All Randy (Allen Dizon) has in his life is his 8-year-old daughter Angeline (Felixia Crysten Dizon). Earning a meager 285 wage a day as a magkakabaung (coffin maker), Randy and Angeline live a quiet, impoverished life in Sto. Tomas, Pampanga, the coffin capital of Central Luzon. So when Randy accidentally kills his daughter, we watch how he silently deals with the guilt—as well as the burden of giving her a decent burial.
Written and Directed by Jason Paul Laxamana, Magkakabaung (The Coffin Maker), which took home the NETPAC award for best film at the Hanoi International Film Festival, with Dizon taking home the Best Actor trophy—also from Harlem International Film Festival (beating Ralph Fiennes), is an understated but riveting drama and portrait of a father who, due to circumstances, is unable to provide full care for his daughter even after her death.
The screenplay is intelligent and compact, executed in a neorealistic style; the shaky, and oftentimes swiftly sweeping camera from one subject to the next, provide a much more rich and intimate experience. Steady shots are interjected from time to time, which add poetry and emotional resonance to the otherwise raw treatment. Also, the refreshing kapampangan dialect all the more immerses you in Randy's drama.
Dizon gives an effectively restrained performance to his captivating Randy, a flawed, aloof and reserved character, that you will find yourself scrutinizing his eyes and body language to gauge his emotions. Here is a character written with depth and mystery. As Randy first goes through the perfunctory process of dealing with his daughter's post-mortem, you wait for manifestations of grief and stress, which jump at you at unexpected moments. These are the most beautiful scenes. Also, the film provides a glimpse of his character's dark side, like his startlingly violent streak that explodes in unpredictable moments. Randy takes the viewer through a range of emotions—from worry, fear, to sympathy. But at the end of the day you simply feel a father's great loss.
The film also provides an examination of the dark side of human nature, particularly opportunistic greed, and a selfish kind of indifference, effectively displayed by the funeral owner (Emilio Garcia), Randy's ex (Gladys Reyes) Randy's young girlfriend (Chanel Latore), down to the the nonchalant nurses at the provincial hospital.
Magkabaung is a character-driven story, an intelligent examination of human behavior; raw and elegant, unpredictable and poetic, a profoundly rich experience that deserves a repeat watch.
UPDATE: Catch Magkakabaung at the 35th annual Hawaii International Film Festival on Nov 12-22, 2015.
4.5 out of 5 stars
MMFF New Wave Film Festival - Full-length
Dec 17 to 24, 2014
SM Megamall and Glorietta
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