Monday, September 8, 2008

Adela - The Movie


Discussions over Tim Horton’s coffee between D - the future film maker, E the reluctant movie watcher and Me.

D says it is one of the best Filipino movies he has seen. A 5 out of a 5 ! At first I found some of the scenes were too long and noticed the absence or minimal use of musical score. But this was all for a reason. These were aptly explained by Alix, the director during the question and answer portion after the show. Iba talaga pag filmaker ang nanonood against me, the ordinary movie goer. In the Q & A, Alix, also spoke of the symbolism of Adela. Adela could be our family, our home country, who we choose to leave (or forget) for greener pastures. If you view the movie differently, you do find some symbolism, such as :

The airplane.
A departing plane shows up in more than 2 scenes. Wasn’t that us, one of Adela’s children, the OFWs, the migrants who choose to leave?

Adela’s children and extended family
Did they represent the majority of us Filipinos? Those who are working abroad, those who are on the wrong path of life (just how crowded are our jails now?), and those who do honest labor to the point of being slaves to work (daughter cannot even ask for a day off to join Adela on her birthday). Did Diego (the village thief) represent those who continue to rob our country of its resources?

The lost ring.
I was kind of expecting it to be found, but it never was. Did it symbolize the lost family tie?

There are more symbolisms to this film, but we have to give ourselves space to reflect.

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