Notes on the ABS-CBN teleserye," The Story of Us" (TSOU)

First Episode
What a great first episode!!! Palawan lends well to spectacular cinematography so the scenes are visually breathtaking.  While most teleseryes start awkwardly with the leads seeming to just warm up, there is nothing awkward in this first episode and already the characters feel very existent and flesh-and-blood.  Zaijian, as usual, shows amazing talent that can only get better with time and Alyanna comes back after also playing young  Kim in Ikaw Lamang. Kim and Xian are comfortably more mature as artists since My Binondo Girl.  The supporting cast is heavyweight as well: John Arcilla of  Heneral Luna fame, Aiko Melendez, Bangky of Forevermore. Richard Somes, the director, also did Imortal so it will be interesting to see how he does here. I think the biggest challenge will be the pacing and the storyline as most teleseryes might do well up to the 50 th episode and then start unravelling from there. However, I have high hopes.

Second Episode
Amazing cinematography! While I thought Dolce Amore had some good cinematic scenes, this one is magnificent. Offhand, I cannot think of any other teleserye that can match this.  
By this second episode, I can appreciate the thoughtful effort put into casting.  The child leads, Zaijian and Alyanna, have worked together in the period teleserye, Ikaw Lamang, playing young Coco Martin and young Kim, and the team-up was great then and even more compelling now.
The transition to the older Macoy and Tin is beautifully done with that almost ethereal underwater scenes.  And instantly, there is this sizzling current between these two characters that is undeniable and palpable on screen.

Third/Fourth Episode
Beautiful and poignant slow dance and bonfire scene -- tender, slow, intense. 

I so appreciate Kim's complete lack of self-consciousness in scenes like chopping wood, or folding her skirt between her legs, or playing in the sand.

It has been said that this production feels very heavy pressure following OTWOL.  I think, NO NEED.  If this continues, this teleserye has the potential to be the best teleserye ever made.

A Note on Long-Distance Relationships and Separate Lives
Many of the succeeding episodes deal with the difficulties and challenges of long-distance relationships (LDRs).
I think that these difficulties are not just the constraints of distance and time but more from the establishment of separate lives.  What once was a couple's shared life woven ever so intimately from the strands of each other's individual lives to form a single tapestry, now becomes two very different, very separate lives that do not intersect at all or intersect only very briefly and superficially.  Suddenly, their realities become so estranged that one no longer recognizes the other's reality and even has this strange feeling of detachment and inability to imagine the other's life.
As time goes by, it becomes harder to imagine the other as being part of this new life or of being a part of it in the future. As time goes by, what was so easily "us" becomes "I" and "you" and "us" becomes harder to remember or imagine without deliberate effort.

Amazing cinematography! While I thought Dolce Amore had some good cinematic scenes, this one is magnificent. Offhand, I cannot think of any other telesrye that can match this.

By this second episode, I can appreciate the thoughtful effort put into casting.  The child leads, Zaijian and Alyanna, have worked together in the period teleserye, Ikaw Lamang, playing young Coco Martin and young Kim, and the team-up was great then and even more compelling now.

The transition to the older Macoy and Tin is beautifully done with that almost ethereal underwater scenes.  And instantly, there is this sizzling current between these two characters that is undeniable and palpable on screen.

Amazing cinematography! While I thought Dolce Amore had some good cinematic scenes, this one is magnificent. Offhand, I cannot think of any other telesrye that can match this.

By this second episode, I can appreciate the thoughtful effort put into casting.  The child leads, Zaijian and Alyanna, have worked together in the period teleserye, Ikaw Lamang, playing young Coco Martin and young Kim, and the team-up was great then and even more compelling now.

The transition to the older Macoy and Tin is beautifully done with that almost ethereal underwater scenes.  And instantly, there is this sizzling current between these two characters that is undeniable and palpable on screen.

Amazing cinematography! While I thought Dolce Amore had some good cinematic scenes, this one is magnificent. Offhand, I cannot think of any other telesrye that can match this.

By this second episode, I can appreciate the thoughtful effort put into casting.  The child leads, Zaijian and Alyanna, have worked together in the period teleserye, Ikaw Lamang, playing young Coco Martin and young Kim, and the team-up was great then and even more compelling now.

The transition to the older Macoy and Tin is beautifully done with that almost ethereal underwater scenes.  And instantly, there is this sizzling current between these two characters that is undeniable and palpable on screen.

