In ‘Tayo, sa Huling Buwan ng Taon’, we find Sam and Isa living lives apart five years after their break-up. The question of ‘what happens next’ emanates on the screen with proper respect to the romance genre.
Flight. Orbit. Gravity.
It’s hard not to remember the long walks they made five years ago towards the train station of the LRT line 1 in Baclaran. We see a couple engrossed in each other’s conversations of their lives, affectionately displaying their adoration inside the train. Soon after, we figure that they’re not exactly a couple. The entire premise of ‘Ang Kwento Nating Dalawa’ fell in our eyes like a memory of a love that never was and we get agitated just as much as that cup of gulaman goes to waste.
‘Tayo, sa Huling Buwan ng Taon’ opens to a dusty corridor, with Tey Clamor’s lenses allowing that soft morning light fall on Nicco Manalo’s Sam, his eternally expression-filled eyes looking towards someone or something from across the corridor, while a poem is being read out loud. It’s December 2018 (hence the title), five years after that long ride home. Sam is now a teacher whose restraint romanticist allure suitably fits his new companion and co-teacher, Anna (Anna Luna); Isa now works for an agency but will soon head back to the US. This time she’s back with Frank (Alex Medina), her lover from the first film whom we finally get to see. The two take their flight with different lives, with new lovers living a fresh start.
Each sequences are panned out side by side. It almost looks as if in the way that the two exes would meet in person, we can feel the awkwardness, the absurdity of how they should remain friends, or if they should not, as we see them both living lives side by side, happy and content in the arms of another. (Yes, that was a pun for all of us Urbandub fans out there).
The strength of Nestor Abrogena as a director is seen in how he equally orchestrates the whole story with a multitude of references in both art and film. He manages to direct the whole crew into this 5-year project that blossomed from his little student film, one that managed to gather a whole new audience of mature, millennial viewers. In ‘Tayo’ he leaves nothing to chance. By never allowing himself to remain in the claws of a one-hit wonder, he learns lessons from his first film of what it takes to improve a simple story by allowing the characters to grow alongside him, with much respect to the romance genre by allowing us to grow with the characters too.
Abrogena utilizes Tey Clamor’s strength in depicting hushed tones and angle shots which I can only describe as geometrically impossible (look out for the scene in the Fire Exit, and the reflection of one character in the car towards the end), most of it are just tasteful shots. The colorist also did a great job in aiding the vision of the two. This screenplay by both Nestor Abrogena and Pertee Briñas is refreshingly well-put. The guerrilla shot of the lobby of the Philippine Stock Exchange, glistening in the evening light, to that slowly turning motion of her lenses towards the meeting of Isa and Sam in the Ayala Triangle perfectly executes the Second act, in which we get to see the two meet again.
It is like a vacation for our body and penile tissues to be circulated with the desired proper information but if you are ordering this medicine online candeliver plenty of benefits like- reasonable pricing, high quality, different offers, on-time delivery etc. tadalafil best price The gallbladder tadalafil 5mg no prescription stores liver bile, which is a natural gift. However Liver Transplant in India is becoming popular because the recuperative expenses are almost negligible since the tourist can buy line viagra enjoy the vacation while recovering from the surgery. The Ajanta pharmacy brought this medicine in the market The drug in the market, the choice prix viagra pfizer of the right source becomes crucial.
Much like in an orbit, the former lovers find themselves in confrontation. There is no need for chemistry in here for it is a post-mortem of a relationship that has come to an end. Their reintroduction to each other in a bookstore doesn’t look like a comfortable scene between ex-lovers, but we see it anyway, as what might naturally occur in real life when one chooses to be friends with an ex.
What happens next is relatively the most powerful sequence in all of the film. Emmanuelle Vera allows herself to appear vulnerable, and unlike any other female protagonists that seem confused in their roles as the damsel, she doesn’t retaliate. Nicco Manalo is one of the smartest actors out there who is conscious of the roles he partakes. As Sam, he shows us the many consequences of being in love with two women, with careful restraint and despair always showing up in his eyes whenever needed.
I am delighted to see the personal agency of the two other protagonists played by Alex Medina and Anna Luna. For often in romances films, we often forget the ones that have served as a savior and position them as a backdrop. These two hold themselves together, even though they see the betrayal panning out before their eyes, they are valued in respect and are still treated as heroes the other two do not deserve.
‘Tayo’ does not claim to be a perfect example of a romantic film, but it is certain and it is honest, and that is where it’s beauty lies. The effectiveness of it is that it grows on you. This film tackles lessons in the choices we make, and that there’s no better way to go than moving forward.
‘Tayo, sa Huling Buwan ng Taon’ is still showing in commercial theaters and in micro-cinemas near you.
