The Politics of Art & Authenticity

A review of Bwakaw

A film by Jun Robles Lana

Starring Eddie Garcia

Bwakaw isn’t the typical comedy you see in theaters today.

First of all, it is not American in any way, shape, or form.  And second, it explores many themes that in our society [American] are not yet accepted openly.

Bwakaw was directed by Jun Robles Lana. It was his first independent film after working on the creative aspect of many films in Hollywood. Bwakaw is about an old homosexual man and his dog Bwakaw. The film is set in the Philippines, in one of the villages outside Manila.

Rene is a sixty-something man whose only goal in life is to wait the day of his death. In the opening scene, Lana shows Rene as a man of routine. There are shots of his house and all the stuff packed away in boxes. Rene gets up, gets ready to work, even though he is retired already, and takes a tricycle to work. At this point, we aren’t sure of what kind of life Rene has lived, but from his demeanor, it seems that he is a very harsh man- in some ways very outspoken.

As the story unfolds, we learn more of who Rene is as a human being. Even though he seems like he is very harsh and kind of fits the stereotype of the grumpy old man, we come to the realization that there is more to him than meets the eye.  He is a loving man that came to accept himself very late in life, and as result never really experienced happiness. Although Lana intended Bwakaw to be central to the plotline, in some parts of the film her role can be set aside as to focus on the interactions between the main character and his environment.

We are introduced to the plot of the film very early, when in the opening scene, as Rene makes his way to the post office [where he still works even after being retired], and the tricycle driver charges him the fare of two because of the dog. This leads to constant bickering and even rudeness between Rene and the tricycle driver, Sol. Yet, when Bwakaw gets sick, Sol offers to drive Rene to the veterinarian and a friendship is born. Although, to Rene, he feels it’s more than just a friendship. He feels he is in love. Through several twists in the story, Rene realizes that maybe there is more to life than waiting for it to end after failing to comply with society’s expectation of what life is supposed to be.

All these themes form part of a society that has come to be more accepting of homosexuals. Albeit, Rene isn’t openly gay, other characters such as Mother, who is a man Rene’s age with pink hair who lives with a transgender whom he treats as his daughter.  If we look at all of these themes, the light in which homosexuality is presented is completely different from how homosexuality is portrayed in American films, if it is actually mentioned. The only example I can think of is Brokeback Mountain, in which two gay cowboys have an affair while they are both married to women. The relationship and the portrayal of such men is different in such a way that one has come to terms with who he is, while the cowboys can’t accept themselves, and try to live according to what society thinks is the right way.

Bwakaw isn’t the typical comedy. Instead it is able to explore the human condition in such a way that we learn how to be more accepting of ourselves.

The only word to describe Jun Robles Lana’s Bwakaw is sincere. It stars Eddie Garcia, playing the role of Rene, an elderly man who catches on to the reigns of life just as it was about to eclipse him and his dog whose loyalty never fails. In this film, the essence of a man’s truthfulness to himself is brilliantly captured in the simplistic style of the director. The bold characters and slight corniness of a few scenes enhance the plainness and honesty of the central character while also keeping in mind the basic quirkiness of Philippine film. Overall, Bwakaw is sincere. It is sincere in characters, plot, style, and heart.

Bwakaw is Tagalog for someone who’s greedy, eats ferociously, or indulges. He is exactly the opposite of Rene since he is a man who has given up on his dream life, a man who has never indulged. By naming the film after Rene’s dog, he is even more forgotten and behind-the-scenes. Even the title appeals to the sincerity of the film; it is true to the fact that Garcia had chosen the background life. He lives apart from everyone; he doesn’t flaunt his true self. Though it seems as if he’s in denial, he’s not. He chooses to be sincere to his sexuality and to accept the consequences.

The striking characters around him like the two fabulous hair salon owners, the persistent neighbor Minda, the tough tricycle driver, and the always fanning priest succeed to envelop Rene in a warm and rich environment where his character is the odd one out. With this, the film gives off an even more authentic feel. It creates a microcosm of the Philippine population, making it believable.

The plot of the film is also realistic. Because of the less tolerant times in a Catholic-majority country, Rene felt forced to change himself and when he had finally came forth and admitted his sexuality, his prime had already passed. The film is insightful in that way. Society tends to be focused on the present and so the topics not talked about back in the day continue to be ignored. Its purpose is sincere and comes off as sincere. It humbly depicts a perspective not pondered by most, such as an elderly gay man who has never gotten to be himself until he thought it was too late.

