brings to mind the quiet but powerful acting of German actor Brigitte Mira in Rainer Werner Fassbinder's 'Fear Eats The Soul.' It is about a 60-year-old cleaning lady who falls in love with a much younger man and a black at that. Mira gave a totally absorbing performance as she essayed the pain of discrimination in many forms. Nora's portrayal also has the same unobtrusive beauty as Fernanda Montenegro's beautiful acting in the Brazilian film 'Central Station' which gave her an Oscar Best Actress nomination... She was so totally unselfconscious, so natural and effortless in ‘Thy Womb,’ making her the frontrunner in all awards ceremonies this year. Mahirap pantayan ang ginawa n'ya sa ‘Thy Womb’--to convey the complexity of a woman's emotions with a minimum of dialogue. And when she does speak, her lines are so ordinary, so matter-of-factly that you will believe that she is, indeed, the suffering Shaleha. The lovemaking between Shaleha and Bangas-An has got to be the most emotionally painful cinematic coupling in the history of Philippine cinema. Bravo La Aunor!" -- Vic Sevilla, magazine editor

FILM REVIEW: the miracle of a masterpiece

Thirty years after ‘Himala’, Nora Aunor gives another miracle of a performance—at once hypnotically still, bracingly intelligent and devastatingly emotional—that’s one for the ages.

The same can be said for the film, ‘Thy Womb’, which chronicles an aging married couple’s search for a woman who can bear for the husband a child that the infertile wife cannot produce.

No, it’s not any kind of marital melodrama that’s been put on film before. (At least not in Philippine cinema.)

It’s a singular piece of work from Cannes-winning director Brillante Mendoza, who veers away from the extreme violence that usually marks his films and explores a place of gentleness, poetry, and loving kindness in this odyssey into a woman’s selfless love.

That woman is Shaleha, a Badjao midwife in Tawi-tawi who goes from one water-logged settlement on stilts to another to help other women give birth.

Ironically, she is not capable of conceiving a child that she and her husband Bangas-an (a robust Bembol Roco) could call their own, which he so desires. So she decides to do the next best thing that’s in her power to do — take it upon herself and make it her mission to find another woman for Bangas-an to sire his own child with. And not just a babymaker. Being Muslims, they would have to take her in as another wife.

It’s a very specific character that Aunor, Mendoza and writer Henry Burgos are, quite craftily, able to make universal. By highlighting Shaleha’s proactive selflessness more than the reasons and motivations for her actions, the trio makes her an everyday Filipina who could very well be an Ifugao woman, a Manilena, or a Waray making a supreme personal sacrifice for the happiness of a dearly beloved.

The beauty in their work is how, by film’s end, Shaleha, finally, emerges as both tragic and victorious. And the genius is how this manages to be heartbreaking, hauntingly so, with nary a tear shed or a word spoken.

Yes, ‘Thy Womb’ is the kind of movie that doesn’t explain everything and doesn’t spoon-feed anything. Rather than verbalize, it visualizes. Not with a heavy hand, as in many of Mendoza’s previous films, but with a subtlety, sophistication and confidence that respects the viewer and treats him as a keen, intelligent, involved observer.

The movie presents a tapestry of images—raw, earth-bound, poetic, sublime— that paint a lovely and loving portrait of Badjao life, of a couple on a mission, and of a woman on a journey to fulfillment.

There’s a lot to take in, from the pageantry of the rituals and costumes to the stunning vistas of the sea-based communities, from the big and little ironies in the narrative to the ambiguities in the script.

Most and best of all, there’s Nora. She is simply astonishing with what is practically a wordless performance, her face alone registering a tidal wave of emotions—sadness and joy, resentment and resignation, pain and ecstacy, defeat and triumph, often all at once. She is, in a word, divine. 
(ERIC T. CABAHUG, InterAksyon)

FILM REVIEW: festival freak, astounding art

There is no Art vs. Commerce. Commerce won years ago.

