Donsol
I watched the gala premiere of Donsol, an entry at the 2nd Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival last night at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
The synopsis of the film:
Love is an ocean of emotions.
Whalesharks, magnificent creatures of the deep, visit once a year the turquoise waters of Donsol.
Daniel, the young guide who swims with the whalesharks, finds himself drawn to Teresa, a woman as beautiful and mysterious as the visitors of the sea. Burdened by past heartaches and uncertain of the future, the two find sanctuary in each other as love surfaces anew.
As the tide rises and recedes in a cycle of loss and renewal, Donsol provides the breathtaking backdrop to a story of heartbreak, and the healing power of love.
I like Donsol. It was a very beautiful film with a simple story. I appreciated how it did not romanticize the setting (that much). As with other movies taking on the names of places as the film’s titles, I was half-expecting the film to come off as a quasi-tourist advertisement. On the contrary, it actually showed the struggles of Donsol and the butanding intercut and parallel with the struggles of the two main characters. The whalesharks weren’t there just make the movie stay true to its namsake. The actors also portrayed their roles well. I also appreciate how they made the characters really speak in Bicolano.
This film deserves mainstream exhibition.
Jumoyn kami dyan nuon, sa 20-minute film kategori. Iskul projekt namin yung ipinadala naming entri. PILA yung taytel. Wala sa kalingkingan nyang Donsol. Hehehe.
if only CCP wasn’t THAT far.
wala bang rerun sa closer to home venue? haha.
sounds like a good movie.
sali ka na!
Preview pa lang convinced na ako. Angel is UP product also. Pang world class, tulad ni bikoy.
I like whales. So maybe I’ll like this even if extra lang yung whalesharks.
Aaron: Last year, after the CCP run, they had runs of the films in the UP Film Centre. So far, wala pa akong balita.
mukhang maganda nga
ipapalabas din kaya sya sa UP film center?
[...] Aside from watching the gala premiere of Donsol last Wednesday night, I also attended the first day of the 2nd Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival’s Film Congress last Thursday. I went there with my orgmates from UP MCO. [...]
[...] Out of the eight feature-length films, I’ve only seen Donsol, which I really liked. I’m looking forward to seeing the rest of the films, including this year’s best picture, Tulad ng Dati. [...]
[...] I only have one negative comment though. Unlike in Donsol, where the actors were made to speak in the native language as their setting and characters demanded, here we have Ifugaos speaking in straight Tagalog, even among themselves! (Which can be read as a disregard of the traditional polarity between highlanders and lowlanders). To add to this inconsistency, minor characters within the main characters’ peripheries were speaking in native Ifugao, which all the more makes the main characters seem oddly out of place. [...]
“I also appreciate how they made the characters really speak in Bicolano.”
Please edit.. Bicolano are the men from Bicol. The language and the region are both “Bikol”. Thanks!