‘Liway’ REVIEW: Vicariously living a painful history
‘Liway’ REVIEW: Vicariously living a painful history
Kenken Nuyad (left) and Glaiza de Castro (right) cast as mother and son in Liway (2018).
This review contains spoilers for Liway (2018).
A criminally underrated and brilliantly told story that takes place during the final years of the Marcos regime, Liway (2018) is not a film to miss and is best going into knowing as little as possible. Kip Oebanda’s evidently significant and personal film is not an easy watch; it does not promise you a hilarious rib-tickling experience, nor does it offer an action-packed 104 minutes. This film gives us so much more.
Based on actual events of the director’s life, the film unfolds through the eyes of Dakip (starring the talented newcomer Kenken Nuyad) who grows up in Camp Delgado, a makeshift jail inside a military camp for rebels and criminals, because his parents, Day (Glaiza de Castro) and Ric (Dominic Roco), are not only anti-Marcos dissidents but also former commanders of the opposition. In an attempt to protect her child as conditions in the camp worsen and as their lives become uncertain with the instability of the dictatorship, we see how Day tells her son stories of a mythical enchantress, the guardian diwata of Mount Kanlaon named Liway. Dakip, later on, realizes that this is a fictionalized version of his mother’s own story of resistance against the Marcos regime.
The Well-Written Unfolding of Events
With the subject matter of the film so personal, it was a smart move for Director Kip Oebanda to have Zig Dulay, a two-time Cinemalaya winner, come on board in writing the screenplay. One of the most commendable things about Liway was how it slowly unfolded its events; a person who goes in blind would have to put the pieces together to grasp what the film was about. There are many entry points to a story of two former rebel commanders and their children living in Camp Delgado, yet Oebanda and Dulay choose to downplay the beginning instead of immediately introducing the political context and setting. The first thing that the audience is greeted with is the happy world of Dakip filled with the daytime busy clamor of cackling men and gossiping women and at night the quiet world of which Day’s bedtime stories painted for him. We are given happiness in what we do not know yet is a prison, and later on, contrast it with Dakip’s experience in the real world.
Behind the scenes of Kip Oebanda’s Liway (2018).
One of the most compelling means of storytelling used in the film is the brilliant idea of bringing to life the legend of Liway by utilizing the art of shadow play. This device of storytelling is not often seen in Philippine cinema, and the risk that Oebanda took to offer something different is commendable. It gives the film a sense of charm it wouldn’t have otherwise. It is also through these mythological stories that it is revealed to us that the adventures of the diwata Liway, is in fact, based on Day’s experiences during the days she was known as Commander Liway. Through Oebanda’s choice of a non-linear timeline, we are transported back to witness Commander Liway preaching ideology in the mountains and running rebel operations and then pulled back to the present time where prisoners’ feelings of fear and unsafety grow with every hour. The complex timeline isn’t hard to follow nor does it confuse the storyline like other films that tackle the same feat do. Instead, it leaves the audience with the responsibility of connecting the dots and understanding that the heaviness in the air is due to our protagonists’ precarious future.
Astounding Performances
Glaiza de Castro stuns in her performance as Day (formerly known as Commander Liway).
If given the chance to praise only one thing about this film, it would certainly be the amazing performance of one Glaiza de Castro who is able to shift with admirable ease between her character’s roles of persevering parent, determined wife, and titular rebel commander. She does this by flaunting one of her biggest strengths as an actress–her emotional range, where she is able to shift effortlessly from fierce and aggressive to serene and soft-spoken with just the expression of her saucer eyes. It is clear how much Glaiza knows her character, from the conviction with which her lines are spoken to the patriotism that burns ferociously in her eyes as she sings her nationalistic songs and strums her guitar. There is no doubt that no one could have starred in this role other than her.
It is however true, that this film wouldn’t have been as impactful as it is with just one strong performance and this brings us to Kenken Nuyad, who deserves as much praise for his role as de Castro. Nuyad is successful in his portrayal of Dakip, the film’s Point-of-View character, as he gives us an authentic and realistic performance held with command rarely seen in child actors. He does Dakip justice by keeping a childlike wonder throughout the film; we laugh as he catches a group of soldiers watching pornography, and we cry as he realizes at a rally who his parents really are. This success highlights the plausible efforts of Oebanda in directing the actor playing his young self, a feat one can imagine is harder than it looks.
Taking A Stand for History
Besides the fact that Liway is a tribute to his mother, we see that Oebanda manages to stir discourse around the history of the victims of the Marcos regime that is constantly presented and then misrepresented time and again. The fact that this is a film set in one of the most politically charged times in our history yet manages to avoid overdrawing a political agenda is admirable and allows the audience to weigh their own facts against the narrative of the film. The end goal of Liway is not to attack nor to manipulate but to try to properly represent detainees, victims, and people who clamored for change - people who have lived the consequences of their actions, and who have made sacrifices of their own accord for what we now know and enjoy as freedom.
Liway may have its faults such as the tinge of melodrama towards the end and Glaiza de Castro’s beautifully done eyebrows despite her character spending years in jail. It is also a film that may not resonate with some due to its very specific world and experience, but it is, by all means, necessary – the heart and intention of the film outweigh the flaws greatly. With all of the deliberate misstatements on the history of our country, Liway is not only personal and underrated but necessary in this age of revisionist history.
Child actor Kenken Nuyen gives an outstanding performance as young Dakip Oebanda.
One of the most compelling scenes of the film was when Dakip was asked to give a speech to a rally and he recounted seeing mannequins for the first time - he assumed that the rest of the people in the outside world were just like the mannequin, powerless of speaking and moving. He said he realized he was wrong, and that the people outside were very noisy. One cannot help but wonder that if Dakip could lay his eyes on us today, would he have seen us as mannequins incapable of words and actions? Or would he complain that we were just as noisy, just as loud, and just as keen as the people he witnessed clamoring for change during his time?