‘Thy Womb’ (Sa ‘Yong Sinapupunan) comes to us already festooned with laurels from the international film festival circuit. It is exactly the type of movie that appeals to foreign film festival programmers: a portrait of marginalized folk in an exotic setting, full of the rituals and traditions of a community little seen in popular culture (Although Lamberto Avellana made a film called ‘Badjao’ in 1957). The question is: Will local audiences go for it?

The old fiction was that filmmakers do not care about the box-office prospects of their movies. This fiction has been erased by the Metro Manila Film Festival, which has made commercial appeal the primary standard for selection. The awards are just another marketing hook: stars pitted against each other for fake prestige. How can we take seriously an awards show that hands out trophies not just for acting, directing and writing, but for best float and best sex appeal? If the MMFF were honest, the box-office results would be the awards.

It’s worth noting that the MMFF selection committee declined ‘Thy Womb’ initially, even if it stars the great Nora Aunor and is directed by Brillante Ma Mendoza, who won the Best Director prize at Cannes a few years ago (before he affixed the ‘Ma’). Its inclusion in the filmfest slate is not due to the awards it has reaped in Italy, Australia and elsewhere, but to the non-completion of the eighth entry.

Thirty years ago the mere mention of Nora Aunor would’ve made it an MMFF shoo-in, even if commercial potential had been the sole criterion. But Nora Aunor’s star has passed into legend, her fans are older, and today’s audience is different. As for Brillante Ma Mendoza, his career highlights the fact that there are two movie industries in the Philippines: the mainstream, which makes movies for the local audience, and the indies, who make movies for the foreign festival audiences.

Which is not to imply that in previous decades audiences flocked to “critically-acclaimed” films. Many of the Brocka and Bernal movies that are now considered classics were financial flops. However, directors had more freedom in the 70s and 80s—ironic when you consider that it was the martial law era. They were allowed to alternate commercial movies with personal projects: for every ‘Pasan Ko Ang Daigdig’, Brocka could do an ‘Insiang’; for each ‘Galawgaw’, Bernal could do a ‘Manila By Night’. The exception is Mike De Leon, who can do whatever he wants, which, based on his recent output, is nothing. At the present time the one-for-you, one-for-me system does not exist: you make Cinema, or you make money.

No one expects ‘Thy Womb’ to be one of the filmfest top-grossers. It may be hot stuff in foreign festivals, but in the MMFF it is the freak.

A woman’s worth

In ‘Thy Womb’, Nora Aunor and Bembol Roco play Shaleha and Bangas-an, a Badjao couple in late middle age. They are small fisherfolk in Tawi-Tawi, they make colorful reed mats, and she is also a midwife. A barren midwife—we’ll ignore the obviousness (and the fact that the characters speak Tagalog while everyone else speaks Tausug with English subtitles) since the rest of the movie is subtle and so restrained, I thought I was watching a documentary. Their desire for a child is such that Shaleha urges Bangas-an to take a second wife who can bear him one. Muslim law allows it. (The plot recalls the Old Testament story of Sarah and Abraham: the childless Sarah gives Abraham her maid Hagar, who bears him a son, Ishmael. When Sarah herself has a child, she sends Hagar and Ishmael away. According to tradition, Ishmael is the ancestor of Muhammad.) The couple is short on funds for the bride’s dowry, but the money is raised. Shaleha does not seem at all troubled by the idea of sharing her husband.

So for the first 90 minutes, we’re wondering what the conflict is. We see the couple going about their daily routines and making inquiries as to potential wives. The war in Mindanao encroaches on their lives, but it is no more than a casual, almost comical inconvenience. There is an incident that reminds them of mortality and strengthens Shaleha’s resolve to give Bangas-an a child, even if it’s another woman’s. The situation rife with melodramatic possibilities—in the typical Tagalog other-woman scenario, the shrieking and slapping would’ve begun in five minutes. But ‘Thy Womb’ has other plans. It asks us to contemplate a culture in which a woman’s worth is measured by her ability to bear children (and expressed in pesos). Shaleha is loving, devoted and hardworking, but all that matters is Bangas-an’s need to be a father. That’s just the way it is, and Mendoza does not pass judgment. ‘Thy Womb’ is respectful of Islamic and Badjao traditions even as it gently raises questions about the rights of women.

