Movie No. 62 (2014). Cinemalaya X: POSAS

Posas (Shackled) (2012)
Director: Lawrence Fajardo
Cast: Nico Antonio, Art Acuna, Bangs Garcia, John Lapus, Jake Macapagal

The movie was in competition in the Driector's Showcase of 2012 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival. It won the grand prize that year. In this year's Cinemalaya X, posas is part of the retrospective.

Posas is a movie about corruption in the local police in the eyes of a petty thief. In one random day, a pickpocket gets caught by the police after a well-executed chase scene in the busy streets of Quiapo. The pickpocket is presented as one who is quite naive of the police procedural despite being in the "pickpocketing business" for quite sometime. This is the first time he gets caught. While being interrogated, he gets to witness the corruption taking place in the local police. In an unexpected turn of events, he gets released, but his life will be different from then on as he will be forever "tied" to the corrupt officers. Hence, the tag line: "The day they set him free was the first day of his life sentence."

The movie succeeds in its use of irony via juxtaposing certain images with scenes suggesting the opposite. There aren't much cinematic inventions utilized, but the movie is engaging from the scenes that establish the plot in he beginning until the conclusion. As for the performances, Art Acuna's take on his role as a corrupt police officer is outstanding.

Rating: 3.5/4.0

Date seen: August 7, 2014