Feature – Philippines / UK Première

Showing @ Filmhouse 2, Fri 29 Jun @ 22.05

Adolfo Borinaga Alix Jr. / Philippines / 2011 / 85 min

In the favela-type shanty towns of the Philippines, landfills, the kind investigated by Vik Muniz in Waste Land, are outlets for food and other chance valuables. Director Adolfo Borinaga Alix Jr. takes us on a bizarre journey through the faltering marriage of new arrivals to the slums Lina and Miguel (Cherry Pie Picache and Bembol Roco). In a community where you can quite easily be judged on your offspring, it comes as a shock when Lina gives birth to a milkfish. Fortunately, there are no breastfeeding scenes.

In Eastern Indian mythology, the fish represents transformation – connected to Vishnu’s first Avatar which saved mankind. Alix Jr. latches on to a similar spiritual relationship with creation and salvation to present a tale of deliverance. There are of course inadvertent laughs drawn from the absurdity of the plot: Lina has the fish baptised and takes it on a daytrip to the nearby aquarium. But it is a symbol of hope in an otherwise destitute society, a metaphor which becomes a reality after Lina discovers a sports bag full of hidden money. It is a bit of a stretch though, even with the profound religious connotations of virginal birth and divine intervention at play; perhaps as an idea, this works to decent effect, but as a film, it becomes a bit too contrived.