Cinemalaya 2024: ‘Kono Basho’ shows that grief is the love you put out there

‘Kono Basho’ a film entry to Cinemalaya 2024 | Screengrab from YouTube/Project 8 Projects

There is a saying that “grief is just love with nowhere to go,” and it is true, so when someone find the place or person that they can give the love that they get from a certain heartbreak, they slowly find themselves healed and comforted. That’s the message “Kono Basho,” one of the film entries to the Cinemalaya 2024, tried to impart to its viewers.

Directed by Jaime Pacena II, “Kono Basho,” which literally means “this place,” is set in the tsunami-stricken city of Rikuzentakata in Japan and tells the story of two estranged half-sisters, Filipina anthropologist Ella (Gabby Padilla) and Japanese painter Reina (Arisa Nakano), who reunite at their father’s funeral and were forced to bond as they make peace with their personal wounds.

The film utilizes the technique that “less is more.” It didn’t try to be groundbreaking with its plot or dialogues, but it still did something to make the audience feel they are on a journey with the characters, who are searching for a way to recover from their grief and personal issues. “Kono Basho’s” strength lies in its sincere storytelling and beautifully shot cinematography.

The movie also shows the way two nations deal with grief through the lens of the Japanese and Filipino individuals, may it be personal or communal. It shows that even those who don’t share the same roof or identity, once grief enters the door, the pain finds its way to nestle in the spaces that these people lived in, and they have to share it one way or another.

Padilla is effective in showcasing the kind of grief that wants to hide itself from the rest of the world, while Nakano shows that grief is something that demands a release, giving an emotional performance every time she’s on the screen. Despite their differences, the two realize that their grief is the love they share for their father, and the way that they can live through it is by sharing the weight.

“I think what this film can teach you about grief is that sometimes when you feel like you’re alone in the darkness, stumbling kasi wala kang kasama (you don’t have anyone with you), there’s someone in the darkness stumbling as well, and when you hold on to that person and when you connect with them, you have hope and you find healing together,” Padilla told reporters during the film’s gala night on Tuesday, August 6.

“Kono Basho” is like poetry; some might feel a certain connection to it as they understand the minimalism and silence of grief, while others might not feel the personal touch as they have different perspectives on handling grief. Yet that doesn’t make the film less effective, but only subjective to the audience who might need healing from something.

Cinemalaya 2024 rurns from Aug. 2 to Aug. 11.