SXSW — one of the largest film festivals in the US — is best known for its eclectic nature. Plopped in the heart of Austin, Texas, the festival seems as youthfully dynamic as it is just as all-encompassing; with sections in XR, music, comedy, and even an industry conference, the festival's energy seems to stretch at the seams.
It's such a pleasure then, to see Martin Edralin's “Islands” — the first Filipino-language film set to compete in the SXSW Narrative Competition — as a disruption amid the sea of noise. “Islands” follows muted life of Joshua (Rogelio Balagtas), a cripplingly shy middle-aged Filipino Canadian man. His days are routine. He wakes up to his mother's breakfast of eggs and rice; he tends to his janitorial job; and sometimes, when he comes home, he prays for a wife to ease the unending loneliness. Things drastically change for Joshua, however, when his high-spirited mother suddenly passes away. Joshua drops everything so that he can take care of his father, who is debilitated by shock. Soon, however, Joshua realizes that without extra help, there's very little he can do alone.
Though this is also Rogelio Balagtas' feature debut, his brilliance still shines. Perhaps this is because Balagtas is a non-actor; or perhaps this is because Balagtas himself is simply a natural channel for Joshua's spirit. He completely absorbs Joshua's awkwardness in the most minute details. His inexperience with the knife seems genuine; conversely, his nightly prayers feel harried and routine. He's the Bazinian dream come true: in the process of acting, Balagtas ceases to become Balagtas. He melts into the Joshua character fully and believably on-screen.
Balagtas' performance sometimes makes one forget that the film is less fact than it is fiction, but the camerawork contributes to this, too. Determining the camera's distance is perhaps one of the major challenges for first-time filmmakers; however, Edralin's camerawork is impressively clean. Gentle daylight bleaches the walls, rimming each day with a soft halo. The camera cuts up the house, adding to the atmosphere of isolation. Most notably, the camera skillfully engages Joshua in a delicate dance between intimacy and distance, appropriately drawing the lines between the viewer and subject. When Joshua masturbates, for example, the camera does not ogle or condemn; instead, it simply observes, poised upon a tripod at the bedroom door. Joshua — for all his faults — is not judged. He is instead given space to breathe.
This “space to breathe” allows the film to exhale a sense of both liberation and constriction at once. Despite the still camera, the drama of life rolls on. When Joshua's long-lost cousin, the petite and cheerful Marisol (Sheila Lotuaco), volunteers to help, the film's mood visibly shifts. So too, does the distance between each character's “island” — mental rifts only widen and deepen with each gesture of proximity. Edralin does an intriguing thing here, then: he opens the door into Joshua's private world by rocking the boat. Even though this is his first feature, it's a relief that he's a skilled navigator, however. For each startling sway, Edralin always makes sure not to throw us off entirely.
All in all, “Islands” is a stunning debut. “Islands” releases just enough snippets and twists to spice up the humdrum of the everyday. For a film that is so deliberately motionless, each scene reverberates with the juiciness of untold drama. “Islands” well deserves its place at SXSW, after all: for all of its quiet, it is loud in all the right ways.
“Islands” PR is managed by David Magdael and Associates. A live chat with the filmmakers will be on Wednesday March 17 at 4PM CT.
