Ma’ Rosa (2016)

Directed by: Brillante Mendoza | 110 minutes | drama | Actors: Jaclyn Jose, Julio Diaz, Baron Geisler, Jomari Angeles, Neil Ryan Sese, Mercedes Cabral, Andi Eigenmann, Mark Anthony Fernandez, Felix Roco, Mon Confiado, Maria Isabel Lopez, Ruby Ruiz, Mark Dionisio, John Paul Duray, Tony Fabian

The Filipino director Brillante Mendoza has an enormous track record and many of his films find their way to international film festivals and fortunately afterwards to Dutch cinemas – although it has been eerily quiet since ‘Lola’, which came out in 2010. Although his films often share the same characteristics – handheld camera work, long shots, often a partly non-professional cast – he still manages to show a completely new side of life in the Philippines with each film. Also in ‘Ma’ Rosa’ (2016), for which he was nominated for a Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016.

Ma’ Rosa is the titular protagonist of the film. She is the head of the family consisting of two daughters, two sons and a drug-addicted husband. The couple runs a grocery store in the same building where they live. Rosa is known and loved by her local residents. Immediately in the first scenes she shows that she is not to be messed with, she has a strong character and will fight like a lioness to protect her family. She humorously chides her husband and children when they neglect their duties. It soon becomes clear that the Reyes family has a second source of income in addition to the grocery store: they sell small amounts of drugs.

However, despite the caution with which these deals are made, the police tracked them down and under the watchful eye of the children and the entire neighborhood, Rosa and Nestor are taken to the police station. Once there, it turns out that the police want to make a deal with them. For enough Pesos, the Police Chief will condone this violation. But how do Rosa and Nestor, worried about their children, get so much money?

Nowhere is the behavior of the Reyes family excused, yet the viewer’s sympathy is immediately with them. Not surprising, because what the police get out of this is really beyond all books. They show completely unprofessional behavior and it is disconcerting to realize that this is the order of the day in the Philippines.

Jaclyn Jose (Best Actress, Cannes, 2016) is truly phenomenal in her portrayal of Rosa. Her body language and facial expressions speak so much impotence, fear and despair that you can feel your heart contract. The rest of the cast is also very strong. As always, Mendoza knows how to stretch the natural renditions of his players to the limit and the nervous camera work, with the camera swinging from side to side in the busy streets of Manila, without really having a focus on anything, your adrenaline immediately rises. Some scenes seem spontaneous, almost laconic, filmed, without a storyboard underlying them, but the whole thing is so overwhelming and compelling that you can only conclude that Mendoza is a great artist who has mastered his craft completely. ‘Ma’ Rosa’ is a deeply human film about morality in a grey, tough society, in which family often represents the only golden edge.