SIARGAO is more than just a feature film of the picturesque destination. It explores human emotion complexities and frailties. You will see the sunsets and sunrises. It's an honest to goodness take of human lives. 

Whenever I search for promo airfare rates online, SIARGAO is one of the few destinations I check for a possible trip.  I have always been enamored with the grandeur of the place but has not been able to successfully booked a flight to be on this island. So when I read the MMFF 2017 movie line up on social media and saw SIARGAO as one of the eight movies to be shown, I told myself that I need to watch this film at the very least to see how it's like to be in Siargao.

SIARGAO island serves as a backdrop of this new Paul Soriano masterpiece. Jericho Rosales plays Jigs/Diego, a member of The Diego Project who decides to go back to his hometown and take a break from the recent controversy he got involved with. Erich Gonzales is Laura, a vlogger who goes out of her comfort zone to travel alone and tries to mend a broken heart. Jasmine Curtis is Abi, the ex-beau of Jigs who has not moved on yet with her feelings for Jigs.

STRENGTHS:

ACTORS- The three lead actors have portrayed their roles effortlessly.  Jericho has effectively shown the nuances of a band member, a local of Siargao,   emotionally repressed and yet care-free!  Erich improved dramatically as she tackled her role as the free-spirited fashion vlogger, experimental young lady finding her true self after she broke up with her boyfriend. Jasmine Curtis aced her portrayal as Abi. She’s very subdued but was very consistent in showing the depth of her character towards Jigs.  Supporting cast members are also convincing and natural.

CINEMATOGRAPHY – No one can argue that the island was beautifully captured by HD cameras. The underwater and surf scenes were amazingly taken. The waves were of perfect rhythm as it depicted the characters emotions and challenges.

MUSIC/MUSICAL SCORE- I like how the film used non-pop music. Except for the Eraserheads classic “Fine Time” (given an acoustic feel) and the club music during the party scenes, the rest of the songs were indie compositions.

SCREENPLAY: Screenwriter  Anj Pessumal used a lot of parallelism in the film.  The lead characters’ lives versus the waves. The human emotions and the sunrises and sunsets.  The script also provided the advocacy message on how to take care of SIARGAO, the eco-tourism and the nature in its entirety.

OPPORTUNITIES:

The movie is quite dialogue-ish most of the time. It has a tendency to be so descriptive by means of dialogue.  The love triangle of the three lead characters was a bit hazy. I am unsure if it was intentionally executed or the screenwriter and the director were really confused about the message they want to convey.  

SIARGAO movie is more than just a feature of the picturesque destination. It explored emotion complexities and human frailties. It showed struggles and challenges but sometimes serenity and placid. You witnessed the sunsets and the sunrises. It’s an honest to goodness take of life! One of the lines in the movie said " You can not fall in love in Siargao but you will definitely fall in love with Siargao" and I think that's very true after watching this film. 

Go and watch this movie before it's pulled out in some theaters.

My rating: 8/10

*Photo Credit to TEN17 Productions.