Profane Redemption

Matthias Grunewald's "Crucifixion"

Just watched Wanted:Border with Yunamayi and let me just say that it was an amazing experience. The film reallys fits the mold of what a true "indie cinema" experience is. The film does not pander to the audience, purposely forcing the viewers to a higher level of awareness. In short - hindi iniinsulto ng pelikulang ito ang intelihensya ng manonood.

But the film also carries an inherent challenge -- as the audience you need to keep your eyes and ears open and soak in the visual and visceral experience. Viewing Wanted:Border is quite a challenge. The film employs a non-linear narrative and the images would seem to be a bit convoluted at the beginning but it all falls into place toward the end. Take note, you need to keep the small details in mind. This film might need a few more views even for those already initiated in the various conceits of indie cinema.

The film left us both satisfied and perplexed. The taltal thread is the one that got us pondering the film even as we were exiting the cinema. During dinner we'd often catch ourselves lost in thought -- ganun ka-grabe ang epekto ng pelikula sa amin. To speak of more details would be a sacrilege, since one needs to take in the entire movie and come up with their individual take on the movie. Mine is right there in the blog post title as well as in the picture of Christ crucified in all his g(l)ory.

Apart from the complexities, it was a joy to hear people speaking in Ilonggo. Rosanna Roces gives an understated, though very powerful performance. The film has offered us a strange and unsettling view of the human condition, and if in the darkness of human compulsions one can find a strange though disturbing beauty -- and a rather surreal hope for redemption -- then it wouldn't hurt to look, would it?