The lack of a musical score except for a few scenes in which Rene watches the water and reflects on his life adds to the authenticity of the film. All emotions shown to the audience and elicited from the audience is not prompted by any music but caused purely by the scenes themselves. Nothing was exaggerated; nothing was masked musically. The audience reacted without help. It reminded me of many Philippine films I had watched before in which every thud of an object and crow of a rooster is heard. It adds to the sincerity of the film. It’s not just a film about a man but actually a segment of that man’s life.

Bwakaw’s mixed comedy and drama boils reality down to perfection. Life is never either/or. When it comes down to it, Bwakaw is the actual reality for some. And I found myself proud that something of that nature can come out of my own country.

http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1280&bih=702&tbm=isch&tbnid=VQVY3GjfxmGiZM:&imgrefurl=http://tiff.net/tagsearch%3Ftag%3DAging%26year%3D2012%26path%3Dfilmsandschedules/tiff&docid=RrujeuVcbcZsWM&imgurl=http://media.tiff.net/contents/stills/bwakaw_01.jpg&w=695&h=350&ei=whOAUIChKanC0QGrk4HoCw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=470&vpy=269&dur=2018&hovh=159&hovw=317&tx=150&ty=81&sig=102592201894873628021&page=1&tbnh=141&tbnw=282&start=0&ndsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:18,s:0,i:126

Jun Robles Lana‘s feature film debut, Bwakaw, is a delightfully simple dramedy filled with heart and thoughtfulness. While it hardly deviates from a straightforward, predictable – and sometimes cliche – plot, Bwakaw has left me with a question I hope this critique will help answer. Though it’s the dog, Bwakaw, that gives the film its title, it’s the story of Rene, portrayed by Eddie Garcia, that assumes the role of main character. A lone, older man, Rene is a living corpse, mindlessly working at a job he’s already retired from, and passing each day fully aware that he’s doing to die eventually. He’s not afraid of death, and the film sees Rene treat this inevitability as a long-awaited event. As he learns to appreciate life after a series of increasingly devastating loses, my question arises: By the film’s end, when Rene becomes the most alive we can assume he’s ever been, has he finally come to fear death? After living so long waiting to die, as paradoxical as that is, I believe that Rene learns what really drives liveliness: a fear of death, and a desire to fight to stay alive.

Lana puts a comical spin on the bare facts of dying, and I often found myself laughing the hardest in scenes where the topic of death is in the forefront; Lana makes death a tangible reality, no doubt as a way for us to see it the way Rene does. I know that I think of death as a mysterious, mystical, frightening act of unparalleled proportions, but Rene sees it as just another facet of life. He has a will that he constantly changes based on who’s going to be around after he dies, and all his possessions are already packed away and labeled to make the distributing easier . Rene’s stripped death of its importance, and the way Lana incorporates humor in these “should be heavy and deep” scenes – such as when Rene’s neighbors find him “dead” in his coffin after he goes to test it out – could become a motif in his later work; he’s morphing the typical reaction to death.

I saw Rene start to subtly change as he began to find himself more alone in his already secluded life. Though he remained gruff and standoffish for most of the film, Rene’s attachment towards Bwakaw – whom he takes everywhere, and his continued devotion to visiting Alicia, the woman he technically used as a beard for his closeted sexuality, shows that Rene is a caring individual hardened by the fact that he’s remained closed off to the world at large. All these other characters supposedly fear death, and they all engage in behavior that makes it obvious that they have things to live for, unlike Rene. Then things turn bleak for, well, almost all of them. A woman Rene works with dies after he throws her a surprise party before her heart surgery, he almost loses his best friend because of his grumpy attitude. Alicia, dealing with some sort of Alzheimer’s, tells Rene never to visit her again in one of her last moments of clarity – so in theory she’s dead now too. Towards the end of the film, he loses the trust and friendship of a cab driver who befriended him in a time of need because he began to love him. Because Rene has locked himself away from the world, waiting to die, he loses the people that could free him from that mindset, and he luckily starts to realize that.

Life and death juxtaposed; then switched.

