Thursday, February 28, 2008

Daybreak

daybreak99
Paolo Rivero and Coco Martin

In the movies, put two people in an enclosed space and you can expect high tension that is ultimately a dissection of their relationship. The sneaky surprise of Daybreak -- about a gay couple in an empty hideaway mansion in Tagaytay -- is that it isn't so much a trajectory of emotions as it is one complete encapsulated moment. No explosive turning points, no overt character arcs -- the narrative isn't much -- but as a snapshot of two men on the eve of a breakup (Coco Martin the boatman player and Paolo Rivero the married doctor), in which they cook, eat, talk, fuck, dance, shower, sleep, and fuck some more, Daybreak plays out like a protracted sigh of goodbye. It's a fart, but it's a beautiful fart.

Director Adolf Alix Jr., with cinematographer Albert Banzon, capture the serene luminosity of sterile interiors, but the best images are of the two actors in passionate liplocks. Those are some of the hottest Pinoy man-to-man kisses ever committed on screen. Coco Martin and Paolo Rivero are extremely evocative in their most physical gestures (heads side by side in a slowdance; playing with unwanted food; the bare-butt lovemaking and the tiny movements in the morning after) that when they dialogue, the power seems almost insufficient by comparison.

Someday, an enterprising critic might analyze our fascination with gay pairings from opposite economic backgrounds. (Is there a political undercurrent to this? Why is rich-poor a sexually enticing proposition?) Or someone might explain to us the dramatic significance of a top turning bottom. (How much an act of love is submission? Why are bottoms presumed to be submissive in the first place?) Daybreak is only one of several recent films to capitalize on these story elements fast becoming cliches.

But the question most pertinent to Daybreak is the position of gay relationships/marriage in a larger society. Isolated from the rest of the world, a gay relationship can be a beautiful, powerful thing. But with a wife or a girlfriend or a lifestyle of multiple partners waiting outside, why does it seem natural for gay affairs to take a backseat in priority? In its quiet way, Daybreak asks us to rethink the way we value homosexual relationships. When two men love each other, what good reason is there, if any, to break them apart?

GRADE: A-

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

ahmmm. nice one. brilliant!

it's just sad that some beautiful good things had to come to an end... that some words are not (and will never be) uttered, like "iloveyou" for instance. well, probably they're not really meant to be...

but i like dead end signs more... i think they are kind... they at least have the decency to let you know you're going nowhere unlike some gay "relationships" (if you may call it as one) i know.

watchathink???

Clark Can't said...

"… the question most pertinent to Daybreak is the position of gay relationships/marriage in a larger society. Isolated from the rest of the world, a gay relationship can be a beautiful, powerful thing. But with a wife or a girlfriend or a lifestyle of multiple partners waiting outside, why does it seem natural for gay affairs to take a backseat in priority?"

- makes me wonder, myself. =)

Agent Boytoy said...

hi! okay mga reviews mo. lage kong sinusubaybayan. di lang ako nakaka iwan ng comments :) hinay-hinay lang dun sa isa sa itaas. haha. ako den, may nakabangga ata. hulaan mo na lang kong saan. hehe :)

tama lang irecommend ni mgg ito. :)

Anonymous said...

Yes, the beauty of the film was in the unspoken. Each little touch and the tension between the men are the reasons to watch the film.

But the script is utterly disgusting. I found myself cringing every time Paolo spoke IN ENGLISH! And the attempts to be profound are so cliche. They could have worked, except Rivero made them sound more cliche than they already are.
Martin was a delight, though. Adorable and real.

Anonymous said...

Please watch this upcoming film by Jowee Morel, the same Director who made "Mga Paru-parong Rosas" and "When A Gay Man Loves" under Outline Film Production entitled "LATAK" (Residue). You can watch the full trailer at www.latakmovie.com

SYNOPSIS
When a young director Andrew Locsin discovers the cruel betrayal of his lover and friends, his vice triggers a destructive entanglement of his dark past.
An ordeal that was haunting his unconsciousness and graphic
memory, surfaces. Thrown into a mix of spine-chilling hallucinations and paranoia he comes face to face with the mysterious ghosts of a mother and a girl. With no one to trust, the demons in his nightmares appear in his fight for survival in a horrifying doomed reality.
Extracted from a tumultuous true to life events, the film will take you into the dark side of grim reality.

CAST:
Marc Jacob
Zach Urdaneta
Mercedes Cabral
Chanel Latorre
Pia Millado
Special Participation:
Chito Alcid
Tia Pusit
and
Boy Villasanta
Directed by Jowee Morel
www.latakmovie.cm
www.latakmovie.com
www.latakmovie.com