Tagpuan: A representation of the realities of life

The Alternative Vision Cinemas-produced movie Tagpuan, one of the 10 entries to this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), tackles about love that has the power to turn insouciant viewers into full-fledged stans for such kind of cinematic storytelling.

Written by Ricky Lee and directed by Mac Alejandre, Tagpuan is not just your usual story of three-way love connections where a man is involved with two women. It digs deeper on other facets of love and life that the characters of Alfred Vargas, Shaina Magdayao and Iza Calzado as Allan, Tanya and Agnes, respectively, vividly present. It also mirrors what is going on inside a person’s heart and mind.

Shaina and Iza assured the story of Tagpuan remains appropriate in the kind of situation that we are all in now due to the pandemic.

“It’s very relevant because we’re in a season of uncertainty,” began Shaina. “Actually, this whole year is a season of uncertainty and I’m sure that this year, at one point, we all felt lost and probably until now there are people who still look for answers on how they will be able to start anew.”

She continued, “My character Tanya, she’s a lost soul and just like in real life, there are people who come to our life and they are meant to stay while others seemingly just pass by to teach us a lesson. That’s why, I think the viewers can relate to Tanya because she will find bits and pieces of the answers with the presence of Allan and si Allan naman, with the presence of Agnes.”

Tagpuan is a fitting example of art imitating life as Shaina regarded the movie as a representation of the realities of life. “I think the viewers will also see that this is not just a love story kaya mahirap din i-classify into one genre since it has a bit of everything of what is happening in real life — joy, love and laughter.”

She, too, revealed her realizations while shooting the movie. “(I’m talking) from my personal experience, di ba when you’re younger, there’s a moment when you’re trying to find yourself and you’re trying to look for answers. Mag-tra-travel ka. I did that. I traveled outside the country and went to Europe. I even traveled alone only to realize that the answers are within me, na nasa sarili ko lang matatagpuan at hindi sa external factors. Hindi sa pagbya-byahe at hindi sa ibang tao kundi nasa puso at isipan ko lang pala. So, I can say that the viewers will definitely relate in that aspect.”

Iza stressed that during this pandemic, people have become more reflective “because we’ve realized what’s important to us or what can make us happy. It doesn’t have to be grand things or even grand moments but just a few things or few people are enough.”

Just like what Shaina told about the characters in the movie, Iza agreed that “we are all kind of lost souls searching for meaning. I guess, a lot of people have been experiencing it now this pandemic and I think one of the ways for us to not feel lost is to find a sense of purpose.”

She believed that her character, by the end of the film, will have a clearer view of her purpose. Personally, Iza is hopeful that we all get to recognize what we were put on this earth for.

Asked what or who else they wish to find as they continue to sail through in the journey called life, Iza and Shaina both said there are still so many things that they would love to accomplish and each revealed what is in their heart.

Iza declared, “One day, gusto ko matagpuan ang anak ko, na magtagpo kami when God blesses us (with husband Ben Wintle) with a child at matagpuan ko ang pagiging isang ina. But one thing is for sure, you can make all the plans that you want to plan and all the goals you want to set but it is really God’s plans that will unfold. That’s why, I just go where life takes me. I just hope that whoever I come across in life, I can be of help to him or her because in this life, we don’t live for ourselves alone.”

Shaina, on the other hand, believed that this year has definitely broadened her outlook in life. “Ang aking pag-unawa sa buhay lumawak, ang aking appreciation in life. This year has really forced all of us to realize what truly matters and I’ve discovered that the most important in life is what we thought before as ‘the simplest things’ like a comfortable place to sleep and a decent meal three or four times a day. It’s also a great blessing for us that we are all safe, healthy and alive.”

She went on to talk about her plans to accomplish a lot of things yet the unexpected happened and Shaina realized that “hindi mo hawak ang buhay so I’ll just keep the faith and keep moving forward.”

(Tagpuan, with Alfred as main producer, goes digital via Upstream until Jan. 7. Tickets are available online via https://upstream.ph/mmff/.)