Movie No. 160 (2013): LOLA
Lola (2009)
Director: Brillante Mendoza
Cast: Anita Linda, Rustica Carpio, Tanya Gomez, Ketchup Eusebio, Jhong Hilario
In Tagalog, with English subtitles
The film's premise is so worthy of neorealism, if there's still such a thing now. As a result of a crime involving their grandsons, two grandmothers, both from families living below poverty line, must raise money. One of them must raise money for the burial of her grandson. The other must raise it to bail out her grandson from jail. All these occur in the midst of a storm.
Rating: 3.5/4.0
Date seen: August 21, 2013
Director: Brillante Mendoza
Cast: Anita Linda, Rustica Carpio, Tanya Gomez, Ketchup Eusebio, Jhong Hilario
In Tagalog, with English subtitles
The film's premise is so worthy of neorealism, if there's still such a thing now. As a result of a crime involving their grandsons, two grandmothers, both from families living below poverty line, must raise money. One of them must raise money for the burial of her grandson. The other must raise it to bail out her grandson from jail. All these occur in the midst of a storm.
It's so tempting to resort to heavy melodrama from this premise. But the director opted not to. After all, this is an independent film. Instead, the respective predicaments of the two grandmothers are silently presented on screen to show the lives of a sector in the present-day Manila. Brillante Mendoza is a master of this semi-documentary approach to narrative in his films.
The two lead actresses (Rustica Carpio and Anita Linda) deservedly tied for Best Actress at Urian Awards in 2010.
Rating: 3.5/4.0
Date seen: August 21, 2013
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