i will not, and cannot, say that i did not like the film. it's one of the more substantial and worth-watching Pinoy films created during my time. (and please, correct people who say it's a sexy or a bold flick. it is not. i would feel insulted and disrespected if i were mario o'hara. just because it has sex and nudity in it doesn't follow that it is a bold flick -- or at least, that's what i'd like to think.) but it's not the kind i would like (or can stand) to watch all over again. parang nung nanood ako ng "live show" (wherein i stole my dad's copy to see why certain people were such in distress over the film). we ought to salute mario o'hara though for not sugar-coating the lives of the people who live such lives -- bangkeros-slash-construction workers, homeless prostitutes, taong grasas, men and women who have gone out of their wits, kids who subsist on rugby then feast on garbage bags from jollibee, former carnival performers. not a lot of our local directors -- or at least, the more famous ones and those who do full-length movies -- will, or can, have the balls to do that. (maybe because they believe they should be soft on the viewers and because their primary reason is to entertain?)
but watching "babae..." felt like being served a plate heaping with poverty and i had no other choice but to munch through it. it felt heartbreaking and excruciating and terrible with every bite.
maybe it's just not the kind of film i'd like to watch after a day's work. maybe it's just not the kind of film i'd like to watch when i'm already worn-out and jaded. maybe watching "babae..." felt tedious for me because last night, i found myself in denial of what's actually going on in some places of my beloved country, because it's dreadful and ugly and disturbing and painful.
it didn't feel like a film. it felt like a documentary of our lives.
by the way, happy independence day, everyone.
