Saturday, August 11, 2012

Aparisyon

Aparisyon is another movie I caught during Cinemalaya. I headed to Trinoma to catch this film. It dealt with silence yet again, but this time around it took it to another direction compared to Ang Nawawala.

Aparisyon

This movie is about a bunch of nuns in a convent sometime during the Martial Law years in the Philippines. The movie's serene beginnings turn into a solemn and harrowing end when the movie came to a close. The story revolves around Lourdes (Jodie Sta. Maria), Remy, and Mother Superior Ruth. Lourdes is the new nun in the block and is introduced to the cloistered life. Her character is in stark contrast to Remy who is more outgoing and strong in personality. This time around, silence is used as a tool to cover up the situations that involved the monastery. After the rape of Lourdes and subsequent pregnancy, the monastery and Mother Superior Ruth is thrown into controversy and moral issues that it did not face before.

The change in aura and character of Mother Superior Ruth is seen when the old Mother Superior, who was now delusional, saw her as Satan, when before she was though of as Mother Mary herself. Silence this time around is used as a tool that leads to inaction. Everything is kept inside and as a secret to protect the image of the monastery. Here is a complete synopsis of the movie. 

I liked this movie because of the questions it posed on the viewers, at first I thought I was in for a horror movie, but when the story unfolded, the horror and dread of the aparisyon is more of what is going on in the mind and not the actual aparisyon.

This movie and Ang Nawawala took silence and moved in very different directions. Hopefully, we get to see more of these kinds of films from Philippine cinema.

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