Movie review: Poetry and realism in Auraeus Solito’s Busong

Auraeus Solito’s latest film Busong (Pala’wan Fate, 2011) is not at all mystical, as many are wont to say. In fact, it is a very realistic film, as realistic as his cult classic Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros (The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros, 2005). Busong only becomes mystical from the Western perspective, which tends to romanticize the Third World. Or it is only mystical to someone who is not familiar with Palawan, once romantically dubbed “The Last Frontier.”   There is nothing mystical about Palawan’s dying cultures and natural environment. Busong is a celebration of the elements—fire, earth, water, and wind. In the context of Palawan, these are realities that one would experience on a daily basis.   I grew up in a culture watching and witnessing healers like the balyan in the film performing their rituals. There is really nothing “paranormal” (a western word and concept) in the balyan’s taking out dried leaves, seeds, stones, and ants from the sick man’s tummy. When I was a child, I had this wound in my feet that did not heal for months. When I was brought to a healer, she took out pieces of broken glass from my wound; it seems I had stepped on a malevolent creature’s foot when I was playing near a clump of bamboo and the angry spirit put the shards inside my feet. After a few days, my wound healed perfectly.   The themes and stories in Busong are familiar to those who have been following Solito’s works, for these are themes and stories nearest to his art and heart. He has explored these topics in earlier films like Suring at ang Kuk-ok (1995), a colorful animation based on two characters from a Pala’wan myth; Upo (1999), his elders in his mother’s birthplace of Puring; and Basal Banar (2002), about an artist’s journey to recover and rediscover his roots in southern Palawan.   A bit of trivia here: Our family was living in Puerto Princesa City and I was working with Bandillo ng Palawan, a non-profit organization advocating environmental protection and indigenous people’s rights, as the Filipino newspaper editor when Solito made his film Upo. He had a zero budget and was dependent on the kindness of his friends in the city for his food and shelter. He borrowed our family video camera and shot most of the scenes in Upo using this rather amateur handycam. That camera is no longer in working condition and is now in the care of another director-friend. We are thinking of selling the camera later when Solito becomes a famous director, maybe as famous as Pedro Almodovar or Akira Kurosawa, which is something that is not impossible.

  Forest, sea, and sky   The opening scene of Busong is an excess of the sea, in both sights and sounds, that one would almost become seasick. On a white sand beach where the sea and the forest meet, two Pala’wan men wearing the traditional G-string are carrying a young and beautiful woman (Alessandra de Rossi) on a native duyan covered with a white mosquito net. At first, the woman could be mistaken for the Panay Bukidnon’s “binukot,” literally meaning “kept woman,” who is a sort of princess and the keeper of the Hinilawod epics. They keep the epics by memorizing them since childhood. This is why they are exempted from household and farm duties–because they have epics to memorize.   Later, it turns out that the woman in the hammock is sick. Her body is full of wounds, especially her feet, leaving her unable to walk. Her brother and his friend are carrying her on a journey along the beautiful coast that seems endless.   Along the way, three people help them in their search for a healer. These three people have their own sad and tragic stories to tell: a woman who lost her husband, a small-scale illegal logger, met his “busong” when he cut down the sacred “amugis” tree; a Pala’wan father who lost his tribe’s island to a landgrabber, and later, his son to the sea; and Aris, an artist from Manila who is trying to retrace his roots among the Pala’wan and respond to his calling as a shaman.   The three stories are interwoven in the film using the most poetic and lyrical images of Palawan’s natural beauty—the forest, the sea, the skies, the rivers, the coral gardens. It made me homesick for Palawan, my home for three years in my not so distant, younger, and more adventurous days. This kind of emotional effect can only be achieved by artists who can make their audience long for something unattainable.   In memory of Gerry   The social issues tackled by Solito are real issues: the indigenous people losing their ancestral territories to greedy businessmen and large scale mining operations, ugly everyday occurrences in Palawan. There is blatant disregard for the special law that protects the province called the Strategic Environmental Plan for Palawan.   At the end of the film, just before the credits roll, the film is offered to the memory of three people important to Solito, including our common friend, veterinarian Gerry Ortega who was a staunch anti-logging and anti-mining advocate. Last year, he was shot on a busy Monday morning while shopping in an ukay-ukay store in Puerto Princesa City. This is the high price he has to pay for protecting Palawan’s environment.   Solito’s brand of filmmaking is simply poetic. Every movie he makes is a visual treat, whether it is shot in the beaches and forests of Palawan, or in the slums of Guipit near the “armpit” of Metro Manila. Remember the opening scene of Maximo Oliveros where floating empty plastic bottles, used diapers, and whatnot floating on the black estero water are rendered almost as beautiful as an orchid on unkempt grass among the garbage?   Indeed, Solito has an eye for making ugly things beautiful so that it will catch the audience’s attention, just like the scene when the wounds of Da Rossi’s character are slowly getting healed. She is sitting on a rock, and in the background, crystal clear waters are cascading from the falls inside the forest. Butterflies are coming out of her wounds! It is both an ugly and beautiful sight to behold. Little by little, the ugliness gets washed out by the woman’s tears—tears of happiness and gratefulness to the powers of the healer. This is quiet and holy.   Da Rossi’s acting is simply marvelous. Young as she is, there is no doubt that she is one of our country’s best actresses of all time. As a young girl, her performances are always excellent, like in the movies Munting Tinig and Asucena.   Another noteworthy thing about Solito as a filmmaker is that all his films are very personal. Aris, his alter ego in the film, goes by the name his mother calls him, his mother who is the wellspring of his Pala’wan tales. But this personal element is not a self-centered or conceited gesture, for he is anchored to the earth by his advocacies—rediscovering and recovering one’s indigenous culture, gay liberation, indigenous peoples’ rights, and environmental protection. These advocacies are very personal to Solito. His passion and his sincere intentions are not in doubt, and these can be seen and felt in his films.   Those who care for the environment, and love Palawan, should watch this film. – YA, GMA News   After its premiere showing Tuesday, Busong will have a commercial run at the Edsa Shangrila Cinema 4 on April 18-24. For tickets and schedules, call 633-2227.   J. I. E. TEODORO is a writer and critic from San Jose de Buenavista, Antique. He is an assistant professor of writing and literature at Miriam College in Quezon City. Some of his reviews may be seen at bantaytvatpelikula.blogspot.com.