Hello there! And welcome to the third week of Piling Obrang Video: BALIK7ANAW film review. This weeks' top three are all documentaries that will surely help you experience an epiphany of how lucky you are in this world. These films will surely help you reflect on yourselves, so I highly recommend you to watch these documentaries. The first pick on the list is "Butil" by Roanne Elyssa P. Mirabueno, followed by "Lunas" by Marvin Cabangunay and "In Memoriam" by Jeremy Quing.
1.) “Butil” by Roanne Elyssa P. Mirabueno
This documentary is about Manong Cipriano's life, an 86-year old man who shares his story about his experiences being a rice farmer. He shares his daily struggles, from planting rice to harvesting. This documentary shows that the life of the rice farmers is not easy.
Manong Cipriano has ten kids, and five of them were boys. Unfortunately, none of them followed his steps as a rice farmer because being a farmer is hard. You really need to take care of the crops, from planting to harvesting whatever the weather is. Like what Manong Cipriano said; "...diyan ka nasisikatan ng araw, diyan kana ni lulubogan."
I like everything about this documentary because it has a powerful message that will help us realize how vital rice is. Most of all, I really know how it feels to be a rice farmer because I already had experience harvesting rice. My mother owns a rice farm in Butuan City, and every summer, we went home there to harvest. I also helped harvest rice with our workers because I know it's not that easy. The sad reality, although rice farming is complex and costly, the farmers' profit is not enough to cover all the expenses.
I love how this documentary shows the amount of rice being wasted yearly. I love that part of the scene because it will help people realize that throwing or wasting every "butil" of rice is essential. After all, our farmers work hard to grow healthy. Not just that, it will also help them appreciate the hard work of the farmers. We need many documentaries like this, especially nowadays, where the farmers are less valued and less prioritized by the government and society.
As Manong Cipriano said in the documentary, "Ang sakahan ay dapat mamahalin mo yan dahil ang lahat ng tao ay diyan kumukuha ng ikakabuhay."
2.) Lunas by Marvin Cabangunay
This is also a documentary of a person who suffers from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or ALS for almost fifteen years. Manong Edwardo Magtibay from Batangas is still hoping that he can be cured of his sickness one day. The disease affects his nervous system that was slowly killing his motor neurons. This causes him to have difficulty moving his body, walking, talking, and even eating. He's been battling this sickness for years all by himself. His wife and his children left him when he started to have this disease. His sisters and brothers are the only people who are taking care of him.
There's a scene where Mang Eduardo said, "Napakasakit. Naranasan ko na ang lahat halos na uri ng sakit ng katawan pero ang pinakamasakit pala ay yong iwan ka ng iyong pamilya." This scene made me realize how tough it is for Mang Eduardo to lose his family because of his disease.
His sister also shared the story about Mang Eduardo's eldest child's accident in front of his house. According to her, his favorite child was accidentally bumped into a vehicle in front of his house. Mang Eduardo wants to go to his daughter to help him, but unfortunately, he can't because he can't walk. That was the most depressive stage of Mang Eduardo. Thankfully, two of his children frequently visit him every weekend; he then realized that his illness's true cure is his family's love.
I love this documentary because, again, it has a powerful message. This will also serve as an eye-opener to everyone who's suffering or experiencing the same illness as Mang Eduardo. This documentary shows how strong family love is.
3.) In memoriam by Jeremy Qing
In memoriam is a documentary about the elderlies who stayed inside the home for the aged. The documentary reveals the life of the elderly and how did they end up there. Sadly, upon watching the documentary, I realized that many were unfortunately forgotten by their relatives.
One reason is that their relatives are busy and don't have enough time to care for them. Another reason is that they cannot care for them due to poverty, while others just don't like to care for them.
Some of them are also happy being there because they are not alone and don't have any problems living there. They also have more time to socialize with their co-elders and share different stories of the everyday. This documentary is indeed full of emotions. To be honest, I did shed a tear while watching this documentary because it reminds me of my grandpa and grandma.
Another sad reality is that many elders nowadays were placed in such institutions because their relatives do not have enough time to care for them. I like the music used in this documentary. The last scene where they showed some smiles of the elders really touched my heart. We indeed need to reflect on ourselves and try to put our shoes on their situation before making such decisions. The last message of Dr. Marissa really hit me. That's the most crucial message in the documentary. She asked:
"Hindi ba mahalaga yung panahon na magugugol nating bago sila...bago matapos yung kanilang hininga ay naibigay natin yung huling mga oras para sa kanya?..."
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