A young woman named Tuding arrives in the town of Bacayan with a shotgun. She is in search of the man named Neong who got her sister Teresit pregnant. She tricks some thugs in the town market and rides away with their horse. Tuding captures Neong from his house and wants to take him back to Teresit. On the way, Neong recounts his time in the war and tries to bond with Tuding. The short film leaves it to the viewer to decide whether Tuding succeeds, but there are clues on the way for us to make our guesses.
Shotgun Tuding” is screening at Across Asia Film Festival
The biggest asset of the short is its colour scheme. Being shot on washed-out 16mm, makes it the living replica of a bygone era. Shades of the wild west are abundant in the sets and costumes. The background score also helps to sustain the vibe.
Characterization has some very deliberate facets; for example the thugs were over dramatic and the protagonist was under-dramatic. There is allegory written all over it, though there are deficiencies in the aesthetic department. Acting performances and English dialogue deliveries were not very memorable.
The reference to honey bee in the end may refer to the whole elusiveness of the situation. One may think that the situation is under control and nothing could go wrong from here, but reality may seem ambiguous. Another way of looking at it is, the honey bee though evaluates all the different options in front of it, ultimately ends up with the flower.