Cinematic Views

a 19-year-old bibliophile trudgingly attempting to get herself into films, finding scenery in what she views, creating one blog at a time to express her views

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Pink Floyd: The Wall(s Surrounding)

An eccentric movie, which can be deemed experimental, Pink Floyd: The Wall creates its storyline through a myriad of symbolism and imagery.

Released initially in France in the year 1982, the movie is based on the album and is said to replicate the emotions and the mental condition of Pink Floyd.

The movie exemplifies the twistedness of the life of Pink Floyd and how he has become all throughout these years.

To put into terms, the movie can be considered as the autobiography of the author as it creatively conveys his story and he explains his side.

Although quite disturbing, and eyebrow-raising, the movie, in the end, tells us the importance of mental health and how external factors play a big role in shaping the life of a person. In this case, Pink Floyd feels tormented by his past experiences. The film in a sense encourages us to be mindful of ourselves on how we can affect others with our actions.

[cinematic-views]

Letting Go of Expectations

A film released in 1991, Thelma and Louise shows the embodiment of feminism during those times. 

With two middle-aged women, fleeing from their responsibilities, Thelma and Louise let go and decides to go on a trip which ends the way they didn’t expect.

Numerous conflicts piling up from one another, the friends found ways to avoid getting jailed. Despite their efforts, the movie ends bittersweet, showing what they truly meant to each other, maybe more than friends.  

The film dragging on to tell the story of their escape can be deemed quite repetitive but bearable due to its interesting cameos. 

Thelma and Louise tells the tale of friendship on a whole new interesting level.

[cinematic-views]

Raising the Red Flag

A flashback to the olden era of China, Raise the Red Lantern produced in 1991, tells the story of a teenage girl, Songlian who was forced to be married off a man he didn’t know, despite her wanting to continue studying but couldn’t do so because of the death of his father.

She faces hardships that go to show the abundance of misogyny in the past, making her choose to fend to herself by losing her honor. 

Rivaled by three other mistresses, the story narrates her trying to fit in but only failing.

Despite its empowering start but sad ending and breathtaking cinematography, Raise the Red Lantern makes us want to reevaluate the systems we are in currently, question its significance and importance. The film brings out the message of challenging the status quo to create a better society.

[cinematic-views]

Introspection Fueled by Ganito Kami Noon

The film Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon, released in 1976 is set in the Spanish Colonial An era in the Philippines. 

Starred by Gloria Diaz and Christopher de Leon, the film is acclaimed by its critics for its eye-opening storyline and title. 

Having an action-packed start, the film mellows out to narrate the life of a young provincial boy, set to a quest by a priest.

Touching on various cultures present in that era, the film shows the various cultures present in the Philippines, especially in its capital, Manila and how these differences come to terms and create a new culture.

The film really invokes a sense of nostalgia and introspection when viewed for it makes us question the choices we are making in our everyday lives. From the title itself, it tries to speculate our choices at present.

[cinematic-views]

Batch 81 and its Implications

Batch 81 (also known as Alpha Kappa Omega Batch 81 and AKO Batch 81) is a 1982 dramatic film of the harsh initiation of the fraternity, Alpha Kappa Omega in the eyes of one of the main characters played by Mark Gil.

Batch 81, has a neutral tone in terms of exemplifying the story of the characters. The film with its bold statement of showing the reality behind the fraternities, seems to just be a pseudo-documentary – a simple “documenting” of what was and does not have a statement on whether these “hardships” are justifiable or humane at the very least.

But despite these, the movie allows us to be critical of the status quo of acceptance in fraternities. While it is true that such processes develop camaraderie among people in the same batches, these activities also provide an avenue for violence in ways that can be considered inhumane.

In spite of ending in a positive note, finally being accepted in the fraternity, Batch 81makes us question if sacrificing oneself is truly worth being tormented for months.

[cinematic-views]

MAL(iway)AYA

Liway is an indie film set in the 80’s reflecting the adversities faced by the prisoners of war during the Martial Law period. In clearer words, it storytells the afterlife of these supposedly “traitors of the state” in prison camps as they “choose” the life of reform instead of rebelling. Liway, in the simplest sense wishes to convey the notion of #NeverForget and #NeverAgain to Martial Law here in the Philippines.

             The narrative exemplified in the movie is an eye-opener to the injustices of the Marcos regime to numerous sectors of society, especially the underprivileged ones. The movie incorporates the present happenings to the past through flashbacks. Through this method, there is a slower pace of comprehending the full story. Although through that, the narrative was more effective in bringing out the feels it wishes to convey. Liway not only overthrows the idea of martial law but is an avenue for feminism and sacrifice.

             The film Liway, among other movies wanting to depict stories from the Marcos regime is more people-centric rather than nationalistic. It aims to tell the stories of the oppressed and did not give light to the side of the oppressor, which in this case is the Marcos Regime. It also valuates togetherness among the citizens of the Philippines in wanting to break free from the toxic governance, even today.

[cinematic-views]

The Realities Striking Maynila

Maynila sa Kuko ng Liwanag embodies the struggles of a young probinsiyano man in his pursuit of searching for his love in the urban setting of Manila.

