Movie No. 47 (Cinemalaya 2018): NERVOUS TRANSLATION

Nervous Translation (2017)
Director: Shireen Seno
Cast: Jana Agoncillo, Angge Santos, Sid Lucero
In Tagalog, with English subtitles

1987, the year after Marcos regime was toppled by the famous People Power revolution at EDSA. The new government was volatile. This is the backdrop of Nervous Translation.

Yael, an eight-year old girl, is mostly silent. She lives with her mother, a blue-collar job employee. She's mostly cold. The only mother-daughter bonding they have is when Yael is summoned to pluck her mother's white hair in exchange of coins. The absent father is only heard on cassette tape recordings. Working overseas, the father tells tells how he misses them, how he misses local foods. Yael listens to the tapes, too, when alone.

What we see in the movie is how Yael translates into her own understanding all the things happening in her immediate surroundings and everything about people surrounding her. She makes miniatures foods, miniature houses, miniature appliances, etc. What we see are Yael's interpretation and manifestation of the limited understanding Yael has of the adult world.

Jana Agoncillo does an excellent job as the latchkey 8-year old girl. The movie, although mostly silent, is engaging. 

Rating: 4.0/4.0

Date seen: August 8, 2018