Like I said, the film makes its plot very obvious, so Bwakaw’s fate is easily figured out, but the symbolism behind Bwakaw is what makes her part in the story crucial to Rene’s development. We learn that Bwakaw was a stray dog that Rene adopted, so right off the bat there’s a relationship built off of two “outcasts.” Rene truly loves this dog, and when he admits that Bwakaw is “the only woman he’s ever brought to bed,” the gentle humor underscores the deep bond they’ve formed. Bwakaw is a symbol of life, but also the tether that keeps Rene from actually living. He fights for life, but that’s for Bwakaw, not himself. Yes, Bwakaw dies, but it’s Rene’s realization that in her death, that he can find a will to live, and Lana uses to drive home a message of living life to its fullest.

So, I wonder: As the film leaves Rene alive and healthy, what’s he thinking? He’s lost the ones he holds dear to his heart, but it’s now that he finds a reason to live. As I write my thoughts down now, I’m understanding how Lana plays with this irony, and I hope he continues this theme. Lana’s strive for action over dialogue peaks in the ending of the film, as it did in the beginning – with extended shots of Rene alone, but now you can tell he’s changed. He’s woken up and found a will to live, but has he been shocked enough to fear death after being exposed to so much of it? I think that’s what Lana’s trying to say: fearing death is what keeps us happy and alive.

Photo Credit

Jun Robles Lana was able to direct a movie with serious issues while putting a comedic spin to it.

http://www.tempo.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/29_09_2012_008_004_007-236×300.jpg

“Bwakaw”‘s main character was a grumpy old man, Rene. He acts as a Debbie-downer towards everything. Dealing with his loneliness and finally accepting the fact that he was gay at a very old age was a serious issue in this film. Rene kept his personal materials in boxes with names of the people who would inherit that box. It seemed like he was just waiting for his death. He constantly visited the priest to update his last will and testament. He had already purchased a funeral casket preparing for his death. It was funny how he wanted to know what it was like in the casket and ended up sleeping in it. His neighbor, his best friend and his best friend’s lover were panicking as they saw him sleeping in the casket and he scared the bejesus out of them when he woke up. The cross-dresser, Tracy, was the comic relief in most situations. My favorite scene was when Rene hit Tracy with a hair dryer and Tracy completely overreacted. She was jumping up and down crying.

There was another serious moment that was turned into a humorous scene, but I actually felt guilty laughing. One of Rene’s friends gets a heart attack from a surprise going away party he threw for her and her face stayed in this terrified expression. So in her wake Rene’s friend, Zaldy, tried to make her look as good as possible, which didn’t turn out so well.

“Bwakaw” is by far one of the most original and heartwarming films I ever encountered, involving a man and his dog.

The story revolves around this rather peculiar character, Rene (played by Eddie Garcia). Having had enough of his life, Rene pushes people around and is never hesitant to ‘bite,’ use harsh words. He prepares for his death while going to church only when he has something to change in his will. Without a family, a true understanding of his sexual orientation and a place good enough to call home, his life seems meaningless and he just seems so ready to get over with it whenever possible. However, even for Rene, he appears to have a soft side, especially when he is with “Bwakaw” and his ex-girl friend, Alicia.

http://www.bonappetit.com/ideas/watermelon-recipes/search

http://entertainment.inquirer.net/51885/cinemalaya-eddie-garcia-roco-twins-turn-in-exceptional-portrayals

Personally, Rene reminds me of a watermelon. He puts on big old grumpy face while having such sweet and soft personality inside, as a watermelon seems intimidating with its eerie black stripes on top of its smooth yet solid cover while keeping the real deal within. As the story continues, he goes through much painful sequence of events. Slowly, he redeems himself as he goes through series of losses and eventually becomes whole with his softer side.

Jun Robles Lana, the director conveys this concept with the utmost subtlety. His choice of camera angle, sounds, color and humor all adds up to successfully show the transition of Rene. Placed in a rural setting, the relative stillness helps the audience focus on the character and the story. Delivering a story based on human life and emotions, Lana makes somewhat distant and exotic settings relatable for all audience. For instance, Rene, the protagonist, is an aged gay man who lives in the countryside. I, for once, am a young, straight woman from the city. However, despite all the differences, I could somehow understand and relate to most of he was going through watching the movie.

