A kid had to face the world in his own animated version and conquer life's biggest monster. ANI (The Harvest) It's as if a child's imagination is a safe haven, a place where the world is a playground for all the possibilities the mind could think of. And even the tight and humble space called home, situated on a busy Metro could not hinder the inquisitive headspace of a young Mithi (played by Zyren Dela Cruz), a boy who accomplishes the day by playing with his colorful toy robots that perform a vital role in his imaginary narrative. With a loving father and a mother that sings him a self-assuring lullaby, Mithi is blissfully unaware of the harsh reality. But life decided to toy with his fate, and Mithi's perfect little world is now showing its cracks, putting his vulnerability to the test and slowly depriving him of his happiness he thought would last forever. And through his eyes, the world suddenly transforms itself into a menacing monster. Set in a lush
A young aspiring writer who has a negative perspective on rain which she correlates with her failed relationships is on a journey to find true romance.
There's a lot of movies in the market right now that's really milking the tired kilig plot that is largely aimed towards a younger fanbase. More often than not, these films were created with the image of a popular love team first before the actual structure of the story itself. Recently though, the romance movies tried to reinvent itself with its casting pair-ups to make it more relatable, making the audience believe that love doesn't just happen with two good-looking people portraying the said role. Ulan, a HOOQ original movie directed by a Irene Villamor, best known as the director of Camp Sawi, Meet Me in St. Gallen, and Sid & Aya: Not a Love Story to name a few, follows Maya (Nadine Lustre), a young aspiring writer and an editorial assistant at a publishing company who struggles with creating a story that represents their company's brand which is sexual romance. From the teasers and advertisements for the film, the movie presents itself as not your typical romance stories, mixing in an element of superstition pulled from our very own Filipino folktales mostly told through the strict and sometimes pretentious beliefs of our elders.
Magic Realism
With regards to the structure of the film, Villamor doesn't want to conform with standard romance shtick. Rather, she creatively incorporated a very unique genre that combines elements of fantasy with the reality as if both normally coexist, leaving the imagination for the audiences to ponder upon themselves. Maya, who grew up with her grandma (Perla Bautista) struggled to form a bond with her classmates as she was typically bullied because of her superstitious beliefs largely influenced by her grandma's incites.
There are a number of scenes that really promotes magic realism through the impressionable eyes of the child Maya, including a scene (which was also teased in the trailer) where she sees a wedding of Tikbalangs as she strolls through the woods under a sunshower.
As a person who craves for creativity and originality in films, I really admire Villamor for going this route as it was very refreshing to see in films and especially not in a romantic driven theme. On top of that, the cinematography is really good especially towards a pivotal scene at the end. I liked how they used a murky and sometimes soft bronze undertones as a filter throughout the film, giving it a very cozy feel and complemented the realism that it was trying to achieve.
During the course of the film, Maya was shown as a very career driven person who was held back by her frustration in her failed relationships. The movie opened up with her preparing to meet with an old friend on a one rainy afternoon, expecting that the guy would propose his feelings with her and was electrified about the possibilities of it all only to be dismayed by the fact that guy was actually married with someone else and had a baby to boot. Going forward, she vouched that true love never exist and somehow correlates the rain as a curse, shifting the blame to it as to why she hasn't found herself a lasting relationship.
To me, it was a weak motivation to concoct such a ridiculous belief from and on top of that the film never really gave a solid setup to support such accounts and came off as a feeble excuse for a romantic plot. The movie then constantly shifts from her childhood days, in which most of the magical realism elements was used and I applaud Villamor for it as it was the highlight of the film and was very entertaining to watch.
Thrown into the mix was Peter (Carlo Aquino), a volunteer for the foster children who Maya met on a waiting shed (yes it was raining too). From a mile, you can see what's his purpose for the film would be and it doesn't really added much weight to the film and ended up as a plot device for Maya's arc.
Personally, the film had a very solid potential. The execution was a bit all over the place and at times it seems like there were a lot of genre that Villamor tried to cram in for the sake of art and it's not as seamless as I thought it'd be. The romance shtick felt a bit forced in my opinion and never really worked side-by-side with the elemental facet of the film that it's trying bond together. The acting performances was medium but I thought that Nadine Lustre did an amazing job at what was given to her.
Let's be Reel
Overall, the film was a bit messy and was drizzled with a soft amorous device that weakens its potential to become great. At the course of almost two hours, I didn't feel like the movie really accomplished anything with regards to completing the lead character's arc.
When Ulan does not try to mask itself as a romantic film, it really shines as a creative wonder that's both haunting and entertaining. I suggest you watch it, but don't expect much.
Wow this is really helpful. I was actually thinking of watching this movie. Turns out that it was not that money's worth after all. Thank you THE REEL TALK PH!!!
Wow this is really helpful. I was actually thinking of watching this movie. Turns out that it was not that money's worth after all. Thank you THE REEL TALK PH!!!
ReplyDeleteWatch mo pa din. Be your own critic.
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