Amazing cinematography! While I thought Dolce Amore had some good cinematic scenes, this one is magnificent. Offhand, I cannot think of any other telesrye that can match this.

By this second episode, I can appreciate the thoughtful effort put into casting.  The child leads, Zaijian and Alyanna, have worked together in the period teleserye, Ikaw Lamang, playing young Coco Martin and young Kim, and the team-up was great then and even more compelling now.

The transition to the older Macoy and Tin is beautifully done with that almost ethereal underwater scenes.  And instantly, there is this sizzling current between these two characters that is undeniable and palpable on screen.

Amazing cinematography! While I thought Dolce Amore had some good cinematic scenes, this one is magnificent. Offhand, I cannot think of any other telesrye that can match this.

By this second episode, I can appreciate the thoughtful effort put into casting.  The child leads, Zaijian and Alyanna, have worked together in the period teleserye, Ikaw Lamang, playing young Coco Martin and young Kim, and the team-up was great then and even more compelling now.

The transition to the older Macoy and Tin is beautifully done with that almost ethereal underwater scenes.  And instantly, there is this sizzling current between these two characters that is undeniable and palpable on screen.

On Human Rights Day

On The Anniversary of Human Rights Day






It has been more than 30 years, but
for me, it is a time, once more, of remembrance.
Remembering Filipino young people who, once upon a time,
fought for the right
to have a voice, a vote;


For the right
to dispel the darkness
of the dictator's shadow
and know the taste of freedom
from one man's megalomania and greed;




For the right
for all a nation's people
to have a share of land,
of industry, of identity,
of education, of opportunity, of dignity;




For the right
against oppression; the right to know:
the culture of life and hope,
instead of the perpetual fear
of death and killing fields.


It is also a time
for lamentation
for youth lost, for innocence lost,
for futures lost;


It is a time
of grief, not only
for all who were lost
but also for those who survived;


for the loss of idealism,
for the loss of belief
that every courageous act
had consequence;


that every sacrifice
had meaning.






MV Lazaro-Elemos
12/10/2015
Rochester, MN

On the 11/19/2015 episode of "On the Wings of Love"

I honestly, honestly believe OTWOL is THE teleserye game-changer of all time.  It has now set the bar up for the next  teleseryes to follow and it will make it  difficult for the next ones to measure up.  Even OTWOL itself will have to make extra efforts to sustain this level of commitment to storyline, pace, character development and innovation.

I love both James and Nadine. They have both really come a long way.  James, especially, from the rather stereotypical roles in his movies, begins to outdo himself in this one.  It looks to me like he is discovering his own layers not only as an artist but as a person and we are all privy.  I think, James is laying everything out on the line and has long allowed emotion and his Clark persona to take him where it will, throwing caution to the wind.

Nadine, on the other hand,  has journeyed from the more comfortable comical, self-effacing but surviving roles to this role of  Leah who is more conflicted, more vulnerable, more emotional.  Nadine should never think she is weak in the drama side because she's got what it takes. She should just let the depth of feeling take over, throw caution to the wind instead of trying to overthink.  This is especially evident in scenes where she looks like she is already thinking of the next lines instead of being "in the moment" ; in the more tender scenes where she can be "felt" anticipating a kiss.  

In the scene, for example, where Leah and Clark are head-to-head, she delivers her lines with some evidence of discomfort from her body language, her restless feet.  Also, during many of the kiss scenes,  she  does nothing with her hands, like having it on Clark's face or hair, and this passivity just serves to highlight her cerebral anticipation of the kiss. Some of the  strongest facial expressions associated with the emotional kiss is the involuntary slight parting of the lips, a slightly furrowed brow, and a lingering towards the end.  The thought-out kiss, on the other hand, has too much or too little lip-parting, a largely expressionless face, and feels just a bit rushed to end.

From a facial expressions and emotional behavior point of view, I would really like to see Nadine just be in the moment, to really immerse in the emotionality of the scenes and let them take her where it will.  A scene I would like to see, would be one where Leah , asleep and totally oblivious of the physical effect she can have on Clark,  draws very close to Clark in bed, snuggles, and brings her hand to caress his face as if to reassure herself that he is still there.  This wakes Clark up, and fearing an impending loss of self-control,  he has to extricate himself a little  bit and wakes Leah up and attempts to explain his sudden need for a little distance. This, of course, embarrasses Leah and the situation becomes a joke between them.

