Produced by filmmaker Carlo Enciso Catu, John Peter Chua's short “No More Crying” has already won the BEST DIRECTOR award at this year's edition of Sine Kabataan.
“No More Crying” review is part of the Submit Your Film Initiative
Stephen Tan, the youngest and the only photographer in his family, is tasked with creating his grandmother's funeral portrait, and for that purpose, he has arrived at his family's ancestral home, in order to search for a suitable photograph. While there, he finds his aunt Ellen, who is hastily trying to make the preparations for the wake on the same day, rushing him to finish his task as soon as possible. As the conversation of the two gets heated, a number of issues come to the fore.
Chua directs a very personal, 5-minue short, with the photograph at the end of the movie highlighting the fact in the best fashion, while connecting the narrative with his own story in a rather smart choice. The barriers language poses, as Stephen's grandmother spoke Filipino Hokkien, a dialect it becomes evident he did not know, and the issues the lack of communication can cause, provide one of the main comments here, with Chua also showcasing that there are ways to overcome them, when love is involved among people. Furthermore, Chua makes comments regarding grief and how people can overcome it, and the ways photography is connected with memory, in a rather rich, contextually, narrative, particularly for its duration.
At the same time, though, the melodramatic approach that appears towards the end seems somewhat excessive, with Lowell Tiu's acting as Stephen not helping particularly in that regard, as his performance appears forced. On the other hand, Elizabeth Chua's as Ellen seems more natural, while the interactions of the two work quite well.
Where the movie truly thrives though, is on its visuals, with DP Mai Calapardo presenting a series of impressive images, mostly inside the house, where the framing also finds its apogee. In combination with Maria Luz Margarita E. De La Cruz's coloring, the quality of the image is here is quite high, while the antithesis of the story's presentation with the family photo close to the end is a true wonder to look at, also benefitting by editor Jasper Ramon Tulabot's cut in the particular moment.
“No More Crying” shows that John Peter Chua needs a bit more work yet regarding his command of the medium, but also that he has an eye for composition and interesting ideas regarding context, which will definitely help him in his career going forward. We will be following him…