Basically we’re watching two of the finest actors in Philippine cinema not acting, but being ordinary people, indistinguishable from the population. Everyone onscreen is so natural, the camera may well be invisible. The music, though, is generic ethnic; it sounds like the muzak played at the CCP to signal the audience to take their seats. Odyssey Flores’s cinematography is indistinguishable from a travelogue: picturesque, but indifferent to the proceedings. We learn the entire procedure for getting married among the Badjao, but the characters themselves are cyphers, details in a landscape.

‘Thy Womb’ is part of what I call the Armando Lao School of Social Realism (after the screenwriter and writing mentor who authored ‘Serbis’ and ‘Kinatay’): less drama than ethnography, truth unvarnished and presented in all its banal detail. I go to the movies for something larger than life, I get something as small as life. This is a cinema that is not interested in helping me escape my boring existence, but in showing me other lives as real as mine. It does not hold my hand and tell me how to think of what I’m watching: it makes me work. I will only get as much as I’m willing to give the experience, but the reward, if it comes, is an insight that lasts longer than a quick entertainment fix.

It’s just not a barrel of fun.

And then, in the last half-hour, comes the whammy. Shaleha finds someone willing to marry Bangas-an. There’s a humorous moment when a woman is introduced to the couple, but she turns out to be the mother of the bride. Lovi Poe may be too beautiful to play Mersila the second wife—one wonders why she agrees to the union when she could do so much better—but her desirability makes her words even more wrenching. The look that passes between Bangas-an and Shaleha sums up an entire history that is somehow less weighty than the biological imperative.

Shaleha’s decision—quiet, noble, dignified—is the final twist of the knife. She says everything that needs to be said without uttering a word. Her silence hits the ground like thuds. This is Nora Aunor. Words would only cheapen the moment. (JESSICA ZAFRA, InterAksyon.com)

FILM REVIEW: definitely deserving

‘Thy Womb’ is ostensibly made for the art house circuit and for filmfests abroad. More than a vehicle for Nora Aunor, it’s an eye-opening glimpse into the life of poor seafaring people in Tawi-Tawi whose shanties are built on stilts. It shows the Muslim culture and traditions of the Badjao, complete with an elaborate wedding ceremony and rituals that will appeal more to foreign audiences who’ll no doubt find it all exotic. But local viewers used to superficial entertainment at Christmastime will surely shun it. They just want to be entertained, not to watch the impoverished lives of marginalized ethnic people.

Take note that when it was first entered in the filmfest, 'Thy Womb' was rejected by the screening committee even if it’s the comeback film of the legendary superstar Nora Aunor and directed by the only Filipino to have won best director at the Cannes Filmfest, Dante Mendoza, who made a name for himself as indie filmmaker and has yet to experience a box office hit. 

‘Thy Womb’ has a very thin story line. Nora is Shaleha, a “hilot” (midwife) and the film starts and ends with a childbirth scene. She’s married to Bembol Roco as Bangas-an. They earn a living by fishing and weaving mats. Nora wants to give Bembol a child but she’s infertile so she scouts around for a new wife for Bembol. After several tries, she finally finds one in Fatima (Lovi Poe, in a short guest role), who requires that Nora leaves Bembol the moment she begets a child. It’s Nora herself who helps her deliver the baby. The end.

More than dwelling on the story of Shaleha, the film is more interested in showing the lives of the people in Tawi-Tawi, full of local color, with the war intruding every now and then with gunshots heard elsewhere.

Technically, the movie is quite superior, particularly the lyrical cinematography by Odyssey Flores that’s full of awesome nature shots like a cluster of huts in the sea while it’s raining or some butanding whales swimming beside the boat of Nora and Bembol.