Story-wise, feature-wise, it is almost the direct opposite from what we are used to, Hollywood blockbuster movies. The background is not necessarily grandiose; the storyline does not contain such climax analogous to that of a Hollywood commercial film, nor is it based on extreme situations. It’s about life and draws on those small but meaningful moments we can experience in our lives and Lana does an excellent job with his use of bucolic, almost rustic settings, soft color and music.

http://www.towleroad.com/philippines/

Stylistically, Lana tends to use full shots from the corner of the room, but most of the time the room is not always full of decorations. A lot of the times, the walls are without paint and decent furniture. He takes full advantage of nature; its simplicity in scene and sound. He does not use grandiose orchestrated music to control our emotions, but uses monophonic music often played by traditional instrument that is barely distinguishable from the sound of the crickets and wind. He also does not use strong colors rather he uses the lighting to convey the emotion of the characters. When the mood is light, pastel colored walls and bright lighting is shown while it becomes more serious the scene becomes darker than usual making the other colors fade out as well.  Lana uses these transitions as he attempts to amplify the effect when showing the transition of Rene’s character and attitude toward life. Of course, Eddie Garcia’s 60 years of acting and directing also contributed so much to the delivery.

This movie successfully handles the two genres: comedy, and drama as it deals with the theme life and death while showing small details of ironic humor as well. It makes you laugh but then again makes you think of the morals behind.

http://www.slantmagazine.com/house/2012/10/new-york-film-festival-2012-bwakaw/

As for the poster and the title, I am somewhat equivocal. For a moment when I knew it was going to be about a dog, I instinctively thought of the movie “Hachiko: A dog’s tale”, which is also about an old man and a dog (based on true story). Hachiko is literally about the dog’s life and journey. Bwakaw however, although its role is critical in Rene’s life does not have much focus in the film. The real focus is in fact, Rene. I only saw the poster after watching the movie but I do not think it fully serves the theme of the film. However, as for the title, I guess there would not have been any better title to describe the film for it is Bwakaw’s death, which symbolizes Rene’s change towards life and society, finally accepting and becoming whole with his soft side.

http://myaukun.wordpress.com/2012/09/27/hachiko-the-moving-story-of-a-faithful-dog-of-shibuya-tokyo/hachi05/

http://theaprblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/movie-review-hachi-dogs-tale-2009.html

http://rodmagaru.com/2012/08/29/movie-jun-lanas-bwakaw-premieres-september-5-nationwide-theat/

Credit To: http://cinespect.com/2012/10/impressions-of-the-50th-new-york-film-festival-pt-1/bwakaw/

There is no more obscure of a movie to watch at the New York Film Festival than Bwakaw, a Filipino film about an old homosexual man and his loving dog. The story revolves around the old man, Rene, and his various interactions with old friends, new ones, and his little stray dog Bwakaw. Although the film is named after the wonderfully trained dog, the real focus is on this old man’s attachment to her and his seemingly unattached behavior toward every one else. But I believe that Rene’s eventual change of heart about his world and his attitude toward his dog isn’t because he is lonely now, rather, he is trying to make up for lost time in his wasted life.

The film’s director, Jun Robles Lana, does a great job of conveying Rene’s self-endused loneliness. In the beginning he is all alone, he pushes people like his neighbor and his fellow workers away from him, making him look like an angry old man. Instead of sitting on his porch yelling at children to get off his lawn, he instead goes after the people around him and actively pushes them away, at one point even hitting his old friend’s son/daughter’s nose because he was making fun of Rene’s hair. As the story progresses you see a gradual change in the way he acts toward the people around him, Rene begins to understand he needs these people, and his dog Bwakaw who begins to sleep in the house with him. Rene opens up more and more to his friends as he attempts to win back his life, which he realizes he has little left of when a co-worker of his passes away in a very comedic scene.

The film’s very dramatic undertone coated with various comedic scenes creates a more realistic world for Rene. His entire life is coated with an inner struggle, his homosexuality, which Rene didn’t embrace until late in his life. The inner struggle of the film between a comedy and drama mirrors Rene’s own life long struggle. The film takes a more dramatic turn at the same point Rene’s inner struggle is faced head on, which lays out the rest of the movie as solely dramatic as Rene’s struggles become more prominent. But Rene himself is the best example of how life has passed him by yet he begins it all over again. Rene was never truly alone, he always had friends and someone by his side, such as Bwakaw who is by his side late in his life. When he begins to see life fading away, such as a very comedic scene where he ends up putting his own burial casket in his living room because the funeral home closed down, Rene sees new opportunities in his life. He connects more with his old friends, tries to win over the affection of a former enemy, and grows closer than ever to his ever faithful dog Bwakaw.

