Review: Three Thumbs-Up

Sold-out Flair, Strong Film
By PHILBERT ORTIZ DY, film reviewer of ClickTheCity.Com

For years now, Mes de Guzman has quietly been making these beautiful little films that have largely gone under the radar of the average Filipino film fan. He doesn’t really make what anybody would consider commercial cinema, his films often populated by non-actors, and defined by their smallness.


But it is his film in CineFilipino, Ang Kwento ni Mabuti, that is currently drawing the biggest audiences. Its first screening at Gateway was completely sold out, all the tickets bought out the night before. This is certainly because of its star, Nora Aunor, who still commands a loyal army of fans willing to do exactly this sort of thing. Aunor plays the main character, a woman named Mabuti who, while on her way home from a harrowing trip to the city, finds herself in possession of a large amount of money. The plot doesn’t really kick for a while, though. In the early going, the movie spends its time establishing the idyllic rhythms of Mabuti’s life. She tends to livestock, sets up irrigation, plays with her grandchildren, and occasionally treats dog bites. And she does it all with a kind smile and a general sense of contentment.

 De Guzman hasn’t really changed, despite having one of the biggest stars in the country at his disposal. It is still a very small story that thrives on details of provincial life, punctuated at times by a really unique sense of humor. Aunor fits the milieu pretty well. Though one might never forget who she is, her understated delivery sustains a strong level of immersion. It is a strong film, and I’m happy to see De Guzman get the kind of attendance he deserves.


Simply So Good
By FRED HAWSON, blogger of 'Fred Said: Movies' 

This is practically the only film in the ongoing CineFilipino Film Festival that has any advanced publicity.  This is also the only entry with a bonafide superstar headlining it, no less than Ms. Nora Aunor herself. Its first screening at the Gateway Mall was sold out, a testament to the drawing power for Ms. Nora.  I will not be surprised if this will be the top box office hit of this one-week festival.  The CineFilipino Film Fest only runs at Gateway, Lucky Chinatown, Resorts World and Shangri-la Mall cinemas.

Ang Kuwento ni Mabuti is a simple film about simple folk who live in a remote hilly area of Nueva Vizcaya. Mabuti is a folk healer known for her cheerfulness, friendliness and kindness.  She lives with her Mother and two adult children, Ompong and Lucia.  Ompong has one daughter, indulgently named Kate Winslet.  Lucia is very unlucky in her relationships, having three daughters (Lenlen, Angge and Mimay) with three different men.  

Mabuti needed to mortgage their land when Ompong was going abroad to work.  When they receive a letter for her to pay interest on their loan, she makes a difficult trip into the city to settle.  On her way back to their home, a stranger on the bus entrusts a bag to her and runs off. Will the contents of the bag change the life of good Mabuti?

This is again another triumph for Ms. Nora Aunor in subsuming herself into another character of the masses.  Though they are similarly poor provincial women, Nora's last role in Thy Womb is very distinct from this role as Mabuti.  I enjoyed that she was constantly smiling in this film.  We never really see Ms. Aunor often in a happy role.  Her eyes are really very eloquent in conveying her inner thoughts, as we know from all her classics in the past.  All those seemingly simple scenes set in the the military base, the public transportation, the realty office and the stone steps gain special poignancy because they had Nora Aunor in them.

Indie actors Arnold Reyes and Mara Lopez play Ompong and Lucia respectively, while Sue Prado plays a mysterious lady on the buys.  The rest of the other actors seem to be native Ilocano-speaking actors which lend additional realism to the scenes.  Josephina Estabillo, the actress who plays Mabuti's mother Apu Guyang, is very natural actress.  She has a heartwarming bond with Ms. Nora and the kids who play her great-grandchildren. There are also the side characters of the barangay captain and his aide Boying who provide welcome comic relief.

The dialogue of the film is entirely in Ilocano, with English subtitles.  Maybe they should also add subtitles in Filipino for the benefit of audiences who may not know how to read English.  Nora speaks it with the fluidity of a native Ilocano speaker (she is a Bicolana) like the other Ilocano supporting actors.  She really knows how to push and challenge herself with her every role.

Director Mes de Guzman (who just won Best Director at the Cinemalaya 2012 for Diablo) has succeeded to create a charming fairy tale with modern-day characters and situations. There is a whimsical element about the interplay of harsh realities of live with fate and destiny that will make the audience smile.  As for the moral lesson of the film, the film leaves the ending open for us to determine that life message for ourselves.

Immense Ability, Astonishingly Low-Key
By RENELSON ANTONIUS MORELOS, blogger of Re(e)l Thoughts

As the director is wont to do, the great Nora Aunor is only "one among the many" in this deceptively simple morality tale. Rarely do we see in this film all the acting mannerisms and methods that we have come to associate with Ate Guy through the years. She is just as ordinary and as down-to-earth as it can be. No Himala moments, so to speak. If this is another example of what you call "non-acting" in cinema, then we should be blessed. In place of Nora's "dramatic" moments (this is not to say though that she is not terrific in the film; on the contrary), what we have here is the film's moral dilemma, which makes up its core. And it is a real treat to the viewers to see how Nora's character ("Mabuti dela Cruz") confronts this dilemma with subtlety and grace, with all those conflicting emotions just being suggested through her eyes, with only the barest words possible.

Perhaps, it's only a matter of one's taste as to how one will gauge Mes' manner of playing out the balancing act of "to be or not to be". I was thinking if it actually served the story well to have the moral question presented - and "resolved" - in such an ambiguous and, on one or two occasions, even in a surreal manner. The ethical dilemma was essayed in such a low-key manner that it might have been more fitting if the viewers were able to somehow have a clear grasp of what Mabuti "did" to the large amount of money suddenly "entrusted" to her. Sure, all the emotions that register through Mabuti's eyes and her oblique references subtly point to what may have transpired in the end. But giving a clear picture of the consequence of the "act" wouldn't be a bad artistic choice either. The final image in Ang Mundo sa Panahon ng Bakal is made more poignant and ambiguous by our clear awareness of the tragedy that happened beforehand. The one in Ang Kwento ni Mabuti achieves a lesser effect because we are somewhat left out in the cold as to the penultimate act that really drove to that instance. Still, the film is worth-watching because of one great actress' immense ability to work out a moral conflict in an astonishingly low-key manner.