Movie Reviews: Ang Nawawala (What Isn't There) and Kamera Obskura by Kristine T. Marinas

New Breed: Ang Nawawala (What Isn't There)

Director: Marie Jamora
Lead Actors: Dominic Roco, Felix Roco, Dawn Zulueta, Boboy Garrovillo, Alchris Galura, Mercedes Cabral, Kelvin Yu, Jenny Jamora, Marc Abaya, Annicka Dolonius, Sabrina Man.
Setting: Manila
Genre: Drama
source: http://angnawawala.com/

Plot overview:

Gibson a 20 year-old guy who stopped speaking when he was a child returns home to Manila to spend the holiday season with his family. Although, many years have passed since his brother’s death, Gibson’s family, most especially his mother Esme (who happens to love Jamie the most) remained sad and hurt. Everyone was still living in the painful past to the fact that all of them were not able to truly enjoy Gibson’s homecoming. However, teddy (Gibson’s childhood friend) came to the rescue and helped him recover from the sad tragedy and his mother’s bitterness by going out frequently and by introducing him to some new friends. Along the way, Gibson meets Enid (whom he thought was the perfect girl for him) and started going out with her since both of them think that they have mutual feelings for each other. But, after building an ‘almost’ relationship Enid then realizes that she still hasn’t moved on with her past love Mac. Moreover, Gibson was able to realize that he, himself was closing the doors of the good life that he was missing and also that he was preventing himself to express his great love and affection for his family. In the end, Gibson erased all the bad memories that he kept on reminiscing before, swallowed his pride, and freely showed his love for his family.

The film was indeed, powerful. I felt very emotional all throughout the movie. Everything was just perfect! The cast, the acting, the film, the story, the ending.. EVERYTHING! At first, I thought the film will focus more on the love story of the main character because of the trailer that showed how two people were deeply in love with each other and with music. But, even though the film didn’t go as I expected, I was even happier on how it turned out because of the twists and turns that surprised me in the end. I was able to analyze the story in the last part of the movie because it is where the revelations of the past were shown like how the life of Gibson and his family were like when they were complete and how very loving his mother was to each and every one of them.

Unlike other family oriented movies, “Ang Nawawala” struck me the most because I was able to relate myself with Gibson (whom I think was really relatable by many). He was just a plain guy who wanted to enjoy life but wasn’t able to, because of all the drama that is happening between him and his relationship with his family. The story was very much a vision of what is currently happening in some Filipino families today. Broken families, broken relationships, forgotten love etc.. The film was indeed, heartfelt! All the scenarios were touching and very truthful. I almost cried in the end because I really was carried away by the scenes of the film. It was so great that I recommended it to all my friends from elementary to high school. (lol) I think every Filipino should watch this so that they may relate themselves to the story and start to apply all the lessons they will learn from it. I just wish there is part 2 of this.. and if there is or will be.. I wouldn’t miss it for the world! J

Director's Showcase: Kamera Obskura

Director: Raymond Red

Lead Actors: Pen Medina, Joel Torre, Nanding Josef, Abe Pagtama, Suzette Ranillo, Ping Medina, Irene Gabriel.

Setting: Philippines

Genre/Theme: Politics

Plot overview:
Kamera Obskura is a film about a man who was imprisoned for about 20 years in a cell that suddenly found a small ray of light inside which turned out to be a hole, a hole that showed the image of the city. After all the years spending his life in the prison, he then was able to see what the outside world was more like (which was pretty much different than he would’ve remembered or imagined). After taking a peek, he successfully got out the cell by just digging through the wall. As he was enjoying the life outside the prison, he suddenly saw a camera store names as “Kamera Obskura” because his curiosity bugged him he entered the store and found a small camera that unexpectedly replaced his right hand. The camera was said to have powers which made Juan more curious about it. Thereafter, the owner of the store directed Juan to a building that showed different floors which represented the social levels in our society. After a number of incidents and chaos that had happened in the mysterious building, Juan tries to escape from all the confusions and decided to cut off his right arm just to get rid of the camera that caused him a lot of trouble.


I honestly wasn't "that" impressed with the film because I kept on analyzing and got confused by the events that were happening and where the story was going. I guess it's because Kamera Obskura is a silent movie that tells a story about life in politics which is a serious matter that people deal with. For me, I think, the idea of the story is really brilliant I just didn't like how they showed it. I wasn't able to relate myself or even try to understand because the characters don't speak (ofcourse because it was a SILENT movie) haha! Because for me, hearing words and expressions of people help a lot in delivering the message of what you're really trying to inform people.