Ang Lagusan

I saw an award winning Filipino film last Sunday. It was titled "Ang Lagusan" (The Tunnel). i thought it was an art film. i turned out to be a religious statement. This movie won in Houston, Texas and New York film festivals. It's a movie by Gina Marisa Tagasa, the writer of another award-winner "Kanlungan ng Langit" (Heaven's Cradle).

It is a story of aman who wakes up one morning with bits and pieces of his past but no memory of who he is. He finds a girl's picture, an address with a note that says "Dito mo kunin" (which they translated to "You will find it here"). He was greeted by strangers who regard him as a friend.

He finally finds the address in Kalye Lagusan (Tunnel St.) and discovers that it was actually his house. His mother is an abortionist. He meets people: Kato who is like him as a child, unwanted by his rich father; Ditas, who had an abortion courtesy of his mother; Noni, the neighborhood pusher; Ason, his abortionist mother; a gay drug addict; and a deaf mute.

At first i thought the movie was showing Joel as an angel who came to show all these people the right path. but as it turns out, Joel was all of these people and God wanted him to see how he lived his life.

Unfortunately, i think (nay...believe) that they have shortchanged the viewers and have given a bad picture of God. A shocking line was "Ipinamukha sa iyo ng Dios ang iyong pagkakamali." i don't think God does that. He makes us relaize, he guides us to wise understanding but not that... Ipinamumukha has no direct translation in English but it is equivalent to saying "In your face!" which has a negative ring to it.

The character, Joel, played by Cris Villanueva, was so confused. He didn't know who he was. He didn't know wehre he came from. he was put in a community of strangers.