11/20/2015
1:58 am

Love

Love bravely, deeply,
or not at all.

Love unabashedly,
untethered, unfettered.

Love with abandon,
without strategy, without speculation.

Love achingly, thirstily,
or love,
not at all.

 11/17/15
 Rochester, MN

Karanasang “Heneral Luna” Para sa Isang Fil-Am

Lubos ang pananabik ng aking pamilya simula nang masagap namin ang balitang ipapalabas ang “Heneral Luna” sa Minnesota.  Magmula nang ipalabas ito sa Pilipinas at humakot ng napakaraming
papuri mula sa mga manonood, naging isa na ang pelikulang  ito sa mga paborito naming paksa sa hapag-kainan. Kasama na rito ang mga paksang may kinalaman sa digmaang Pilipino-Amerikano, mga paksang tumutukoy sa kasaysayan ng Pilipinas at sa mga bayani ng lupang hinirang.  Natawa rin kami sa isang pahayag na may ilang manonood ang nagtaka kung bakit walang masyadong ginawa ang actor na gumanap sa papel ni Apolinario Mabini, ni hindi raw siya lumakad o tumayo man lang. Biro ng aking asawa na, kung biglang tumayo o tumakbo si Mabini, kabahan na tayo.


Isang Biyernes ng gabi ng Nobyembre, pagkatapos ng trabaho at eskwela, dali-daling naghanda ang aking pamilya ng baon na pagkain at inumin at bumiyahe ng halos dalawang oras para makarating sa AMC Cinema sa Inver Grove, Minnesota. Pagdating doon, maging ang Amerikanong nagbibili ng tiket sa takilya ay nagpahayag ng pagkabilib sa pelikula.  Napanood daw niya ito dahil may mga sub-titles naman daw na Ingles. Puno ang sinehan ng hindi lang mga kababayan, na ang iba ay nanggaling pa sa mga malalayong karatig estado, kundi pati na rin ng ibang lahi.

Astig. Ang pelikula  ay isang makabayang biopic ni Antonio Luna, ang heneral na namuno sa hukbong sandatahang pangrebolusyonaryo ng Pilipinas laban sa mananakop na Amerikano matapos mabili ng bansang Estado Unidos ang Pilipinas mula sa Kastila noong 1898.

Ang pelikula ay matapang, mapangahas; sa kataga ng aking anak na tinedyer, "Astig." Ang mga diyalogo o sagutan ay prangka, tuwiran at walang pakundangan. Sa isang eksena, habang pinag-uusapan ang kakulangan sa sundalo at sandata para sa pagsulong ng digmaan, inatasan ni Aguinaldo si Luna na si Luna na ang bahala at ang digmaan ay nasa kamay na niya. Sagot ni Luna, ano daw ba ang gusto ni Aguinaldo na gawin niya, "kagatin ang kalaban?"

Walang iyakan o drama, bagkus tahasang itinuturo ang mga bida, contrabida, kaaway at kakampi ng walang pasintabi, walang paghingi ng paumanhin.

Ang mabuti sa Pilipino.  May ilang mga mabubuting katangian ng Pilipino na ipinapakita sa pelikula. Para sa akin, ang isa sa mga tumatak na eksena ay iyong nagpakita ng pakikibaka ng kababaihan sa digmaan at sa pagsulong ng makabayang kamalayan. Sa ilang eksena, ipinakita rin ang angking katapangan ng lahi at ang kapasidad nito na mamuhunan ng dugo at pawis at magbuwis ng buhay para sa kapakanan ng nakararami. Kung tutuusin, napakarami nating mga bayani sa ating kasaysayan.  Ang ilan dito ay kilala at tanyag nguni't marami rin na hindi napapangalanan, tulad ng mga bayaning ipinaglaban ang kalayaan laban sa diktadurang Marcos; mga mamamahayag na namatay sa pangungusap ng katotohanan; mga kasapi ng mga NGO; mga guro, doktor, nars, midwife at volunteer barangay health workers na nagsisilbi sa mga lugar na liblib at mapanganib; at mga OFW na nakikipagsapalaran sa iba't ibang panig ng mundo, nilalabanan ang lubos na pangungulila at hirap ng trabaho, para sa kapakanan ng pamilya.

