Movie No. 60 (2016): KUSINA
Kusina (2016)
Director: Cenon Palomares / David Corpuz
Cast: Judy Ann Santos, Joem Bascon, Luis Alandy, Gloria Sevilla
In Tagalog, with English subtitles
Juanita was born in the kitchen; or, the early scene showing Juanita's mother giving birth to her on a kitchen table may be figurative. Then the entire movie shows Juanita's confinement at the kitchen - from birth to death, which is interesting. But, despite the linear narrative, which is easy to follow, there are many technical issues that caught my attention. The decision to shoot every scene in the kitchen, which looks like a sound stage, is innovative (though not original); however, that's also the source of some lapses in production design and editing. There might have been lapse in selecting proper angles to obscure some parts of the makeshift kitchen that shows the "other side" of the kitchen wall. In some scenes which are supposedly happening at lunch time, we see darkness outside the window. The technique to show passage of time is, in my opinion, poorly executed (i.e., the actors don't change costumes). Maybe, there's a point that the movies wants make. I don't get it. While I'm aware that the source of the material is an award-winning play, I find the movie to have lacked imagination in adapting it to a "real" movie because play and movie are supposedly different media. I entered the theater expecting to see a movie, instead I saw a play.
Director: Cenon Palomares / David Corpuz
Cast: Judy Ann Santos, Joem Bascon, Luis Alandy, Gloria Sevilla
In Tagalog, with English subtitles
Juanita was born in the kitchen; or, the early scene showing Juanita's mother giving birth to her on a kitchen table may be figurative. Then the entire movie shows Juanita's confinement at the kitchen - from birth to death, which is interesting. But, despite the linear narrative, which is easy to follow, there are many technical issues that caught my attention. The decision to shoot every scene in the kitchen, which looks like a sound stage, is innovative (though not original); however, that's also the source of some lapses in production design and editing. There might have been lapse in selecting proper angles to obscure some parts of the makeshift kitchen that shows the "other side" of the kitchen wall. In some scenes which are supposedly happening at lunch time, we see darkness outside the window. The technique to show passage of time is, in my opinion, poorly executed (i.e., the actors don't change costumes). Maybe, there's a point that the movies wants make. I don't get it. While I'm aware that the source of the material is an award-winning play, I find the movie to have lacked imagination in adapting it to a "real" movie because play and movie are supposedly different media. I entered the theater expecting to see a movie, instead I saw a play.
While Judy Ann Santos and Gloria Sevilla deliver competent performances, some of the supporting actors are painful to watch. I'm not referring to Joem Bascon or Luis Alandy, but the other actors. But I have to commend the metaphor of the kitchen in the life of Juanita.
Rating: 2.5/4.0
Date seen: August 9, 2016
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