Love in its various levels

Film review: Ikaw Ang Pag-Ibig

MANILA, Philippines - There are sensitive and disturbing moments right after watching Marilou Diaz-Abaya’s latest film, Ikaw Ang Pag-Ibig.   

It puts  and reexamines  love in various levels as they come into play in a family coping with assorted crisis.   

For another, you get a sweeping and dramatic footage of Marian devotees completely in awe of the Virgin of Peñafrancia which is just as powerful and gripping as the yearly procession of the Christ of Nazarene in Quiapo.   

This religious footage overwhelms such as it is but filmmaker Abaya goes beyond this by weaving an interesting story around it. In the process, it gives us another choice on how we can all cope by turning to someone in total control of our destiny.   

One’s reservation about this film is that it may turn out to be the usual devotional output of a Marian devotee. But as the film progresses, you get a slice of life of an ordinary family coping bravely with crisis at hand.   

On the other hand, the family profile is complex such as it is. The husband  (Nonie Buencamino) has a second family, the daughter (Ina Feleo) is a single mother and the matriarch (Shamaine Centenera) puts up a brave front but is really hurting inside. For obvious reason, her source of strength is the priest-son (Marvin Agustin) and this special attention unsettles the daughter (Ina). Moreover, her grandson (Yogo  Singh) provides another loving source of  courage.   

The cast, led by Nonie Buencamino, Sharmaine Centenera and Ina Feleo, with Monsignor Leonardo Legaspi, archbishop of Caceres

The film’s big come-on is the cast’s sensitive and powerful performance Nonie and Shamaine turn in contrasting and well-nuanced acting as the estranged couple. Marvin as the ailing priest is the composite profile of what priests ought to be — dedicated, passionate and a hardworking shepherd. For once, Jomari Yllana gets to play a doctor and father of a lovechild and delivers a far more human and complex performance that showed a growing indication of maturity in his evolution as an actor. Even Singh who played the precocious grandson manages to match the powerful performances of the adult cast.   

Even more revealing is the performance of Ina as the video editor coping with a hectic work schedule on top of her being a single mother. Hers is the kind of acting that flows spontaneously and it is amazing how she has improved over the years. The transition of her character from hardworking working single mother to a concerned sister confronting the tyranny of hospital bills is what gives us one of the many clues on how divine intercession works even as she copes with the hassles of the work-a-day world.   

As it is, the combined inputs of  of Feleo, Yllana, Buencamino, Centenera, Agustin, and Singh with the surprise cameo role of Eddie Garcia as the priest are classic example of acting ensemble at its best.    Director Abaya is in full control of her material and  she made sure she didn’t turn off even the non-believers. True to her credential, she was able to get the best from her artistic team. The music of Nonong Buencamino has a contemporary feel and gave us the best writing for the cello (Renato Lucas) in the film’s emotionally wrenching moments. The photography of David Abaya  has many good things going for it: It avoids the trite shots and made sure the images of The  Virgin didn’t overshadow the domestic drama of a family in crisis. In this young cinematographer’s hands, The Virgin acquires a human and contemporary look, avoiding shots that may convey unnecessary “miraculous” effect.   

Produced by the Most Reverend Leonardo Legaspi of the Archdiocese of Caceres and the Marilou Diaz-Abaya Film Institute and Arts Center, Ikaw Ang Pag-Ibig portrays The Virgin as the ultimate epitome of true love as it should figure in ordinary lives. Here the lost and rekindled love between parent and daughter, between man and woman and their love child actually re-examines love in many complex but insightful levels.   

Like it or not, the film is a true gift for believers and offers open spiritual choices for the non-believers. Happily, the film doesn’t preach; the characters don’t spout Bible passages, the cinematography doesn’t evoke pious scenes from religious films and the music avoided the predictability of worship melodies and didn’t try anything resembling passages from an oratorio.   

Here, director Abaya shows us that we are in Planet Earth with all its worldly cycle of earthly cravings. Ikaw Ang Pag-Ibig offers us another chance to re-examine our dormant spiritual life and to re-evaluate our mundane existence.   

Come to think of it, the Abaya film is a classic movie package that encapsulates the true meaning of Christmas outside the malls and the corporate parties.     

Released by Star Cinema, Ikaw Ang Pag-ibig  opens  Feb. 7, 2011 in theaters all over the country. The good news is that the film was rated A by the Cinema Evaluation Board last Dec. 14. Understandably, the Bicolanos came in droves and cheered the film during its world premiere at the Sta. Isabel  College  Auditorium in Naga City last Dec. 17.         

On the other hand, the  film is also a tribute to the piety of the Bicolanos and a fitting offering to the Tercentenary of the queen Patroness of Bicol.