Ang hamon.  Kung mayroon mang kataga sa pelikula na, para sa akin, ay tagos sa puso, ito yung mga salitang binitiwan ng isang pagod, bigo, at dismayadong Luna: " Kalaban mo na ang kalaban.  Kalaban mo rin ang kakampi."  Napakalungkot isipin na sa ating kasaysayan, sa atin mismo nanggagaling ang pang-aalipusta sa lahing kayumanggi.  Nananatiling hamon sa ating lahat, pati na rin sa ating nangibang-bayan, na magkaisa sa ating mga organisasyon; na magkaroon ng isang tinig sa ating mga adhikain; na makipag-ugnayan sa isa't isa ng may kalinga. Hindi maiiwasan na magkaroon tayo ng mga salungat na kuro-kuro o saloobin nguni't  maaari tayong magbukas ng isipan, magpakita ng paggalang para sa lahat, kaparehas man o hindi natin sa pananaw. Kailangan nating ipahayag ang ating mga saloobin na may pag-unawa na, kaakibat ng ating karapatan sa malayang pamamahayag, ay ang katungkulan natin sa responsableng paraan ng pamamahayag.

Kamalayang-bansa para sa lahat ng Pilipino saan man sa mundo.
Kamalayang-bansa -- isang konsepto na mailap para sa karamihang Pilipino. Hindi tayo nagkukulang sa pagsulong ng kamalayang pansarili, o pampamilya.  Bilang isang lahi, napakamaalam natin sa usaping pag-ibig-- pag-ibig sa sinisinta, sa magulang, sa anak, sa kapatid, sa kanayon.  Nguni't    hinihiling na sa atin ng ating kasaysayan, ng ating panahon, na manindigan para sa pag-ibig sa inang bayan. Ani Andres Bonifacio: " Aling pag-ibig ba ang hihigit kaya/ sa pagkadalisay at pagkadakila/ gaya ng pag-ibig sa tinubuang lupa?/ aling pag-ibig pa?/ wala na nga wala.

Paano natin maisusulong ang isang kamalayang-bansa?

Una, isali sa pagsulong ng kamalayang-bansa ang lahat ng Pilipino saan man sa mundo.  Tapos na ang panahon ng panunumbat sa Pilipinong lumisan sa bansang sinilangan sa iba't ibang kadahilanan.  Ang lahat ng Pilipinong nangangarap ng kaunlaran, kalayaan, kaginhawaan para sa lahat ay may puwang sa usaping bayan. Ang lahat ng may ambag para sa kaunlaran at may malasakit para sa bayan ay may karapatang makilahok sa pagsulong ng kamalayang-bansa, saan man sila sa mundo.

Pangalawa, magsanay tayo sa mga ugaling maka-Diyos at makabayan katulad ng disiplina sa sarili, pagsisikap sa kabuhayan, pagmamalasakit sa kapwa, pag-alaga sa kalikasan.  Simulan natin sa ating mga sarili ang mga pagbabagong gusto nating makita sa ating lipunan.  Kung ayaw natin ng korupsiyon, huwag tayong tumanggap ng lagay o mag-lagay. Huwag tayong maghalal ng mga pinunong malabo ang integridad. Kung gusto natin ng kapayapaan, makibahagi tayo sa usaping pangkatarungan at makilahok tayo sa pagsulong ng mga batas na makatarungan.  Sumunod tayo sa mga ordinansiya ng katahimikan sa ating komunidad, hindi yung wala tayong pakialam na magpatugtog ng malakas o mag-karaoke sa kalye ng magdamag.  Kung gusto natin ng isang mapagmalasakit na lipunan, magmalasakit tayo lalo na sa mga pinaka-nangangailangan sa atin.

Pangatlo, para sa atin na ginawa nang pangalawang tahanan ang ibang bayan, malaki pa rin ang maitutulong natin sa lupang pinagmulan.  Huwag nating isipin na nakakalamang tayo sa ating mga kababayan sa Pilipinas at mayroon na tayong karapatan na magkibit-balikat; magreklamo pero hindi makilahok; pumuna sa lahat ng mga suliranin ng bayan pero walang balak na makisama sa solusiyon.  Maaari tayong magbigay suporta sa mga organisasyon at proyekto na tunay na nakakatulong sa bayan, tulad ng mga programang "micro-finance o micro- lending"; mga programang pangkalusugan o pang-edukasyon. Makilahok tayo sa usaping halalan, pulitika, ekonomiya, pagsulong ng mga batas, pangalaga sa karapatang pantao.

