‘Kantil’ REVIEW: Why you can’t separate the art from its artist
‘Kantil’ REVIEW: Why you can’t separate the art from its artist
Joshua Caesar Medroso’s debut film Kantil shows the genuine care and concern the filmmaker has for their hometown. A story about a group of informal settlers evicted from their homes to make space for a new commercial site would have just been a criticism on a government and their preferred structure of economy, but the filmmaker takes further strides by incorporating a numbersome of elements into the plot such as star-crossed queer love and the mystique of the bodies of water that enclose them.
It’s very evident that the film wants to discuss a list of tragedies surrounding the forbidden love of Paleng (Edmund Telmo) and Eliong (Andre Miguel), but there was a tendency for the story to take on more than it could tell. This was a couple all of us rooted for, mostly because we saw how unfair their lives were being on them, but there was a noticeable lack of emotion and connection in how the plot unfolded which was essential to showing how this macro-scale issue the town was facing was individually affecting the personal lives of its people.
However, the film seemed to be aware of this, using visual metaphors like space to aid its story. It made for good pacing and unique motifs that created a good experience for its audience overall.
Leading up to its premiere at Cinemalaya, it was clear how much the filmmaker cared about this film and the people it was made for. They previously called it an ode to their hometown — a beautiful one at that. Crowdfunding and production grants could only do as much as it could afford, but the plot really established how much the filmmaker cared for their hometown, in addition to all the efforts they exerted to make everything possible.
This was a great debut for Medroso in the sense that it introduces what kind of filmmaker they are to cinemagoers. They’re a filmmaker who believes there should be no limits to creative vision and who creates films that serve as love letters to the people they’re inspired by. It’s just the start for them, a really admirable start at that, so who knows what masterpieces can come from them in the near future.
‘Kantil’ premiered at the 20th Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival as part of the Full Length Main Competition category.
