AMA Computer College Caloocan Campus

263 UE Tech Road Caloocan City

A LITERARY ANALYSIS OF THE MOVIE “SEVEN SUNDAYS” (2017) USING THE

BOWEN’S FAMILY SYSTEMS THEORY OF Dr. MURRAY BOWEN

Balinquit, Chrissielaine

Grade 12- Humss A

2020
 Chapter 1
THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

INTRODUCTION
Star Cinema’s “Seven Sundays” revolves around the story of Bonifacio
family, whose patriarch, Manuel, (Ronaldo Valdez) is diagnosed with a terminal
illness. Seeing the family he built with his now deceased-wife, falling apart,
Manuel has only one dying wish: see his four children together again and
reconnected, happy and looking for each other, like when they were still kids.
But time and distance have taken a great toll on his children’s relationships
which have been mostly strained by insecurities and pride among them.

His eldest, Allan (Aga Mulach), is a struggling father trying to make ends
meet for his own family. Bryan (Dingdong Dantes), the middle child, who in spite
of being the most successful, harbors bitterness towards Allan, whom he thinks
has remained his father’s favorite. Cha (Cristine Reyes), now a mother of three,
tries to hide her malfunctioning marriage, and Dexter (Enrique Gil), the youngest,
keeps himself distant from the family he thinks abandoned him. They are forced
to reconcile under the same roof, and as they try to grant their dying father’s
wish, a recollection of their history and some assessment of where they are and
have gone as a family, are inevitably ensued.

Almost expectedly, “Seven Sundays” runs through a structure that is not

foreign to its genre. It is predictable, unimaginative, and gets in its dramatic and
comedic moments overly sensationalized. This flaw barely undermines the
narrative’s overall entertainment value but it somehow deprives the film the knack
to arrive to a sensible resolution. The film exaggerates both the emotionally
heavy and funny proceedings of its script to solicit tears and chuckles, which to
be fair, are mostly earned, but sometimes fall in the wrong places. It then
creates an over-sized heft, which may not be necessary, but thoroughly effective
in delivering the motives of the film. At some point, gentle moments get
overshadowed by big climactic sequences, but this is fine as they propel the
narrative to getting all it sample sentiments across. Admirably, emotional
segments of the film are almost equally distributed to its five leads, each one
given enough moment to make their characters shine.

But Dingdong Dantes has arguably emerged as the strongest performer.

There is a powerful exchange of accusations and revelation of insecurities among
the siblings, where Bryan bares his bitter struggle to prove himself and his worth
in the family. Throughout this utterly compelling conflict, Dantes surfaces with a
dignified maneuver of his character, handling its emotional complexity with ease
and eloquence–its result result, no less than a moving performance.

Enrique Gil’s Dexter has practically the same baggage. He struggles to

connect to the members of his family whom he feels left him when he was in
need of someone to guide him through growing up. As anticipated, every
member of the family has to survive the pains of growing up, but it is growing
apart that proves to be more damaging to the Bonifacio family, and it is more
evident in Dexter. Gil provides a commanding delivery of his character that is
deeply bruised by his parent-less childhood. Aga Mulach and Cristine Reyes
also shine in their respective scenes. Muhlach still illustrates brilliance in his
dramatic exchanges with Dantes, and owns some of the most heartwarming
family moments in the film, most strikingly the ones with his son. Cha as the
family’s “only princess”, is evidently the most fragile. Cristine carries out her
character with a palpable commitment to what it demands, and comes out
capable getting all her relatable sentiments across.

But then, all these characters radiate around Manuel, played by Ronaldo
Valdez ,who has singularly maintained his dramatic genius throughout the film.
Valdez shares the biggest chunk of the comic effort of the film, but he shines
best during those scary moments when he begins to understand what looms in
his family’s horizon. His struggle as a father trying to keep the foundations of his
already rattled family makes his character accessible, hence it emerges as the
most relatable element of the film.

For what it’s worth, while “Seven Sundays” struggles to abandon the
conventions of its genre, this Cathy Garcia-Molina-helmed family drama turns out to
be actually memorable. Its utter earnestness to relate a familiar story moves the
film to levels that is bracing enough to capture audience and tug at their
heartstrings. With its poignant sentiments about family, it hits right in the heart,
and for that, “Seven Sundays” is exceptional.

