
by Sam Juliano
Screening at the Village East Cinemas on the first day of the Tribeca Film Festival, Brillant Mendoza’s naturalistic Phillipine art house feature Lola, traverses some of the same territory visited by Hsao-Hsien in its humanistic underpinnings and by the Dardenne brothers in its wordless sequenes and deliberate pacing. Yet, with the use of a hand-held camera, often jerky in motion, sustained for most of the film’s length, there is also a strain of the amateur here, which, though there’s no doubt that cinematographer Odyssey Flores captures some striking images in this story of squalor and impovrishment, beaurocratic obstinance, and the economic dictates of contemporary society.
The symetrical story basically concerns two elderly matriarchs who must bear the financial and legal ramifications of a crime in which both their grandsons are involved. One is murdered with a knife, while the other is the prime suspect. While trying to sustain their families’ meagre existence in makeshift shacks along and over rising waterways in Manila, the grandmothers must navigate even more trecherous domestic waters in funeral homes, prisons and court rooms, where they are always on the outside looking in. The conflict almost never reaches levels of vocal acceleration, rather the absence of false conflicts render the film as an acute ‘slice ofd life’ drama, much in the tradition of cinema verite. Lola is shot on video instead of film, yet the crystal clear canvas, much of it negotiated through a steady and driving rain, unveils a beautiful panorama of the urban Manila landscape. Mendoza posesses the social urgency of a Bahreni, with the lyrical devices of a Hsaio-Hsien, yet he’s singular in his insightful focus on the lower classes in this film and in his past work. Lola was rather a return to the sociological roots of the earlier films, apart from last year’s Serbis, which bordered more on Tsai Ming-Liang in its sensory overload and more provocative themes, which centered around pornography.
The film opens on a series of languid shots as a boy and his grandmother make their way through the streets of the city, wanting to stand upon the very spot where her grandson was murdered. Then, she takes on the wrenching task of visiting a funeral home, where the proprietor tries to sell her some coffins she has no money to buy (she settles for the cheapest, no-frills one) and then to the police station, where more frustrations await. At this point, the plot introduces the other “Lola” who is there to respond to the accusation of murder leveled against her own grandson. The narrative then visits both women, alternately, as they scramble to scrape up money for the burial and the defense. The film’s most beautiful sequence is the funeral procession down the city waterways, which underlined the limitations of the lower classes, who still were able to partake in one of civilized society’s most sedate moments.
At 110 minutes the film is too long to sustain this meagre, if often compelling matter. As a work about a culture in transition Lola is an impressive work, but it’s pacing will almost certainly be felt as an endurance test for some, as there really isn’t any kind of linear dramatic continuity. Still, Mendoza knows his home turf, and of the poignancy of economical strife, issues that date all the way back to the French and Japanese humanists and the Italian neo-realists. It’s a cinema where the style is far less important than the characters and their struggle to survive. Almost inevitably, the two women who portray the grandmothers, especially the kin of the deceased on, give wrenching performances that ring true. Lola almost disavows editing, and it’s focus in on character activity, yet in the end it’s hard not to feel for these people and their hardships and plight. By quite a distance that’s no small achievement.
Final Rating: **** (of five)
Note: I saw ‘Lola’ on Thursday evening at 8:00 P.M. at the Village East Cinemas with Broadway Bob Eagleson as part of the Tribeca Film festival. I have three more Tribeca films scheduled to see over the next week. Bob and I stopped off at The Dish on 8th Avenue afterwards for a late night snack, as we had skipped supper.
Sounds like a strong work, especially the casting of older people in the central roles! There is much you can do with a humanist/neorealist plot idea like this – “The narrative then visits both women, alternately, as they scramble to scrape up money for the burial and the defense.”
Asian arthouse struggles to get cinematic space in Ireland though – unless it wins a major gong somewhere. We shall see…
Thanks so much Longman! In viewof te film’s exceptional critical success, I’d say you are sitting pretty with the prospects for this one!
Great to see that you got over to Tribeca on opening day. And better yet even that the film was one to remember. I am unfamiliar with Mendoza’s work, but I appreciate this kind of humanist cinema. I will keep my eyes open for a hopeful release in the coming months. Good luck with that Tranny With Knives. I’ve read about that one!
Frank, this would be a very good choice for your first Mendoza for a host of reasons. Yes that TRANNY WITH KNIVES will be quite controversial. There are sure to be protesters outside. Thanks as always for your support!
“Mendoza posesses the social urgency of a Bahreni, with the lyrical devices of a Hsaio-Hsien, yet he’s singular in his insightful focus on the lower classes in this film and in his past work.”
Interesting. Without reading any further I’d say this comparison alone would make him a director to check out. It’s always nice to have the festival kick off with a winner, but yeah, at those prices I would expect your appearances to be severely limited.
David: Seeing four is actually overdoing it, but my friend Broadway Bob took the initiative, and I went along for the ride. Thanks!
This is the Asian equivalent of Italian neo-realism. One event serves as the metaphor for a central issue: economic strife. We had that with The Bicycle Thief. I’d like to see this!
Excellent point there Fred!
Sam, I’d really like to see that “Trannies With Knives,” especially with all the controversy and the promises of picketing. Hope you review it next week!
A review is definitely imminent Fred, if I make it home alive!!!
….Lola is shot on video instead of film, yet the crystal clear canvas, much of it negotiated through a steady and driving rain, unveils a beautiful panorama of the urban Manila landscape….
This sounds very appealing Sam. I hope it gets a wide release. Lovely writing throughout this review, but that’s no surprise.
The shift to the other grandmother was unexpected and certainly changed the complexion of the film for me. By alternating between the two grandmothers, the film highlighted when one is struggling to make ends meet, then the price of justice is very measurable in monetary terms. I am glad I saw this film, although I found Mendoza’s Slingshot and Foster Child to be much more riveting works.
Mendoza has covered the streets of his home country very well in his previous films but here we get to see the waterways, something I had not even thought of before regarding Manila. Remarkably, the scenes with the waterways stayed long in my memory. So thank you for mentioning one of those memorable scenes.
Sachin:
I’m very happy (and grateful) to see that there’s someone out there who knows Mendoza’s work very well!!! This is the only film of his I have seen yet, but those two you mention are now on the must-see list! That is indeed an irrefutable point you make about both grandmothers, and I’m delighted you found some domestic resonance there with the waterway settings.
Great comment! Many Thanks! Just checked your site, and love that bets list that’s leading. I just added it to the sidebar!
Thanks Sam. Those two films I saw were the first works by Mendoza that I saw at the Vancouver film festival in 2007. Both films shook me up and left such an impression that for the first time I mustered the courage to ask a few questions at a film’s Q&A with a director. I have since then seen a few more films by him but those two still resonate the strongest.
Thanks for mentioning your fav films of the year and I look forward to seeing a few of them this year. I have added this site on my blogroll as well so I can be better informed of the wonderful cinematic universe that exists 🙂
Sachin, that’s fantastic! And the Q & A was the icing on the cake! I’d love at some point to see these two. Your tireless energy in seeking out all these off-the-beacon track directors is almost as impressive as you’re seeing 400 films in 2010!!!!
I look forward to sharing experiences with you my friend!
Thanks Sam. I also look forward to reading more new film discoveries from you. By the way, I just noticed that a PAL DVD release of Slingshot will be released in the UK on Feb 28, so a proper North American DVD release should not be far behind.