Literary Criticism: Filipinas 2003

    

Literary Criticism

I.                    Summary

Florensia Filipinas (Armida Reyna), a mother of 3 daughters and 3 sons, faces a problem regarding her own family. Florensia is living with her oldest daughter, Yolanda Filipinas (Maricel Soriano). Yolanda is a martyr and soft-hearted daughter who devoted her time taking care for her mother. Yolanda drops her dreams and ambitions, even her own life for her mother. The problem arises when Samuel Filipinas (Richard Gomez), the oldest son, together with his son and daughter came back from America. Samuel and Eman Filipinas (Victor Neri), a communist and acclaimed leader of Filipino revolutionist, always quarrel regarding the current conflict of the Philippines. Problems pile-up, from the near bankruptcy of their business, the death of Narciso Filipinas (Wendell Ramos), youngest son and a military official, and more conflict among family members. Florensia, carrying all of the problems, got into comma. Conflict among family members, different idealism and hatred towards each other are the problems to be solved by the Filipinas family. The movie tells us that despite the failure in faith with our institutions like military and the church, there’s one left where we can lean on and trust—the institution of the family.

II.                  Characters

A.      Yolanda Filipinas (Maricel Soriano)

Yolanda, the oldest of all siblings, is the martyr daughter. She thinks that her family weighs more than everything, even to her own happiness. She chooses to sacrifice her own love to conceal a crime that leads to her broken life. She finished Economics and managing a small family business.

B.      Samuel Filipinas (Richard Gomez)

Samuel, being the oldest son, thinks that what he says is always right and everything must bow before his decisions. He also represents the idealistic Filipino who believes that America is the answer to everything. Samuel is separated from his wife and a father of two daughters and one son.

C.      Vicky Filipinas (Aiko Melendez)

Vicky, one of the favorites of Florensia and the youngest daughter, is a typical Filipina who finds happiness with foreign partners. She deals with the Filipinas’ onion business. She is married to Ramesh, a Bombay.

D.      Eman Filipinas (Victor Neri)

Eman, younger than Samuel, is the communist of the family. He fights for what he thinks is right and stands his ground as a Filipino. He doesn’t want Americans to deal with our nation’s problem. With his idealism, Samuel and Eman always fight for what is right.

E.       Gloria Filipinas (Dawn Zullueta)

Gloria, younger than Yolanda and the favorite of Florensia, is an OFW caregiver. She left her daughter and her husband just to earn money. She endures the loneliness. Ironic of this is that Gloria knows how to take care, a nurse, and a good caregiver but she doesn’t, even once, take care of their mother. Gloria is married to Greg, a househusband.

F.       Narciso Filipinas (Wendell Ramos)

Narciso is a military official and the youngest in the family. He is secretly married to Dindi. He is the bridge between Eman and Samuel.  Narciso believes that the military must never take power over the Philippine government because too much power makes people blind.

G.     Florensia Filipinas (Armida Reyna)          

Florensia is religious mother. She generally loves her siblings but it is also obvious that she has favoritism among her offspring.

III.                Conflict

The conflict of the story is the different idealism of the Filipinas Family. Due to this conflict, the family was torn apart from inside. The rivalry between Samuel being the realistic-bossy-American Dreamer and Eman the communist who fights for his country. The Grudge of Yolanda  for Gloria for leaving her with her empty dreams. In the end, the conflict was resolved with acceptance and forgiveness.  

IV.                Theme

The theme of the story is about the value of family in our society. The movie reflects the different idealism of every Filipinos especially the great difference in handling our lives as individuals. The movie teaches us that despite all failures in faith on our society, we always have one left to where we can lean on, our family.

V.                  Symbol

The title itself symbolizes the Filipino people. Filipinas family portrays the different idealism of Filipinos. The Filipino nation is a family; we must unite and work as one. Another symbol used is the “onion”. The story used onion as a figurative exposure for emotional attachments and secrecy of grudge and hatred.

VI.                Association with present life situation

The move is generally associated with the Filipino nation. We can see that the Philippines is facing problems regarding individuality and lack of unity. These problems are mainly due to different idealism. But on the bright side of the story, we can say that despite all odds, the Filipino family is still the institution we can hold on.