In the Navel of the Sea

It's a beautifully photographed film, resplendent with the wonders of nature and the shimmering shores of the islands. The story is simple, episodic, exquisitely told. Despite its length, it still engrosses.

However, some things did bother me. It didn't feel like the 1950s; somehow the atmosphere of that era was not captured. The costumes looked wrong (although I could be wrong), the manners and attitudes seemed to have come from the present. The sex scenes were mostly clinical (it seems hard to find Filipinas with no mustache these days for the kissing scenes). Hints of voodoo, adultery and needless deaths move the plot along, somewhat, but what annoyed me was the unconvincing scene where the main character, who's so enamoured of a teacher he followed to the city, managed to sleep with her after she had a fight with her husband (who left in an angry huff). It turns out she's still in love with her husband but wanted to be with someone that afternoon. So she sleeps with him. This is hard to swallow as I came from the same country and with the exception of prostitutes, I can't believe a married woman would do such a thing at the spur of the moment.

I still prefer Abaya's early efforts such as Brutal and Karnal, but this film looks like it had a bigger budget and worth watching if only for the cinematography.

I have only seen this movie recently on VHS and was surprised to see that it was a good movie, but still fails to capitalize it's potentials.

The movie is about a journey through life as narrated by the main character Pepito. The place is a small fishing village in a time when life was still simple. Pepito as the only son, whose father died while he still young. Describes his story through myths, legends, and folk traditions and beliefs. From childhood he sees these things and challenges the truth in each of them. Through this road of self discovery he realizes that even the closest of loved ones and familiar people can break his trust. In the end despite the heartbreaks and the tragedies, he found peace and acceptance as he passes on the stories of life to a new genaration of children in his small island world.