The reasercher choose The Bowen’s Family Systems Theory of Dr. Murray
Bowen because Bowen’s Theory is about human behavior that views the family
as an emotional unit and uses systems thinking to describe the complex
interactions in the unit. It is the nature of a family that its members are
intensely connected emotionally. Often people feel distant or disconnected from
their families, but this is more feeling than fact. Families so profoundly affect their
members’ thoughts, feelings, and actions that it often seems as if people are
living under the same “emotional skin.” People solicit each other’s attention,
approval, and support and react to each other’s needs, expectations, and upsets.
The connectedness and reactivity make the functioning of family members
interdependent.

The purpose of this study is to prove that broken connection or time and
distance of the family can be a broken family.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

This study aims to know how broken connection can affect the whole family from the

movie Seven Sundays(2017) Some of specified problem are as follows:

1. What are the causes of conflict happened in the movie in terms of;
 a. A broken Connection
b. Children’s relationships which have been mostly strained by insecurities and

pride among them .

2. How time and distance affect the family ?
3. How does the Bowen family systems show the effect of human behavior that

views the family as an emotional unit?

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The result of this The Analysis of the movie “Seven Sundays “ using The

bowen’s Theory will be beneficial to the following:

Students–This study will be beneficial most especially to students for them to know that

being with their family is a must

Teachers – This study will also help the person with this case in school. Teachers will

treat the students as their own child

Parents – Parents have the big impact to their children’s closeness. Their parenting is

one of the factors that can affect one’s personality. This study will make them realize

that they have to spend more time to their child.

Viewers – This study will help the readers to be more aware and understand that

Family is the most important thing in our life.

Future Researchers – This study will help them to have an idea about this topic.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Time and Distance Bowen family systems

theory
 Family Conflict.

This study will include on How does the time and distance can result a
family conflict. Researcher use Bowen family systems theory because Bowen’s
Theory is about human behavior that views the family as an emotional unit and
uses systems thinking to describe the complex interactions in the unit.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Bowen family systems theory is a theory of human behavior that views the
family as an emotional unit and uses systems thinking to describe the complex
interactions in the unit. It is the nature of a family that its members are intensely
connected emotionally. Often people feel distant or disconnected from their families, but
this is more feeling than fact. Families so profoundly affect their members’ thoughts,
feelings, and actions that it often seems as if people are living under the same
“emotional skin.” People solicit each other’s attention, approval, and support and react
to each other’s needs, expectations, and upsets. The connectedness and reactivity
make the functioning of family members interdependent. A change in one person’s
functioning is predictably followed by reciprocal changes in the functioning of others.
Families differ somewhat in the degree of interdependence, but it is always present to
some degree.

The emotional interdependence presumably evolved to promote the

cohesiveness and cooperation families require to protect, shelter, and feed their
members. Heightened tension, however, can intensify these processes that promote
unity and teamwork, and this can lead to problems. When family members get anxious,
the anxiety can escalate by spreading infectiously among them. As anxiety goes up, the
emotional connectedness of family members becomes more stressful than comforting.
Eventually, one or more members feels overwhelmed, isolated, or out of control. These
are the people who accommodate the most to reduce tension in others. It is a reciprocal
interaction. For example, a person takes too much responsibility for the distress of
others in relationship to their unrealistic expectations of him, or a person gives up too
much control of his thinking and decision-making in relationship to others anxiously
telling him what to do. The one who does the most accommodating literally “absorbs”
system anxiety and thus is the family member most vulnerable to problems such as
depression, alcoholism, affairs, or physical illness.

Dr. Murray Bowen, a psychiatrist, originated this theory and its eight
interlocking concepts. He formulated the theory by using systems thinking to integrate
knowledge of the human species as a product of evolution with knowledge from family
research. A core assumption is that an emotional system that evolved over several
billion years governs human relationship systems. People have a “thinking brain,”
language, a complex psychology and culture, but people still do all the ordinary things
other forms of life do. The emotional system affects most human activity and is the
principal driving force in the development of clinical problems. Knowledge of how the
emotional system operates in one’s family, work, and social systems reveals new and
more effective options for solving problems in each of these areas.

SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS

The analysis of this literary will explore the whole movie of The Seven Sundays,
especially the effects of the time and distance of each family member. The
Bonifacio Family experiences in the movie Seven Sundays are basis that the family has
the big infact in our lives. Researchers will be delimiting the study in a family conflict
that shown in the movie.
 DEFINITION OF TERMS

Family - Family means having someone to love you unconditionally in spite of you and
your shortcomings. Family is loving and supporting one another even when it's not easy
to do so. It's being the best person you could be so that you may inspire your love ones.

Relationship - The way in which two or more concepts, objects, or people are
connected, or the state of being connected.