BIRDSHOT (2017): A FILM REVIEW
2:09:00 PM
When you put class, relevance and imagination together to create a Indie film, you would come up with something like Birdshot. A film that leaves you pondering for days. A masterpiece.
This is my favorite kind of Indie so I understand why even until today, I am still birdshookt (lol). Birdshot challenged my imagination. A film that challenges the viewers' imaginative limits may not really be a good selling point for commercial success in the country. But for a film like this, it goes without saying that critical success matters more.
There was no wasted scene in Birdshot. 1 Hour and 56 minute runtime at that. From the scarecrow and the bus ride at night in the opening scene, to the juxtaposition of innocence and immorality in the main characters, and to the symbolisms of the shots that we probably have never seen before. There are two crimes in this movie's plot. The audience will invest in the bigger one but it is the smaller crime that the movie focused on which will make everything a bit anti-climactic but heavily ecstatic.
The character of 'Domingo', played by Arnold Reyes, had some scenes where his acting could have been better. But Mary Joy Apostol, the girl who played 'Maya' (look at that witty character naming, Birdshot = Maya), was spectacular. One could easily forget this is her first formal feature film debut. And there's Heneral Luna himself, John Arcilla, who is probably incapable of bad acting. Somebody give this man 3 movies a year, please.
Hands-down and easily the best cinematography I have seen this year for a local film. It's a letdown if the shots, angles, grading and mood of the scenes in Birdshot don't make it to discussions in film classes in the country.
We are probably full of local indie films that mirror the injustice or brutality in today's society (Hello, EJKs!). But Birdshot deserves a full commercial run. Many Filipinos need to watch it.
Xoxo,
@callmenorby
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