By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Brillante Mendoza
Starring: Bembol Roco | Lovi Poe | Mercedes Cabral | Nora Aunor
Original language title: Sinapupunan
Country: philippines
Year: 2012
Running time: 105
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2395459/
Bruce says: “I’m a big Mendoza fan. His first film, THE MASSEUR, screened at my first Toronto Film Festival. Since then Mendoza has made wonderful films such as LOLA, FOSTER CHILD, SERBIS and SLINGSHOT; each of these films depict a certain aspect or subculture of life in the Philippines. Mendoza is not interested in documenting upscale life in the big cities. He prefers to tell stories about the classes for whom day-to-day life is a struggle. THY WOMB is no exception.
“Bangas-An (Bembol Roco) and Shalena (Nora Aunor) are a Muslim couple who live on a remote island where they go to sea to fish whenever the elements are kind. Shalena weaves intricate tapestries and is the midwife for residents of many surrounding islands. Their house is a rather primitive grass hut adjacent to where they dock their boat. Local pirates threaten the island people as they travel from one island to another or return home from a day of fishing. It’s a rough life.
“Bangas-An and Shalena are very much in love but are childless because Shalena is barren. Now on the far side of middle age, Bangas-An is worried about having an heir. Adopting has not been a successful option. Shalena’s solution is for Bangas-An to find another wife. So the two go wife hunting. After another seemingly futile search, a candidate emerges.
“Nora Aunor and Bembol Roco are superstars in the Philippines and their film rapport is magical. THY WOMB is visually resplendent; the scenes during the marriage ceremony, magnificent. The film drags a bit during the search for a second wife. After such precision in defining the couple’s environment, the film shifts into a less defined territory. Suddenly the characters and places become fuzzy. Nonetheless, the emotional impact of THY WOMB is overwhelming and the tragedy of the story has struck a surprising chord with me long afterwards. How dismaying it is to see that a gentle, loving man has the capacity to treat women in a dismissive and demeaning manner. 3.5 cats
“(THY WOMB screened at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival.)”