I see Rene’s life beginning at a very old age. His growing connections weren’t manifested from loneliness, they sprouted from a need to live, a need to breath, feel, love the same way every one else did; the same simple way his dog lived her life, eating, relaxing, and being with her best friend. Rene isn’t the old man yelling at kids from his porch anymore, now he is the young boy playing in the grass.

Bwakaw, a foreign dramedy, takes the viewer on a journey into the Philippines to explore the concepts old age, loneliness, and self-acceptance. The acting for Bwakaw has no huge names like Angelina Jolie or Brad Pitt, but it delivers great acting from Eddie Garcia who plays the role of Rene an elderly homosexual man. Jun Robles Lana, the brilliant director of Bwakaw, reveals something enlightening about the human condition. He reveals that we should live life without regrets. Rene lives his life with regrets and he is miserable and lonely because of it.

Bwakaw is a heartbreaking tale about an old man and his dog. Rene’s dog, Bwakaw, serves as the classic symbol of man’s best friend, and Bwakaw’s illness symbolizes the evolution of Rene. Bwakaw’s terminal illness changes Rene from a bitter old man into a tender and caring individual. Rene shows his tender side by caring for his best friend by taking her to the vet several times, allowing her to sleep on his bed, and spending most of his pension on her. Change is also seen in Rene after he is brought together with Sol, a tricycle driver, through Bwakaw’s illness. Rene realizes that he will have no one to share his life with after Bwakaw dies and tries to remedy his sorrows by falling in love with Sol. This finally allows Rene to accept the fact that he is a homosexual. The fear of loneliness also brings about this change in Rene because before taking Bwakaw for granted, Rene could not accept who he really was. Rene tries to reverse time by getting his hair dyed, and he tries to woo his companion by overpaying him and making him dinner.  Despite the humor in this film, loneliness is no laughing matter, and Lana depicts this theme by using Rene’s life as an example.

Lana’s thematic approach uses comedy to literally make death a laughing matter. Rene’s loneliness, regrets, and old age allows him to embrace death. Rene turns death into a job by constantly changing his will, buying a casket years in advance , and having his personal possessions already packaged in boxes. Lana tries to show his audience that living with regrets is no way to live life. But after Bwakaw’s death, Rene starts to live life without regrets by unpackaging his boxes full of his worldly possessions.

Bwakaw’s plot might be predictable at times, but I would highly recommend it to anyone that would like to see a film with highly original concepts. Lana does a great job of blending the elements of comedy and drama together to create a dramedy. His ability to do this makes him an Auteur. His signature stylistic approach has the audience laughing instead of crying at serious moments, but still manages to capture the serious moments as well. Lana pulled this off quite well, despite being his first film.  One thing that I noticed about the film was the stunning quality of cinematography which made the film look life-like. Bwakaw might be a little slow at the beginning, but the plot grows on you towards the end.

Image source: https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSezSqBNcGcVy8k-63_pWozsqGqtiEdRa5H6ltukrRR1ZNchmuKDw

Bwakaw  is a film that is a cross-genre between a comedy and a tragedy. The director, Jun Robles Lana, handles this approach by making the tragedy portrayed through the main character, Rene. Rene is constantly being surrounded by death. He actually waits for death to come upon him and consistently checks and writes his will. However, death actually approaches everyone before himself.

http://www.interaksyon.com/entertainment/assets/media/2012/07/Eddie-Garcia-and-Bwakaw-e1342580889827.jpeg

The comedy part of the film is portrayed through the characterization of Rene. Rene can be characterized as bitter because he doesn’t want to interact with people. He refuses to talk to people because he wants to just leave the world and be alone. The reason for his bitterness is because his inability to accept who he is as a person and that he lied about his life for the one girl he has ever been with. He tries to run away from the person he truly is. Due to his bitterness, Rene constantly gives back witty remarks to the people he does interact with such as his neighbor, his best friend, and the cab driver who he soon realizes that he falls in love with. Not only does Lana use witty comments for the use of comedy, he also uses Rene’s actions to provide a sense of humor in a somewhat tragic situation. For example, when the funeral home closes down and they tell Rene that he must take his coffin home. Rene lives in the coffin in the living room and decides to see how it feels to be laying in the coffin. Of course, it’s not something a person would normally do, but it just shows  the comedic approach the director tries to bring to the audience in a serious matter such as death. The use of a comedy as a relief through a serious moment, I believe, is what makes Lana an auteur.

