This is one of the four films we really enjoyed watching at the Cinemalaya. Written and directed by Loy Arcenas, the film is reminiscent of Brocka’s “Ina Kapatid Anak” about a balikbayan from the U.S. who returns to their decaying ancestral home and Joaquin’s “Portrait of the Artist as Filipino” especially the final scene involving a “tertulia”. But Arcenas manages to make its his own version of a riveting family drama of a once illustrious family now living in oblivion and poverty. Celia (Fides Asencio) is a former opera singer who takes care of her ailing brother, Gaspar (Tony Mabesa), once a famous politician now reduced to listening to the recordings of her arias. When she married a heel, she sold her share of the house to Gaspar. She now lives with daughter, Merced (Shamaine Buencamino), a closet lesbian having a secret affair with their border (Diana Malahay), and has a problematic loser of a son, Mombic (Art Acuna), who wants to go to Dubai and leaves his own son, Anthony (Jhizhelei Deocareza), with her. Things get complicated when Gaspar goes into coma and his own daughter Raquel (Raquel Villavicencio) returns from the States with her gay son (Joaquin Valdez) to sell their old house once known as the Villa Los Reyes Magos. Celia dresses up Anthony as the Sto. Nino hoping there will be a miracle to revive Gaspar and stop Raquel from selling the house. In her efforts to awaken Gaspar, she sells her jewelry and gives a tertulia inviting old friends who all sing operatic songs reliving their glorious past. Uniformly well acted by the excellent ensemble cast, Shamaine and Art truly deserve their best supporting actress and actor awards. Even those who played the housemaids are great along with the scene-stealing guest star Joy Virata. This film is a touching textured exercise in nostalgia with very human characters whose deep dark secrets are gradually revealed. It’s to the credit of the astute screenplay that we sympathize with them even if they each have their own flaws.
