Not just another sibling story

Until the very early years of this new millennium, reviewers of the various film award-giving bodies had to watch entries on 35 mm in private screening rooms.

The Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino had a most diligent and hardworking member in Mario Bautista. During his time, he picked up from the offices of movie companies rolls of films — in tin cans — loaded these in the trunk of his car and carried everything by himself all the way to the projection room of the old National Media Production Center in Arroceros, Manila where the critics group had their screenings.

When I came in, I was also asked to borrow prints. But I only carried to the screening the Coleman cooler, which was actually heavier (with ice and cans sodas in it). I didn’t want to touch the cans of prints because these were numbered and, like I always say, I freeze on my tracks at the sight of numbers. I was afraid I would interchange these.

For Viva Films entries, I would get in touch with promotions chief Baby Gil (yes, our Baby Gil in these pages) and she would send the prints over to the CCP (we borrowed the small Tanghalang Manuel Conde) in carretela. I don’t know why they used this mode of transportation, but I actually saw the prints arrive in that — on time.

The advent of DVD had made life easier for us. In the past few years, directors of independent films — the indies — had been sending us screeners that we pass around. The difficult part is the viewing since it’s no joke to go through some 50 titles (yes, we try to go through every indie film — some in various dialects).

Kim Homer Garcia

Dead tired from work, we have to catch an indie movie or two before plopping on to bed. I don’t know about the others, but I take my job seriously. I don’t pass forward and had never fallen asleep at anything.

At the start of 2011, I decided to finally watch my pile of DVDs that had been sent to my residence late last year. I was lucky that the first one proved to be very engaging. An entry to the 2010 Cinemalaya, the film is called Magkakapatid. It’s different from Sharon Cuneta and Judy Ann Santos’ Ang Magkapatid almost a decade ago. And definitely its story is different from Maritess and Tina Revilla’s The Sisters of 1973.

Directed by Kim Homer Cabaguio Garcia, Magkakapatid traces the relationship of grown siblings in a town somewhere in Batangas. The only sister is Ces Quesada, whose lot doesn’t improve compared to her two brothers: Julio Diaz, a respected community leader, and another one who is not shown in the film anymore since the story opens with him just recently interred. But he was a military man, who becomes financially successful (there’s already a subtle statement there) and manages to take in another wife (more statement). It is, of course, still his first spouse, Raquel Villavicencio, who is acknowledged by his siblings as their legal in-law.

The remaining siblings, sister-in-law and some of their children go through various challenges in life and all those little stories intertwined with each other keep the viewer glued to the film.

Along the way, we see basic human frailties — like the very weak disposition in life of Ces, the unforgiving heart of Raquel and the frivolity of Julio’s wife, Shamaine Buencamino (she attends a funeral in a fashionable black dress with a hemline bordered by fringes).

Those little details shown in every character is what impresses me most with the directorial work of Garcia. He is able to capture the relationships of siblings as adults in Filipino society. Magkakapatid is also able to incorporate within the flow of the story some of the flavors and colors of the Pinoy wedding and funeral customs. Of course, there are appetizing food scenes and we see dinuguan (not in the funeral sequences though) and other Filipino viands being prepared by some of the characters.

More importantly, we witness the dynamics among siblings when they already have their own families. And since the film is set in the province, we even see how uncle-nephew relationships are a bit different there compared to how we smother with affection the children of our siblings in Manila.

What I like best about Magkakapatid is that the little nuances all throughout the movie are real. There is nothing artificial about situations that are staged in the film.

How far will Magkakapatid go in the awards race this summer? Competition is tough and I have no way of telling. Although it is a finely crafted film with a diligently-written script and remarkable performances by all the cast members I mentioned (including Banaue Miclat and Nico Antonio as the kids of the second generation) — I cannot say yet if it will make it to the nominees’ list.

There are 49 other DVD copies still up for viewing.