The title character, Bwakaw, is a symbol throughout the film. Bwakaw is the only interaction that Rene has that is genuine and shows the soft side of him. When Bwakaw gets cancer, Rene to see that death is approaching everyone around him, but himself. He even says that Bwakaw wasn’t suppose to die before him. The moment Rene finds out about Bwakaw sickness, he starts to change his habits and the way he is. Bwakaw is a symbol of Rene’s turning point. At first, Rene was bitter and didn’t want to have anything to do with the world anymore which is why he continued to push people out of his life. Along with pushing people out of his life, he put everything he owned in boxes and made a list as to what box would go to who after he passed. However, the moment Rene finds out that Bwakaw has cancer, he realizes that he can’t live for death, he has to live life and not wait for death to come. That is when he decides to redecorate his house and fix all the broken falls and floors around his house. The moment Bwakaw dies, Rene realizes that life is too short to just sit and wait for death and that is where he starts to unpack all his boxes and decorate his house. Bwakaw is symbolic of Rene’s change from a bitter, old man to trying to live what he has left of his life rather than waiting for death to approach him.

Bwakaw was a very comedic yet serious film that I enjoyed watching. Not only was it comedic, but it brings to light that people should not wait for death or wait for something and they should just live the life they have.

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:

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The film Bwakaw, from Jun Robles Lana, conveys several motifs through the development of the main character Rene as well as his dog and best friend, Bwakaw. In this film we observe the grumpy personality of Rene right from the start when he sends his neighbor, Nitang, off barely acknowledging her nice gesture of corned beef in the process. This harshness is completely unwarranted especially because she is asking for something very important in this instance, to see his Santo Entierro, a life-sized statue of Jesus, to help heal her niece who has a tumor in her lung. The pairing of this gruffness with the innocent and loving characteristics of his dog show the importance of their friendship and lend evidence to the theme that they complete one another. One way in which Lana conveys this idea is through the disease of Bwakaw. When Rene is informed of the diagnosis, he is distraught and does all he can to help his best friend. Although Rene’s efforts are futile, he fights to save her until the very end; trying everything from medicine to using the Santo Entierro to improve her health. During this exchange with illness, Rene seems to be afflicted as well and suffers along with her. One stylistic approach that plays a major role in Bwakaw is the simplicity of life. Rene has no means of transportation and lives in a modest house. Being that he is retired, his life seems to lack structure allowing him to do as he pleases. This use of this simplistic approach allows for the acute observation of the character’s true tendencies without the rigors of work, something I believe Lana will include in future films.

Bwakaw, for whom the film is named, is a vehicle for many themes that Lana conveys. One such example is the idea of enjoying life while it lasts and living it to the fullest. For the majority of his life, Rene denied the fact that he was homosexual and even tried to hold a long relationship to prove himself wrong but to no avail. The way that Bwakaw ties into this motif of living life to the fullest is through her example of how fleeting it really is. Another theme we can see through Bwakaw is the happiness that relationships bring to someone’s life. Rene is bitter towards anyone that bothers, and by bothers I mean talks to, him except for Bwakaw. Not only because she cannot talk but because of the fact that she provides Rene with unconditional love no matter how he treats her which is exactly what he needs in his sad, lonely life. Finally one last thing that Lana portrays with great reverence is the institution of religion and its affect on everyone in the town. To Rene, going to the church is only to make changes to last will and testament mainly because of his sexual orientation and the belief that God no longer wants him. The intervention of god, or at least the belief of intervention, is also seen as Nitang runs to tell Rene of the miracle brought about by the Santo Entierro and also when Rene asks the priest if he thinks god if punishing Bwakaw for his homosexuality. Lana effectively conveys these themes in this film and seems to have a bright future in the film industry if he continues to create gems like Bwakaw.