The Politics of Art & Authenticity

The film “Bwakaw” by Jun Robles Lana is a tear jerking comedy.  This film not only had the audience laughing so hard that they were crying but also contained depressing scenes so sad that that the audience was moved to tears.  There were many different themes in this movie but one stood out more than the rest: never judge a book by it’s cover or else you may not get to meet the nicer people in life.

There are many scenes in the movie that portray this idea.  At first Rene is shown as having a rough exterior and an argumentative side.  There are many scenes of him arguing and fighting with Tracy.  After Sol places a sign on his car saying “no dogs allowed” Rene makes a sign to combat this when Sol rides by.  Rene’s hardened exterior is far from his true caring self.  There is a scene where Rene gives his lunch to Sol when Sol drove him around and Rene even paid Bwakaw’s fare without an argument, this genuinely stood out.  When Minda expresses her worries about being alone after surgery, Rene throws her a small party.

Lana is a unique auteur.  He was able to bring Bwakaw to life through the emotions he conveyed.  In most of the movies he directed, the story lines seem to revolve around dialogue and troubled lovers, not action.

In this film, Rene’s dog Bwakaw symbolizes “the will to live” much like the Pixar film “Up!”.  Much like Carl Fredricksen loves his wife Ellie, Rene seems to have a strong love for Bwakaw telling her she is the most important being in his life.  Unfortunately Bwakaw passes and at first Rene does seem depressed but he seems to get over it.  Before she died Ellie left this message for Carl, “thanks for adventure now go have a new one.”  Bwakaw seems to be symbolizing this with her death, for Rene seems to change.  Rene unpacks all of the labeled boxes and sets everything up around his house filling it with Life.  The last scene seems to be the brightest scene in the movie and it shows Rene walking down a path filled with green plants, passing people on the road, and greeting someone.  Much like how, after Ellie died, Carl goes on a once in a lifetime adventure to Paradise Falls.

This movie is about an older man, at first, choosing to live a sheltered life.  It is thanks to his loyal pet Bwakaw that he meets the first love of his life and slowly becomes more sociable.  Without this dog, Rene would not have learned what it truly means to live.

This was a movie worth watching.  The comedic and serious scenes in this film were balanced.  I cannot count how many times I laughed so hard I cried or found myself trying to hold back my tears.  However this movie was without a doubt this movie was cliché.  Before it happened I knew Rene was going to scare Tracy, Nitang, and Zaldy because they thought he was dead, that Minda would have a heart attack, and I knew Bwakaw would die in the end.  Even so, the movie was done so well that I still laughed when Rene scared them and I felt sad when Bwakaw died.  Now I have to wonder, what will happen to Rene next?  What type of adventure will life take him on now?

source:

http://andronico.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/bwakaw.jpg?w=290&h=290&crop=1