JOSE. Cogent flow and “arc.”
FIRST things first: We watched Brillante Mendoza’s “Ma’ Rosa” initially to help clear up the controversy surrounding Jaclyn Jose’s Canne best actress award. So let’s start by weighing in on that:
We haven’t been able to watch the other contending actresses’ films, so we can’t definitely aver that she’s the best of the lot—but Jaclyn’s lead portrayal did shine through and hold the film’s central focus in our estimation.
So, we disagree with the naysayers who insist that she didn’t deserve to win the lead honor, because the film was an ensemble acting showcase. Yes, “Ma’ Rosa” is an ensemble piece, but Jaclyn’s portrayal had a cogent flow and “arc” to it, so it was an integral and singular thespic achievement in its own right.
Having gotten that key controversial teapot tempest out of the way, let’s focus on the film as a whole:
As we watch “Ma’ Rosa” from beginning to end, we find ourselves “sucked” into the unfolding action by filmmaker Mendoza’s absolute fealty to visual realism above all else. There is artistry involved in his storytelling, but no artifice—an all-important distinction that film lovers can benefit from by delineating it for themselves.
Mendoza’s film goes a long way in proving that “cinema verite” is also “liberte”—and that the truth grittily emblazoned on the movie screen will powerfully set us free!
The filmmaker’s total commitment to visual truth—and proof—kicks in kinetically from the get-go, by way of the movie’s intentionally humdrum, “everyday” first activity: Ma’ Rosa is shown shopping wholesale at a supermarket for items to restock the shelves of her own “sari-sari” store in her slum neighborhood.
Early indication
Despite the lack of “significance” and urgency in the sequence, Mendoza is still able to use it as an insightful early indication of her character.
Using a relatively unstructured, “improvisational” approach and “found” details and dialogue, Mendoza invites viewers to discover corroborative and contradictory facets to Ma’ Rosa’s persona on their own.
The confidence and “reckless” verve with which he accomplished this is impressive, because it could all have ended up as a big, goopy and mannered mess—and yet it doesn’t, due to the clarifying artistry behind the “spontaneity.”
Similarly impressive is the confident way that Jaclyn and the film’s other actors vivify their director’s chosen style, which goes a long way in making their collaborative effort much more than just a gritty acting showcase.
The performances may be exceptional, but “Ma’ Rosa” is most valuable as a strong indictment of how rotten and compromised to the core some sectors of our country had become, where even an “ordinary” wife and mother turns out to be a law-breaker in many aspects of her life, just to “survive.”
Even worse is the film’s revelation that the most corrupt and corrupted of all are the cops who are supposed to uphold the law—but are among the biggest law-breakers.
To its everlasting credit, however, “Ma’ Rosa” doesn’t exploit its nasty subject matter for profitable controversy’s sake. It ends on a small, quiet and earned note of hope, as Ma’ Rosa tentatively, tremulously “learns” from the worst day and night of her life.