Mamang

A seemingly plotless tale almost like a documentary of a woman, mother, and lover at the onslaught of dementia. A steady flat approach but engaging. No AHA! nor HAHAHA! Does not give boisterous laughter nor spiked thrills but subtle deeply-rooted "OO NGAs". Where each audience resonates with the main character and the situational context of the scenes. Calming and soothing photography is very much compatible with the overriding tempo. But as the movie unfolds, the myriad of apparent "inconsequential" episodes -- going out of the house, gardening, cooking, looking for a job for her son in the newspaper ads, confronting gossip-mongers, herself, a source of it -- gives you an unease that lets you expect and leads you to anticipate as in a crescendo that an earth-shaking climax is afoot. Lo and behold life's cycle is reached. Not cinematic nor theatrical. Definitely not dramatic nor loud. But truly life-attuned "oo nga" -- as soft as the ebb and flow of tide (Hollywood be damned!). One that brings a tear to the eye. BRAVO! Bravo for its subtlety, bravo for its script, where it is so day-to-day, so "ordinary", even. However, its ordinariness makes "Mamang" extraordinarily uplifting and life-mirroring. SUPERB!