Reviewed by Roghadal Saint-Michel
Brun Film
Correspondent at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival
Warning: Spoiler alert
Warning: Spoiler alert
I have to admit that I had reservations venturing into
another Lav Diaz film. The last time I sat through his 11-hour opus, “Ebolusyon
ng Pamilyang Pilipino,” I felt that I "evolved" in not wanting to watch
another gratuitously long film. I am all for long takes if they are warranted it but
not when I am subjected to them just for the heck of it.
Thirty minutes to Diaz’s new film, it is very clear that
he himself has evolved. The cinematography in crisp black and white is akin to
any Ansel Adams photography. If the famous photographer had gone to the
Philippines and photographed parts of the country, his work would have
resembled this film. Not a single shot was wasted. I have never seen rural
Philippines photographed so beautifully.