Panghuli, kailangan nating maunawaan na may mga kamalayang naluluklok lamang,  namamahay lamang sa kaibuturan ng ating inang wika; mga kamalayang hindi kailanman lubos na maipapahiwatig  ng anumang wikang banyaga.  Hindi masama na tayo'y bihasa sa anumang wikang banyaga, nguni't dalhin pa rin natin ang ating wika sa ating mga puso; bigkasin ito ng may pagmamalaki; hayaan itong pagyamanin ang ating pagkakakilanlan; at ipamana ito sa mga susunod pa na mga henerasyong kayumanggi.

Heto na ang mga karanasang "Heneral Luna" na aking isina-papel.  Panahon na para tuluyan at taos-pusong isabuhay.


MVLazaro-Elemos
ika-15 ng Nobyembre, 2015
Rochester, MN

STORIES OF THE STREET:

  The Laughter of Brown Children

If there is one memory of home that remains as vivid, clear and strong as the day it was made, that, for me, is the memory of brown children's laughter.  The distance from home and the length of time away from it only seems to increase the resonance and timbre of the memory.

There are many occasions to remember.  I remember the twilights where I would sit at the stoop of my home-community clinic in Barrio San Antonio and watch the children laugh and race each other, kicking up dust under bare feet, scurrying home, town-crying,"Marimar na, Marimar na" to signal the start of the town's soap-opera watching ritual.  The men would gather at the corner store and in a while, the children, losing their initial excitement for the TV soap, would come back out to the streets to children's banter and to cajole from the menfolk some rock candy. 

I remember the children's excitement when, one weekend, the adults decided to clear the empty lot across from the clinic and put in a swing in the guava tree.  Armed with whatever tools they could find at home or borrow from neighbors, the children joined us at work, digging out weeds, trimming hedges, moving out rocks, until we could put an old tire up with some strong rope to make a swing. By late afternoon, we also had a couple of borrowed benches under the aratilis tree and the store-owner at the end of the street came by with enough piping hot Payless noodle soup to share with everyone.

I remember hot summers of children's laughter at the well, ringing out, as the children filled buckets, formed mud puddles and splashed and chased each other with cool well-water while the women finished their laundry with radio drama in the background.  Inside the clinic, going about my work, I would listen to the outside noises of life and be comforted that even in sorrow, in sickness, or in death, it seemed that the laughter was never far behind.  It was even there on the day of the early summer, when boys just graduated from elementary school would come, in brave and nervous groups, into my clinic, for circumcision, prepared for a rite of passage into manhood.

It seems much like the promise of the Little Prince to the aviator in Antoine d'Saint Exupery's, "The Little Prince." That no matter where the aviator was after their parting, the aviator need only to look at a star to hear the Little Prince's laughter, for every star shall laugh like him.  And as much as there are millions of stars in the sky, so shall there be millions of echoes of the Little Prince's laughter.

So it is for me.  Wherever I traveled, wherever I lived, I would hear very,very close to my ears  -- in the oddest moments, in a split-instance of time, in reverie or in action, in company or in solitude -- the laughter of brown children --laughing in that way only brown children can. And I am bound, once more, to home.

M.V. Lazaro-Elemos

February 2001

New York City

Tula Para sa Mga Sikat at Sisikat Pa

Tula Para sa Mga Sikat at Sisikat Pa


Nawa'y huwag kang mabulag
sa tindi ng ilaw entablado,
dahil baka
sa silaw,
di ka na niya maaninag.


Nawa'y huwag kang mabingi
sa mga tili at hiyawan,
dahil baka
sa ingay,
di mo na marinig ang tibok ng puso niya.


Nawa'y huwag kang mahilo
sa tugatog ng kasikatan,
dahil baka
sa dumog ng sumasamba,
mawalan ng puwang


ang mahalagang ISA;

ang sabay na payapang pagsilay sa bukang-liwayway;

ang pagyapos sa tunay na minamahal sa duyan ng dapithapon.


Nawa'y may puwang ka,
Nawa'y may puwang ka pa,
sa mahalagang isa.


MVLE
10/8/2015
Rochester, MN