Bwakaw

Bwakaw"(2012) might be a movie more suited for mature audiences, and it is quite a treat. Based in rural Philippines, the pace seems slow, but even in this stillness and quietude, life forces itself out and blooms. The protagonist is a retired man, who is finally coming to terms with the fact that he is gay.

Wonderful unforced performances, rural verdant locales and abrupt humour add to a fulfilling movie experience. Recommended, especially if you like glimpsing into different cultures.

This is a real tear-jerker of a film that deals with a life not lived because of societal mores. The film deals with the character's last years when it would be too late to now live as he wanted, and at a time when people and pets leave him one by one. The mood is sad and depressing but brilliantly acted. Nothing about the film will give you hope or lift up your spirits.....so if you watch it, be prepared for a very depressing experience!

I have known about this movie when it was one of the featured films in the recent Cinemalaya Film Fest. However aside from the terrible title, the synopsis describing a film an elderly gay man with his dog was so bleak, it did not interest me at all. Maybe because it won Eddie Garcia a Best Actor award, it was given a commercial run which was good, but I still did not have a plan to watch it. Well, that is until this morning when I found out that this film will be our country's entry to the Oscars Foreign Language Film category for this year. Honestly, that was the only reason why I felt I should give it a chance after all.

Unfortunately, this film turned out to be as bleak and as dry as its synopsis suggested. It was indeed about an elderly gay man named Rene (Eddie Garcia) and his dog Bwakaw (played by an "aspin"/"askal" named Princess). The drama played for an hour and a half or maybe more, as slow, as straightforward and as predictable as that.

There were of course some people in his neighborhood he interacted with, like his nosy next-door neighbor Nitang (Beverly Salviejo), the gays at the beauty salon (Soxie Topacio and Joey Paras), his co-workers in the Post Office (Luz Valdez and Allan Paule), the priest who was always seen fanning himself (Gardo Versoza) and the tricycle driver the old curmudgeon decided to befriend (Rez Cortez). The elegant Ms. Armida Siguion-Reyna stood out in her featured role as Alicia, the girlfriend Rene kept hanging for 15 years, only not to marry. I see the name of Bibeth Orteza in the cast list, but I honestly do not remember seeing her in the film.

OK, there were some scenes that made me laugh. There was even a scene that made me tear up. There was a scene that I felt certain was bound to happen, it did, but I wish it did not. However, the main fault of this film is that there were no big surprises at all. There were no hidden symbolism or deeper meanings. It did not challenge me think at all. I felt I have seen this same story of growing old lonely told many times before in many a made-for-TV drama show. "Bwakaw" is not really that bad, but is this it? Is this really the BEST we have to show the world this year to compete for the Oscars?

Bwakaw (2012) is a movie from the Philippines, written and directed by Jun Lana. Rene, played by Eddie Garcia, is a misanthropic older gay man. Rene lives in a semi-rural area, not too far from a larger city. He has no real friends, because he repulses people who try to engage him in friendship. Eddie's great love in life is his little dog, Bwakaw, played by Princess.

There are two threads to the plot--a serious illness suffered by Bwakaw, and a developing friendship between Rene and a younger man. The movie is worth watching to see how these plot lines develop.

We saw the film at the Little Theatre as part of Image Out--The Rochester LGBT Film Festival. It will work well on the small screen.

Good film to reflect on old age, illness, loneliness, death, love and sexuality. This film does so from the perspective of a generation that is already leaving, and that many of its gay members could not live their lives fully, or only did so towards the end of their days. During their "best years", they were denied the right to have a partner, marry, have or adopt children and in some way, they were condemned to live with self-shame and to grow old alone. In this way, the later generation, (those of us who are now adults), although many of us were able to come out of the closet from a young age, and we were also able to live a fuller life, gaining, in many countries, rights that were previously impossible to imagine, now we lack of clear and positive references for our approaching old age. Well, I think there is a need for many more films on these topics, approaching the subject from new perspectives.