Anak, ba’t ka nagkaganyan?

Movie poster taken from  http://starcinemamedialibrary.blob.core.windows.net/

 “Sana sa tuwing umiinom ka ng alak…habang hinihitit mo ang sigarilyo mo at habang nilulustay mo ang perang pinapadala ko! Sana maisip mo rin kung ilang pagkain ang tiniis kong hindi kainin para lang makapagpadala ako ng malaking pera rito. Sana habang nakahiga ka diyan sa kutson mo, natutulog, maisip mo rin kung ilang taon akong natulog mag-isa nabang nangungulila ako sa yakap ng mga mahal ko. Sana maisip mo kahit kaunti kung gaano kasakit sa akin ang mag-alaga ng mga batang hindi ko kaanoano samantalang kayo, kayong mga anak ko hindi ko man lang maalagaan. Alam mo ba kung gaano kasakit iyon sa isang ina? Alam mo bang gaano kasakit iyon? Kung hindi mo ako kayang ituring bilang isang ina. Respetuhin mo man lang ako bilang isang tao. Yung lang Carla…yun man lang.”

Anak (The Child) is a critically acclaimed award-winning 2000 Filipino film directed by Rory Quintos, produced by Charo Santos-Concio and Malou N. Santos starring Vilma Santos and Claudine Barretto with Baron Geisler.. The movie was released on May 10, 2000 and was distributed by Star Cinema and  a box-office hit for earning P165.93M. It was the Philippines’submission to the 73rd Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film.

The movie is all about the story of a mother’s agony and her desperate attempt to piece back the broken fragments of her shattered family.

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Josie (played by Vilma Santos) returned to Manila after working as a Domestic Helper in Hong Kong for almost ten years. Her beloved husband, Rudy (Joel Torre), who died five years ago, was good-natured, loving and kind but was not a good provider. That being the reason why she (Josie) was forced to go abroad and slave under abusive employers in order to provide a better life for the family, out of financial need.

But her happy expectation of, finally, a joyful reunion with her beloved children is dashed to pieces when she found that in her absence, her family has fallen apart: her first-born, Carla (Claudine Barretto), has run loose and wild for lack of guidance; her son, Michael (Baron Geisler), is in deep trouble in school; and her youngest, Daday (Sheila Junsay), doesn’t even know who she is.

Photo taken from https://starforallseasons.files.wordpress.com/

Josie is know a stranger to her own family. She tries to maintain a happy and cheerful exterior while desperately trying to reach out to her children but they continue to repel her tender appeals. Ironically, it is Daday, her youngest daughter who grew up without knowing her, who first opens her own heart and embraces her into the family.

Photo taken from https://starforallseasons.files.wordpress.com/

Unknown to Josie, her two elder children harbor a deep and painful resentment toward her. In their minds, their mother does not care for them and for whatever they need. She had left for abroad even when they cried and begged her not to, and she did not even bother to come home to be with them for their father’s funeral.

But Carla and Michael do not know their mother’s side of the story. Josie was devastated upon hearing of Rudy’s death but she had been unable to go home because her employers cruelly kept her locked inside the house, her employers refuses to let her take a vacation, nor deliver the mail for her. And she had endured another five years of hard labor knowing that her family would need money then, more than ever.

Josie’s problem, despite all her desperate efforts, become worse and worse. She lost all of her savings in a failed business venture, Michael, her son, was kicked out of school, and worst of all, Carla becomes pregnant by one of her many lovers. Josie is horrible aggrieved when Carla, in a fit of helpless fury, throws at Josie’s face all her years of pent-up anger and resentment. She blames Josie for the aimless, ruined life. Josie was never here to give her love, she says, that is why she seeks it in the arms of men.

Finally, Josie admits defeat. She has failed bitterly in her role as a mother. What is the right thing for her to do? Should she stay or should she go? Will she have the courage to try to reclaim her family, or will she take the easier way out and return to her familiar life in Hong Kong? Despite all indications to the contrary, she is determined to overcome all hindrances to still succeed in her maternal role. The movie studies how she overcomes these feelings and rebuilds the relationship with her family.

“Wala naming natitira’t nagtatagal sa buhay ko eh. Lahat nang-iiwan. Lahat nawawala. -Carla”, If there’s one thing that doesn’t leave in the movie, it is the concept of imitation.

Imitation: a thing intended to simulate or copy something else.

In life, there are only limited things which you can identify as special (nag-iisa o walang katulad). Emotionality causes us to create an imitated version of the it. We imitate whats authentic and original with the hope of receiving the same kind of happiness and fulfilment. “Maaring makalinlang tayoong pansamantala sa mata ng iba, subalit tatagain tayo ng sarili nating kasinugalingan. Kahit kalian, iba ang samyyo ng orihinal.”

KAIBIGAN

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Having almost the same problems, Josie and her friends (Lyn and Mercy) found home within each other. They hoped that every laughter and happiness that they’re experiencing when getting together will have an imitated version in their respective families: the feeling of care, security and peace within themselves.

“Tutal naman eh lahat tayo may kanya-kanyang kalbaryo sa buhay, eh nagkataong ito ang akin. Edi tanggapin!” – Mercy

ANAK

For Carla, Michael and Dada – Josie is their only mother. However, because of the their financial needs she has to sacrifice and go out which results to her children treating her as if she’s a stranger. Carla is the most affected of what happened and because of the that she almost taught her younger sister to imitate how she feels.

“Pwede ba tigilan mo na ang pagtawag sa kanila ng anak? Mamiss pa ni Daday ‘yan. Mawawala ka rin naman!” -Carla

INA

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Aside from the heavy drama, the concept of imitation can be sensed in the motherhood of Josie – the imitation heavily envied by her children (Carla, Michael and Daday) to experience. She delicately took care of other kids abroad but wasn’t able to do that with her own children.

“Ikaw ‘yon eh, ang nanay namin.” – Carla