IMBISIBOL

Before, it was “Ang mamatay nang dahil sa Hapon.”

Nowadays, it’s “Ang mabuhay nang dahil sa Hapon.”

Having an OFW relative who got herself a spouse visa and another relative who became a factory worker in Japan, the film was quite personal to me. The lives and struggles of these characters felt real. I have no idea about the Virgin Labfest play but there were some theatrical elements in it. The long shots are great even if it didn’t sustain its style in the last act. Musical score is simplistically affecting. Everything’s bluer than blue. Sadder than sad. So blue that Benjie can sing this song to Eduardo. “You’re the only light this empty room has ever had. Life without you is gonna be… Bluer than blue!”

All character arcs were good. It’s just that the Benjie-Eduardo arc is so long and it has an abrupt end. Bernardo Bernardo and Ricky Davao were great but Allen Dizon outshined every actor in Sinag Maynila. His Birdman-Magic Mike story was heartbreaking and funny at the same time. You just can’t help but feel sympathy for the dude while giggling at his gigolo tactics just to earn money. And the hardest part of it is that his family knows nothing about his work. This is what most OFWs face today. Hingi lang nang hingi ang pamilya nila kahit na wala silang kaalam-alam sa paghihirap ng kamag-anak nila.

This is also a breakthrough performance for Ces Quesada. She was like The Godmother for Pinoy TNTs. JM de Guzman also proved that he’s not a one-trick actor. I know I shouldn’t compare this but its rough transition makes it inferior to Hannah Espia’s Transit. Just looking at the trailer, you know that it will turn-out to be Amok in the last act. All I can say is that the end of this 140-minute film left me unsatisfied. I was really hoping for a bigger and scarier feel on the horrors of being caught in Japan because a relative of mine experienced it.

Imbisibol is a melancholic tour into the lives of Filipinos who stay in different homes but live in a same, risky life.

ALL GOOD 3/5

Congratulations to the winners of Sinag Maynila 2015!

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