Award-winning filmmaker Brillante Mendoza has a continuing fascination with Muslim country in the South.
His latest, Moro, is showing on Netflix July 19 and it has colorful echoes of his past output on the country’s Southern frontier.
Remember the Nora Aunor-starrer Thy Womb which is a real-life look at an infertile Muslim wife and Captive starring no less than Isabelle Huppert, the celebrated Cannes star of The Piano Teacher. The film was another look at hostage taking prevalent in Mindanao.
Some years back, he had an MMFF entry called Mindanao starring the popular Judy Ann Santos. It won a good share of the MMFF awards but got lost in the box office race in a festival groaning with shameless commercial entries.
Moro is another well-nuanced look at a typical Muslim family plagued by both family feuds and the recurring conflict between rebels and the military.
The opening reels have high cinematic highlights with bullets piercing through Muslim plantations and blood flowing from tattered leaves and unto the river.
There are recurring images of a Muslim patriarch emerging from the river as you hear native sounds from a Muslim chanter.
The big come-on of this film is the superior cast and good film editing and an obviously inspired direction.
The main focus is the mother called Ima brilliantly played by Laurice Guillen.
Guillen’s character has a lot of emotional balancing to do coping with two sons namely Jasim (played by Piolo Pascual) and Abdel (played by Baron Geisler) who are at odds over typical family issues.
Abdel is the perennially indebted one made worst by gambling and the good son played surprisingly well by Pascual rounds up a typical family profile in the story.
The film might as well be called The Matriarch as it is dominated by a caring mother torn between warring sons.
Indeed, Guillen is back with a vengeance as a first-rate actor worthy of an acting trophy.
Her portrayal of a Muslim mother is deeply felt and wading through the conflict of sons at war, she is the portrait of a strong mother bravely coping with family conflicts. She is the very portrait of acceptance of fate as the inevitable tragedy befell the family. Guillen is genuinely moving in this highly engrossing Mendoza film.
Even if Guillen dominates the film, the actors (Pascual and Geisler) are just as engaging as the good son and the prodigal one.
The portrayal of Guillen, Pascual and Geisler keeps you glued to the story until their untimely rendezvous with fate.
Mendoza has a special feel for stories from Moroland and his direction reflects exceptional research and faithful rendering of his story.
How Moro was meticulously made is one reason you should watch it.
After screening, Mendoza revealed the story is based on the story of a Maguindanaoan woman who lost her two sons in recurring conflicts in the region.
“I came across those stories and all I have to do is choose which of them suits my film project,” said the director. “Sadly, they’re all heartbreaking.”
Moro premiered at the 2023 Busan International Film Festival in South Korea and the audiences were curious why he kept on doing stories from Muslim land. His other film Mindanao was also screened in Busan. “Of course, Laurice’s (Guillen) exceptional acting got all the attention. But they were also curious why I kept making Muslim-themed films. They know I am Catholic and I am from Pampanga.”
He pointed out Muslim communities in Mindanao lacked representation. He also wanted to highlight the culture that’s unique to the region. “It’s only now, through the works of regional filmmakers that people are becoming more aware of what’s going on in Mindanao. I’m proud of the fact that I’m able to weave into the film the different traditions that they practice up to this day, like the kanduli.”
To highlight Muslim culture was also the reason why the film opened with a chanter to set the mood and tone of the film.
The director pointed out: “Kanduli is a Maguindanaoan term for offering. It is a thanksgiving ritual to God for all His blessings.”
(Award-winning filmmaker Brillante Mendoza‘s latest opus, Moro streams on Netflix Philippines and Asia Pacific on July 19, 2024. It stars Laurice Guillen, Baron Geisler, and Piolo Pascual, along with Christopher De Leon and Joel Torre. The film earlier secured a place in the fiercely competitive Jiseok Section of the Busan film fest. It is a competition section for established Asian filmmakers with three or more feature films. The award was created in commemoration of the late Kim Jiseok, program director who devoted his life to nurture and support Asian cinema.)