In its creative attempt to slowly reveal the plot of the movie, staggering flashbacks of the true story that motivated Julio to venture into the jungle of a city was shown throughout the movie.

The movie reflects the plight of provincial people striking their shots, hoping for a better life taking odd jobs, and living a generally subpar life to supposedly escape the “poor” lifestyle they had in the province.

This shows the misconceptions people have, especially those from provinces of the “good life” there is in cities. With its more hectic pace, a surplus of workers and greedy employers, there is an injustice in wages among employees.

However, these struggles, among others doesn’t stop this binata from braving the city.

This movie, despite its attempt to romanticize the idea of true love, still doesn’t strike too far from reality for it proves that happy endings sometimes don't come in the form of the typical ones but can come in closures from an unhappy one. Maynila sa Kuko ng Liwanag ends in a bittersweet note highlighting the realities of life through a cinematic manner.

[cinematic-views]

The Birth of a New Cinema

Unwelcomed in the film industry, The Birth of a Nation reflects the then present-day struggles of the oppressed. Equipping music and exaggerated hand and body motions in portraying the message wished to be relayed, the film is truly of a different level of the current cinema.

With the intent of telling a story in a longer time-frame, the movie proves to do that, although without consideration of the connotations of different issues. Through its lack of cinematic aspect due to lack of resources at that time, the film gratifies oppression both on PoCs (Person of Color) as well as females. Contrary to films of today where producers are aware of these issues and are more careful in considering them in the production of the film, The Birth of a Nation fails to address this, primarily focusing on its story-telling and entertainment value.

From the then 'status quo' of cinema, it has progressively advanced up to this day. With social media as a tool in airing out grievances from those who are oppressed, lesser and lesser groups of people are being offended by huge producers whose priority is to earn. Through these platforms, audiences are heard and represented which is the main goal of cinema in the first place. The Birth of a Nation proves to represent the improvement of cinema all throughout these years.

[cinematic-views]

The Jumbling Struggle of the Jazz Singer

The Jazz Singer is a melodrama musical illustrating the struggle of a young boy – through his adolescent years – in choosing between his responsibilities and his true passion.

Despite his obvious retort from a young age, he still doesn’t get to escape to re-encounter the reality of deciding with his dilemma. The 1920’s film actively showcases a timely and relevant happening in one’s life through sepia-themed lens. 

In spite of the film’s history being one of the milestone’s on cinema, it still encompasses the universal struggle of its viewers. Set in an urban setting in the early 1900s, it effectively reflects the scene at that time. It shows how huge the role of religion was, especially for immigrants, and the wide entailment of music across cultures. The presence of this medium is the stem of the dilemma of a young Jewish boy through his adult years.

Despite its plot being considered as a trope in present time, one cannot still deny the effectiveness of the storytelling aspect of the film. It remains to spark the anger, compassion, and indecisiveness it wishes to make the viewers feel. 

[cinematic-views]

[jgdico]

One of the highlights/resolution of the movie Hugo.

[cinematic-views]

Binding Bridges

In a small village where everyone knows everyone lived a cheeky boy, full of unrealized dreams. With his undying passion both in pursuing his love and his love for films, he takes a walk-back to memory lane as one of his avid believer passes away.

Through the zig-zagging narrative, he discovers secrets and relives his fond memories. 

Cinema Paradiso is a movie set to bring tears to your eyes as numerous heartbreaking seemingly anecdotal scenes face you.

The film mainly focuses on the entanglement of film life and life itself. It narrates the oppression faced by the underprivileged ones, as well as the huge involvement of the church in filtering “inappropriate” scenes from the masses. If we look at it in one standpoint, it seems hypocritical for the priest to do such thing, since he is viewing those scenes. On the other hand, the presence of film viewing is a way of keeping their community together, aside from religious means.

Despite its huge impact on the community, film, as well as cinema, has played a big part in the character development of the protagonist and has effectively communicated the message and emotions it wishes to portray – in my point of view.

[cinematic-views]

Film as dream, film as music. No art passes our conscience in the way film does, and goes directly to our feelings, deep down into the dark rooms of our souls.

Ingmar Bergman

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Humanity in Humans

Hugo is a touching narrative encapsulating a look-back to the past as well as intriguing yet emotional character developments. 

In a lonely quest of recalibrating a machine left by his father, in search for answers he has since his death, Hugo – an orphan – struggles to keep up with the duties left by his uncle.   

As he manages his day-to-day hustle, he crosses paths with a sweet girl whom he shares adventures with. 

If there was one thing primarily relatable with the movie, it would be the struggles he faced. Maybe in this timeframe, his struggles aren’t the same, but nonetheless, it reflects the hustle and bustle each one of us has in our day-to-day lives. 

The repetitive cycle -- similar to clocks -- of encountering problems and finding solutions to resolve it is a common theme found in the film. The presence of peculiar characters and how they live on with their lives shows how despite the different struggles we face, we are still human, and we can feel things.

The humanity found, despite the full-blown defining personalities of the characters of the movie has is one thing I find amazing about it. The flow of the film exemplifies the overcoming, not only of Hugo but as well as other characters in accepting their pasts and living on in the present.