Ma’ Rosa (2016) (Filipino Language) (2016)- BFI London Film Festival 2016

110min

Genre:      Crime, Drama

Director:   Brillante Mendoza

Cast:        Jaclyn Jose, Julio Diaz, Baron Geisler…and more

Writer:     Troy Espiritu

-Synopsis-

From her humble convenience store in the slums of Manila, tough family matriarch “Ma’ Rosa” sells everything from household goods to food… and of course plenty of methamphetamine or “ice”. But when she’s rumbled by corrupt cops, Rosa and her family will struggle to pay for their freedom in this Filipino crime drama from director Brillante Mendoza.

Jaclyn Jose stars in the eponymous role which recently won her a “Best Actress” award at May’s Cannes Film Festival; playing a tough mother & wife and owner of a Sari-Sari store, who simultaneously serves as a respected pillar of her community and its local drug dealer, while trying to provide for her family in a country blighted by poverty and corruption.

Apart from an ultra-realist drama which might be an eye-opener for Europeans with little experience of real corruption; ‘Ma’ Rosa’ is really about the inner moral struggle of people living in poverty as they try to balance the few choices they have in life against the hardships which society thrusts upon them, an interesting social debate depending on where you stand on the political spectrum we’re sure.

‘Ma’ Rosa’ unravels in real time over a 24 hour period on the wet streets of Manila, and by wet we mean a tropical county in the rainy season wet. This is a fairly gritty little urban drama which captures a microcosm of life on the streets of the Filipino capital, as “Rosa’s” kids are forced into indignities to raise money to pay off dodgy detectives. But the film is too realistic for its own good, the message is conveyed early, we get the point but the film then drags on mundanely with every little movement captured.

There’s no doubt the film has an authentic look, shot on location in Manila and in semi-documentary style and with a low budget. Mendoza has clearly gone for guerilla filmmaking, with plenty of low-angle shots for claustrophobic  “ghetto” effect, but resulting in some distinctly questionable camera work which includes several out-of-focus zooming shots and unnecessarily shaky shots even in mundane indoor scenes.

The net result is an authentic look which does little to make up for a prodding and overly familiar narrative which plays out over a runtime of just under two hours, but which feels much longer. A story with reasonably sympathetic characters, and some deliberately unsympathetic ones, which feels like a journey to nowhere and one which frankly fails to captivate.

Maybe there’s something lost in transition, but that doesn’t seem to be an issue for the many great “street” and crime dramas from places like Brazil and Mexico over the last 20 years. Ultimately ‘Ma’ Rosa’ is workmanlike drama whose greatest achievement is putting across the notion that the poor live in a prison of perpetual poverty and are slaves to money, one way or another. And money equals freedom, especially in capitalist societies, and in particular the underdeveloped ones.

The Bottom Line…

Jaclyn Jose  manages to carry this compact little Manila street movie with an authentic look and a distinct message; but ultimately with a familiar and laboured narrative, ‘Ma’ Rosa’ is rather underwhelming as a drama and fails to captivate, while proving unimaginative and pushing its realism to the point of tedium.

‘Ma’ Rosa’ is out in the Philippines, with no current UK release date.

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

Trash (2014)

Set in the streets and slums of modern day Rio De Janeiro (Brazil), three poor teenagers discover something in the city dump which places them in the middle of a dangerous game of crime and corruption with the light of justice shimmering in the distance.

Directed by Stephen Daldry and starring Rickson Tevez, Rooney Mara and Wagner Moura among others.

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