Whether the Weather Is Fine

At the end, my mother stood on the cliff and fireworks bloomed behind, contributing a very beautiful and unforgettable scene.

Whether the Weather Is Fine is a marvelous representation of surreal experiences meets real life events. In this film we find ourselves scraping at the bottom of the barrel when all has been lost due to the Typhoon, an occurrence almost deemed as anticipated in the Filipino life. Moments of hardship such as finding your loved one among the wreckage, exchanging rations for own personal desires, and finding ways to get off the island. Through this hardship the characters contemplate on future paths they ought to take which brings on the message of the film: having hope despite and in spite of challenges in life.

All messages accompanied with moments of tonal shifts between seriousness and comedy and even an surreal musical number that further implies the spiral down of sanity through these traumatic experiences. The film truly captures the Filipino tenacity but in no way romanticizes the suffering. As a Filipino I can truly relate and empathize with these sentiments however I fear that abroad it may be interpreted as another poverty porn film. For that I strongly advise the proper mindset and framework watching this film and that my fellow countrymen find time to watch this in support or to better grasp what happens to the calamity struck portions of our nation.

The film feels mesmerizing and experiencing to watch in general. The movie presents the issues of Filipino in rural areas struggling in the aftermath of natural disasters to survive. It brought into light the struggle of the people of Tacloban; you feel their pain on the screen, and it is something commonality for Filipino people when a natural disaster happens every year in areas with big typhoons or floods. I also love when they show dance scenes because Filipino would do in a situation in a natural disaster. They would deny their pain by showing something positive like a dance, joke, or smile to present a face in the media. The religious aspect of the movie is another Filipino aspect that is accurate since people in the film pray for this pain to be over. A thing that surprised me was Daniel Padilla's performance in the movie. I associate the actor's acting with his rom-com movies, but in the film, he did a good performance in the role. The best part of the film is how it is surliest or magic realism in the movie without spoiling it; both the visual and music incorporating it visualize the central theme about the aftermath.

Overall, I would really recommend this movie; it deserved more recognition and screening for Filipino people and other people interested in general. It shed topic that is close to Filipinos with a breathtaking experience.

From a survivor's point of view, the movie brings back so many memories of that unfaithful day. The struggles were very much reminiscent of how we Taclobanons behaved days after Super Typhoon Haiyan ravaged the city. Above all, I'm just impressed as to how they genuinely sounded like native Waray people. It amazes me to see a representation of us Warays in the big screen.

For someone who experienced being hit by a chaotic disaster myself, I went inside the cinema expecting this critically-acclaimed film to be a medium to explore a story of family and drama while facing a catastrophic event that once filled all the headlines and brought in an international attention. But upon seeing the first few shots, accompanied by a very bizarre music compared to the visuals, I already felt what the film is trying to achieve.

Kun Maupay It Panahon (Whether the Weather is Fine) - a debut film of Carlo Francisco Manatad - is a tale about three people; Miguel (Daniel Padilla), Norma (Charo Santos), and Andrea (Rans Rifol); while they cruise through the ruins of Tacloban, Leyte after the devastating supertyphoon Yolanda.

The film's composition of wide shots and very detailed production design gives a sense of immersiveness to the viewers to feel with the main characters. The ambiguity of the characters while they interact with the surroundings blends well with how they slowly walk towards their own different goals. And it's very evident how the treatment of Manatad plays not with the outward interaction of the characters with their environment, but with their inner emotions and perception of their current reality. I also like the film's satirical critique of the Filipino resiliency and the subtlety of how they tried to show it.

Overall, the absurdism of the film worked really well on portraying the stories of the characters. It's a storytelling that gives a firm social voice on how things usually unfolds on casastrophes outside and within ourselves. And it's truly devastating, whether the weather is fine - or not.