Puwang ( Space Between)

Written & Directed by
Anna Isabelle Matutina

Producers
Anna Isabelle Matutina
Jules Katanyag
Pam Miras

Starring
Elmo Redrico
Roence Santos
Bon Reyes
Lorena Landicho
Seymour Sanchez

Cinematography
Wowie Hao
Alma Dela Peña

Editing
Anna Isabelle Matutina

Music
Lionel Valdellon

Production Design
Richard Legaspi



Most Pinoy movies about families would banter you with all those heavy drama stuff, not like this one. the movie triumphantly encapsulated the "pamilyang pilipino" without the sobrang theatrical dialogues, and that's what i liked about this movie. PUWANG (the space between), a short narrative from premiere film & TV editor, and indie filmmaker sunshine matutina. when roence reodica mistakenly lit a cigarette the wrong way in the opening scene, boom! ayun na, nahuli na yung atensyon ko. bibihira at sobrang unique nung dating, i somehow knew that the character she portrays has all these baggages, emotional and otherwise para magkamali syang sindihan ang yosi nya sa filter.


the cinematography was good, yun talaga yung totoong feel ng hospital, not those kind you seen on daytime drama, sobrang liwanag ng hospital sa daytime drama. i don't know what kind of lightings the filmmaker used, but the scenes inside the hospital makes you feel that you're inside one, and you are inside the scene voyeuring this family. the atmosphere of the movie captures the tension without bringing too much tension on screen. nasa tinginan lang, mga tahimik na sandali nung mga gumanap huling-huli mo na yung "PUWANG". the first time i saw this movie medyo oblivious ako kung bakit "Puwang", sa interpretasyon ko nung mga sumunod na pagpanood i reckon that the title refers to the spaces between the siblings, inside the family, between father and children. (tama nga kaya ako?)


every family has gaps to fill, and the family in this movie is no different, yung "puwang" na namamagitan sa kanila ay nagkaroon ng dugtong, ng tabon. the last part of the movie is remarkable, wala gaanong "talkies" pero alam na alam mong the spaces and gaps were filled. that's what's beautiful about this movie, the highlights were not bombarded with words. films like these make me admire actors and filmmakers that can relay the emotions without being hysterical, na karaniwang problema ng pelikulang pilipino. may emosyon ang bawat haplos, buntung hininga, di pagbukas ng pinto, pati tinginan, kahit walang dialogue may inentsity. Elmo Redrico was remarkable in his protrayal of the invalid father, mata pa lang acting na. his lines were so short, but you can feel the emotions sa mata pa lang, tsaka sa mga hawak.

as i always say most indie movies would conceal their incapabilities by making their films pa-profound and would leave the audience either dumber or clueless, this movie is far from that, walang mga artsy-fartsy, simple lang. and that's what makes it a good movie. the lack of dialogue is more than compensated by the intense acting from the actors. i' ve always wondered how filmmakers were able to capture the emotions and convey them on screen, wala mang pang-hollywood na special effects ang pelikulang ito, it still has a lot of movie magic.