By Annette V. Eufemio, Managing Director, Brew Productions, and longtime Mandaluyong resident
Brillante Mendoza films are not easy to watch. There is nothing pretty about them—from the squalor of the location, to the realness of the actors and the grit of the cinematography. They force you to see things that you would rather not see. Ma’Rosa is a classic Brillante Mendoza film.
It takes the viewer on a dizzying ride through the armpits of Mandaluyong. Oddie Flores’ cinematography and camera work is so guileless, you feel a certain exhaustion from watching the film. We walk through Plainview and Barangka with Rosa, Cannes-Award worthily portrayed by Jaclyn Jose, as she shrewdly finds ways to survive. Survival for her means her family has food on the table, they don’t live on the streets and her children can still go to school. She has a deadbeat husband with a nasty habit, two street savvy sons, a daughter who is a college student. Survival means augmenting their income with whatever means they can find—from renting out their videoke machine, to selling small quantities of drugs alongside candies and packs of noodles in their sari-sari store. Things take a nasty turn when they are caught in a buy-bust operation. Rosa and her husband are hauled by the police to the station and are made to answer for their crime. The band of policemen and their ragtag crew bring them in for questioning, and make them pay—literally make them pay.
Having worked with Brillante Mendoza on a couple of advertising spots, I have been told by him that his directing style is very organic. He keeps his interference at a minimum- from acting, dialogue, scenography. He captures reality in a very pure and sincere way, without calling attention to itself. The location, Mandaluyong, is an important character in the film. The cast of actors did a sharp job at ensemble acting, so much so that some were saying that Jaclyn Jose was just a supporting character. That is, until that unforgettable fish ball scene.
Ma’Rosa is not a pleasant film to watch, it was tiring, dizzying, at times repulsive. It forces you to see things you would rather not see. It makes you think, it makes you feel. Brillante Mendoza’s Ma’Rosa brilliantly does just that.