The muted, abbreviated style of ‘Thy Womb’ is more akin to that of ‘Lola’ than Mendoza’s more violent works like ‘Kinatay,’ ‘Tirador’ and ‘Captive.’ Viewers who prefer fast paced, event-oriented films will find it tedious viewing, including the abrupt “bitin” ending when things are just starting to get more interesting.

The characters are also so underwritten in Henry Burgos script you have to make up your own interpretation when it comes to their motivations. Why is Nora so obsessed in finding a new wife for Bembol and is not even jealous at all? Why did Lovi who’s young and beautiful easily agree to marry a man old enough to be her father?

In foreign films, it’s usually indicated that “no animal is hurt in the making of this movie.” But here, we saw a cow helplessly falling into the sea and then being ruthlessly decapitated on cam. We closed our eyes and couldn’t bear to watch that scene.

As for the acting, we have to salute Ate Guy for accepting this role where she is totally deglamorized. She really looks like a sunburnt Badjao woman who’s past middle age. Her face is puffy, wrinkled, has definitely seen better days. She has no explosive acting highlights, no volatile confrontation scenes here. Everything is placid, controlled but poignant. But as always, her eyes say a lot, easily depicting the pain she’s going through while finding a new wife for her husband. She doesn’t display her usual kind of intense acting here that her fans often imitate, including her trademark delivery of her lines. She just becomes her role here, totally. She’s not Nora, she’s Shaleha, a Badjao native. And for that, she absolutely deserves the filmfest best actress award. (MARIO BAUTISTA, Peoples’Journal) 

FILM REVIEW: fresh and invigorating cinematic experience

A classmate of mine once joined a beauty pageant back in high school, and she was handed this question: "What is the essence of being a woman?"

The question was the mother of all cliches, but I remembered the essence of her answer by heart. She said, "the essence of being a woman is being able to give birth to a child, hold that child in your arms, and raise him." She won that pageant. 

Brillante Mendoza's latest cinematic offering revolves around that same idea. The title itself, THY WOMB clearly and categorically pinpoints motherhood, or rather the capability of a female human being to conceive and give birth to another human being. Along the journey, Mendoza also deconstructs the role of a woman, a mother, a wife, and a member of a particular community, where tradition is of utmost importance. In the lead role, superstar Nora Aunor is gripping as Shaleha, a Muslim woman living in Tawi Tawi with her husband, Bangas-An (Bembol Roco). What seems like a quiet and idyllic marital union is actually underlined by the fact that Shaleha seems incapable of conceiving a child, and Bangas-An wants so much to have one.

Such genius tandem works well, for both Aunor and Roco elicit their characters' desires through their eyes; through La Aunor, we see how much Shaleha is dedicated to make her husband happy, and via Roco, we learn of how much Bangas-An really wants that child. Both actors are perfect casting choices for filmmaker Mendoza's placid tone and pacing. Much is said during scenes of no dialogue.

And the film is even a fresh and invigorating experience, not only for its boldness to explore the hidden beauty of Mindanao's geography and culture, but also because of a wife going to extreme lengths to find her husband a second wife, one who is fertile to conceive their long-anticipated child. This is an image we don't see in Filipino movies, because in mainstream exploration of extramarital affairs and love triangles characters talk and talk about nonsense, reducing women as objects and elevating men as some sort of sex god. THY WOMB reverses all of that, and by way of highlighting the importance of culture and tradition in reference to gender, the conflict is made much more difficult. Remember that THY WOMB takes place in a Muslim community, and with Mendoza you notice every bit of respect for the Muslim culture was exercised. Even the Muslim-Christian strife lingered only in a passing image.

Mendoza and screenwriter Henry Burgos makes a powerful stand on the Muslim-Christian conflict, even only as a backgrounder. Nora Aunor's Shaleha tumbles down twice during the movie, once at sea where rebel bandits causes their boat to capsize, and Bangas-An is even shot in the process. The other is in the market, where Shaleha loses grip on her sweet potatoes because of soldiers storming out of nowhere. During the wedding scene where Mercedes Cabral does the ceremonial dance with her husband in front of all the guests, gunfire ensues. But the show must go on. Life goes on. This war is a huge farce staring us right in the face.

