Kun maupay man it panahon

At the end, my mother stood on the cliff and fireworks bloomed behind, contributing a very beautiful and unforgettable scene.

From a survivor's point of view, the movie brings back so many memories of that unfaithful day. The struggles were very much reminiscent of how we Taclobanons behaved days after Super Typhoon Haiyan ravaged the city. Above all, I'm just impressed as to how they genuinely sounded like native Waray people. It amazes me to see a representation of us Warays in the big screen.

Whether the Weather Is Fine is a marvelous representation of surreal experiences meets real life events. In this film we find ourselves scraping at the bottom of the barrel when all has been lost due to the Typhoon, an occurrence almost deemed as anticipated in the Filipino life. Moments of hardship such as finding your loved one among the wreckage, exchanging rations for own personal desires, and finding ways to get off the island. Through this hardship the characters contemplate on future paths they ought to take which brings on the message of the film: having hope despite and in spite of challenges in life.

All messages accompanied with moments of tonal shifts between seriousness and comedy and even an surreal musical number that further implies the spiral down of sanity through these traumatic experiences. The film truly captures the Filipino tenacity but in no way romanticizes the suffering. As a Filipino I can truly relate and empathize with these sentiments however I fear that abroad it may be interpreted as another poverty porn film. For that I strongly advise the proper mindset and framework watching this film and that my fellow countrymen find time to watch this in support or to better grasp what happens to the calamity struck portions of our nation.

Whether the weather is fine is a film that focuses on immersing its audiences to the experiences of the characters, rather than the plot. At its core, this film tells the story of lost people, attempting to find direction in the midst of the chaos and the fog caused by the Typhoon Yolanda.

Something inherent in this film that can be both admirable in the perspective of a film-maker, but detrimental to the box office, is how personal the whole film feels like. It's as if we were asked to experience what these victims felt like when the typhoon hit the Philippines, and it does a tremendous job doing so.

Every frame in this scene smells stinky, and I mean that in an absolute good way. It succeeded in giving out an atmosphere that's only present in a third-world country that's been hit by a natural disaster this drastic, thanks to the cinematography that felt grounded and the direction that bodes well with its gritty visuals.

One weakness of the film can be traced back to its writing, and more specifically, the character's decisions throughout the film. It felt as if it were trying too hard to be humorous at times, which could feel unnecessary.

It's disgusting nature proved at times to be enough, and the moment it decided to go on a tonal shift, it felt too much.

The film feels mesmerizing and experiencing to watch in general. The movie presents the issues of Filipino in rural areas struggling in the aftermath of natural disasters to survive. It brought into light the struggle of the people of Tacloban; you feel their pain on the screen, and it is something commonality for Filipino people when a natural disaster happens every year in areas with big typhoons or floods. I also love when they show dance scenes because Filipino would do in a situation in a natural disaster. They would deny their pain by showing something positive like a dance, joke, or smile to present a face in the media. The religious aspect of the movie is another Filipino aspect that is accurate since people in the film pray for this pain to be over. A thing that surprised me was Daniel Padilla's performance in the movie. I associate the actor's acting with his rom-com movies, but in the film, he did a good performance in the role. The best part of the film is how it is surliest or magic realism in the movie without spoiling it; both the visual and music incorporating it visualize the central theme about the aftermath.

Overall, I would really recommend this movie; it deserved more recognition and screening for Filipino people and other people interested in general. It shed topic that is close to Filipinos with a breathtaking experience.