Sunday, February 8, 2015

Minsan Lang Sila Bata


Child labor becomes one of the issues that is present in our country. Some children, don't have the chance to take education that's why they opt to find a job to make a living and help their families because of poverty. In this film, it highlighted how these children in labor strives hard in their work just to collect an amount of money just to give to their parents. This kids also really understands their situation.

The documentary film features the lives of random children from the different parts of the Philippines who force to work to help in sustaining the needs of their families.

image source: google
The story of their lives as a child laborer made me to realize that I am so blessed by what I have now because I can easily meet the things of what I want and need. Unlike them, they can hardly meet the things they wanted to get.

Temporal order was applied in the documentary film where random lives of the kids presented in the film that shows an interrupted sequence.

The film runs for more than one hour but less than two hours, which is considered in temporal duration. Also, the temporal frequency of the film is that the focus on the poor faces of the child laborers.

image source: google
I was amazed how these kids really love to go to school, but because of poverty they were not able to be educated. The most scene which inspired me most is that, when some of those children have a bright dreams of their own, especially to the child who wanted to become an attorney when he grows up.

image source: google
I also think that the parents of these children had never seen better options for the life of their children that's why they resorted into child labor. I hope the parents of these kids will somehow do their best in order to help the lives of their children be better.

Also, the government must have to continue in building projects for the child laborers of this country and must do their best to eradicate this issue.

West Side Story




Honestly, I was bored the first time I saw the musical film of West Side Story. But as the film rolling, I made to realize that it's a good film.

image source: google

The musical film represented the ethnic identity of the two groups of gangs who really hate each other. The rivals always make rumble to determine territory once for all in the streets of the west side of New York City. These rival groups are The Jets- which are the white gang members and The Sharks- the Puerto Rican gang.

image source: google
West Side Story also depicts the love between a teenage boy from the West Side of New York City and a young lady from Puerto Rico. Tony and Maria, the main characters of the film who fell in love at first sight. They met at a party where it was attended by the two rival gangs.

image source: google

In the film, men represented as a rugged features. Men wear loose pants, tucked-in shirts with matching thick cloth of jackets. On the other hand, women represented according to its tradition where they are gentle and the sex object.


Pride and Prejudice

Every individual would surely have a dream to get married, especially with the one they love. Courtship is a titillate stage before both individual's get into a relationship. It is where both individual show good intentions to each other. It's really nice if both individuals have love and have the same feelings for each other. As they build a new beautiful family in the society, living happily with each other.

image source: google


Well, in the movie Pride and Prejudice, it has the theme on the courtship, marriage and social statuses in the 17th century. It was the era when women were inferior to men. Women represented in the film, as they were not allowed to play a greater role in the society as they were supposed to stay in the house doing household chores and serving the family. A woman's objective before was being that, to be able to have a secured life, they must have to marry a wealthy man who can sustain their needs and for stability statuses.

But, in the case of the leading characters of Mr. William Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet showed that they developed love for each other. Despite there social statuses, people who interfered their love and the circumstances beyond control that they had experienced, but still, they ended their love story happily ever after.

By looking at the conflict, you will going to find the main goal of the movie and that's presenting equality from social statuses. There is a chain of events in cause and effect relationship.

On the other hand, according to Vladimir Propp that there are characterization in narratives such as the hero, the villain, the donor, the dispatcher, the helper and the princess. 


In the film, the hero of it was Mr. William Darcy, the haughty guy who later turned to passionate and well mannered person. The villain was Lady Catherine de Bourg the aunt of Mr. Darcy, who once came into the house of the Bennet to renounce Darcy as he was supposedly engaged to her own daughter and uttered bad talks to Elizabeth. The donor is someone who gives something that will make the hero working and this represented in the character of Mr. Collins. The helper of this film represented by the mother Bennet, who supported and wanted her children find a man that will be responsible for her five ladies. Lastly, the princess that was played by Elizabeth Bennet, who has a great personality and realistic.

image source: google

I hope all women in this world would be like Elizabeth Bennet, who did not rush love easily as she considered situation first before getting into a relationship. We must love the person whom we really love and don't push ourselves to love the person who don't we love.

Little Miss Sunshine

image source: google

This film is a combination of comedy and drama genre. It is about a family who encountered challenges along the way, riding in a vintage VW van from Albuquerque to Redondo Beach as the youngest member of the family wanted to join Miss Little Sunshine pageant.

image source: google

Mise-en-scene is also presented in the film. At first, the set design focused on their house, but the most of the scene where the family's journey encountered such challenges, were shot on the road in a concrete landscape of Southern California.

The lighting of the film really sets the mood and the atmosphere of each scene in the film. The yellow light or the sunny light of the film symbolizes the hopes of the entire Hoover family and the dream of the little girl-Olive Hoover, the aspiring beauty queen.



Most of the space used in the film was on the road where an extreme wide shot focused on the concrete landscape of Southern California.

image source: google
The costumes were also perfectly fit for the character's personality. As the youngest member of the family-Olive Hoover, a chubby and cute little girl wears fitted clothes which emphasizes her big tummy. Her dad Richard the perfectionist, but an unsuccessful motivational speaker wears formal polo shirts. Her mom Sheryl, who has been very patient with them and always value time for her family just to make them always be together and she wears ordinary blouses and pants. Olive's brother Dwayne, who has taken the vow of silence, believing to grant his wish by making it to the flight school, who always wears simple T-shirt and jeans. Olive's grandpa has been her coach in her dance routine who usually wears with a simple t-shirt with a vest. Lastly, her uncle Frank who used to attempt suicide always wears a white polo shirt, as he mourns for his love of the guy he loves who dumped him.

image source: google
The makeups and the hairstyle especially of young Olive where simple but cute. Though in the beauty pageant, she was the only contestant who doesn't wear heavy make up but still her beauty and hair really stands-out.



Also, the acting and the blocking of the film were also impressive, that one who watch the film will be satisfied and may get insightful learning about what the film wants to communicate to its viewers.

Saturday, February 7, 2015

Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros

Amidst the violence presented in this independent film, it is shown that there is no actual villain or antagonist because it focused on the life's adversities of the people, or may we call it somehow as, “man vs society conflict”.

Different cruelties of life experienced by the characters in the film, but in totality, the word POVERTY highlighted it all. It presented the reality of life and gave us the bird’s eye view, especially the lives of the people living in the slum and filth areas.

Due to poverty, there are some people who tend or opt to go into illegal jobs just to find money and make a living. One of the factors that one may enter into illegal jobs, is that, they don't have the educational background that's why they prefer to do it for the sake of their family's needs.

image source: google

The protagonist of this film was played by Maximo Oliveros, a loving and caring gay who never get influenced by the violence done by his family and who’s been in love with a police officer. His utmost love and care to his family were his strength. He became the “lady” in their home after her mother passed away.

image source: google

The intervening characters played by his father Paco, brothers Boy and Bogs and his crush police officer Victor were the ones who helped and shaped the character of Maximo.

On the other hand, diegesis was applied to the film, especially during the scene where some aggressive policemen went to his house to find and look for evidence and to seize if his family is using drugs and pistols. The next focus of the camera was the middle shot of Maximo showing with a confused face. Then the next frame was when he went inside the house seeing all their things in a mess. The diegesis in here was seeing the total mess of the things in their house without seeing the shot or frame where those policemen made the total mess in their house.

This film is a mesmerizing piece of actually in the midst of family, crime, poverty, forbidden love and everything in between. Also, this film is an eye opener and an educational film, especially in accepting the third sex in the society.