Nora Aunor shines in her minimalist portrayal of the subservient wife Shaleha. Aunor indeed is such a master of minimalist acting, and yet the emotional effect on the audience is tremendous. Her eyes really do talk, and they talk endless paragraphs of emotions. Towards the end, Mendoza breaks the image of the subservient wife, reminding us Shaleha is still a woman and a human being capable of getting hurt.

The arrival of Lovi Poe as Mersila, the woman who will be wed to Bangas-An and who will supposedly give Shaleha and Bangas-An their much-awaited child comes in brief, but strong. She says only a few lines, but one particular line hit like an arrow in the heart, and that plot twist made all the difference.

But in summation, is giving birth to a child really the only essence of being a woman? Is a woman less woman if she is barren? Yes she may be of less worth in reference to other women who can produce offspring but is she of less worth in reference to herself? Is she not a woman then? THY WOMB asks some difficult probing questions without providing easy answers. The ending in particular is raved by critics, because of the powerful image it evokes-- which is one of uncertainty over seemingly calm waters. (MACKY MACARAYAN) 

FILM REVIEW: slight but graceful

Thy Womb tells a very slight story about a woman’s devotion to her husband, the movie ending just as it sits on the brink of getting really interesting. The drama never quite rises to the heights one would expect from such an emotionally loaded premise. But its slightness doesn’t detract too much from the overall quality of the picture. Graceful filmmaking combines with a terrific performance from the much-missed Nora Aunor to produce something quietly moving.

Shaleha and Bangas-An (Nora Aunor and Bembol Roco) are a married Badjao couple living in Tawi-Tawi. Shaleha is also a midwife, but is unable to bear children herself. Wanting to have a child around the house, she consents to Bangas-An taking a second wife. The movie follows Shaleha as she seeks out potential wives for her husband, setting up meetings and negotiating dowries with all the families around town with available daughters.

There’s little urgency in the plot. The film is happy to linger in the details of the couple’s life, and build up the world around them. When Shaleha isn’t looking for a bride for her husband, she is weaving a mat, or catching fish, or hanging them up to dry. They attend a wedding, and watch the happy young couple dance. Occasionally, a burst of gunfire serves as a reminder of the violence that persists in the region. But it’s hardly ever more than a reminder. Their life continues. The movie doesn’t chase down the violence, and simply accepts it as a part of life in this setting.

The film finds its core in its graceful depiction of ritual. It presents people entangled in a system of rituals suffused with the tension that exists in the intersection of faith and personal need. The movie, in its own, quiet way, asks what it means to love in a society where marriage is a negotiation. The answer it provides is surprisingly nuanced. The film makes no judgments, and instead portrays an idea of love that is colorful and complex. The film only falters near the end, as the story cuts out before the dramatic meat of the story can come to fruition.

But the movie has other strong points. Strong lensing from Odyssey Flores makes great use of Tawi-Tawi’s unique backgrounds. Performances are excellent. There is probably no doubt in any Filipino’s mind that Nora Aunor is one the finest actresses to ever appear on our screens. But should there be a trace of it, her performance here should wipe that all out. Aunor remains radiant on screen, playing her character with heartbreaking grace. At her side, Bembol Roco plays his character just as smartly, the unspoken gratitude always on his face, the growing conflict just creeping in from the corners of his mouth.

Thy Womb might leave people wanting more, the film ending on too ambiguous a note. Ambiguity can be a very good in cinema, but in this case, it feels as if the movie didn’t really know where to go. There’s plenty of drama left over to explore, and it’s a bit of a cheat to not to go there. Having said all that, the film is still quite worthy of an audience’s attention. It is well crafted and beautifully acted, and even in its slightness, it possesses a sense of grace absent from so many of our films. (PHILBERT ORTIZ DY, ClicktheCity.com)