Dekada '70 and the Tides of Change
First attempt at a film review outside of Letterboxd
Hello! As one of my attempts to diversify my content, I will be sporadically posting film reviews. I’m currently enjoying Letterboxd as a platform for writing and sharing films that I’ve seen in recent years, which has inspired me to do this. Anyway, enjoy this review!
What do the Vietnam War, Roe v. Wade, the death of Elvis Presley, and the proclamation of Martial Law in the Philippines have in common? Well, they all happened in the 1970s.
The seventies was a time of flux. It was a period marked by social and cultural movements that influenced the freedoms of the present, immense conflict among nations, and periods of innovation and economic growth.
Here in the Philippines, this decade was a time that eerily resembled the suppression of freedoms that many Filipinos experienced during colonial rule. However, this decade of violence and human rights abuses were masked by promises of economic progress through the rise of Overseas Filipino Workers, foreign remittances, and the patronage of crony capitalism.
In the film adaptation of Lualhati Bautista’s novel Dekada ‘70, we see the Bartolome family experience the horrors, the silver linings, as well as the societal (and personal) shifts that come with this defining decade.
The Bartolome family comprises of Julian, his wife, Amanda, and their five sons: Jules, Gani, Em, Jason, and Bingo. At a first glance, you may be tempted to compare the Bartolome brothers with the Salazar siblings from Four Sisters and a Wedding, based on their individual personalities and quirks.
Jules, the eldest son, is smart with a take-charge attitude. He leads a radical life that will trigger the film’s entire plot (and everything else).
Gani is the happy-go-lucky, lovesick second son who wants to make big bets in life, yet exerts little effort in them. He also happens to have ambitions that go against his Kuya Jules’ beliefs.
Eman, or Em, the third son, is intelligent, creative, and utilizes his passion for writing to create stories that people can resonate with.
Jason, just like his Kuya Gani, is also happy-go-lucky. He loves music, girls, and having fun with his friends. The youngest, Bingo, is a curious young boy who is doted on by the entire family.
Since the source material is written from Amanda’s POV, we also see how Amanda’s experiences from this era shape her and transform her. She goes from being a docile housewife, to a woman playing a part against the injustices brought upon by Martial Law–a transformation that is influenced by her son Jules. Similarly, we see Julian accept Amanda’s growing influence in the household as they both deal with the horrors and the challenges that their family faced during this time. More so, we see how the Bartolome boys grow up and come into their own during this turbulent time. We see Jules play key roles in the resistance movement, Gani pursuing a career that’s against Jules’ beliefs and accepting adult responsibilities at an early age, Em silently joining the resistance through his writings, Jason caving into peer pressure, and Bingo witnessing the horrors of the regime by his parents’ side.
Overall, Dekada ‘70 is an accessible, crowd-pleasing film that is fueled by powerful performances from Vilma Santos, Christopher de Leon, and Piolo Pascual. Piolo Pascual masterfully plays Jules, the character that serves as the catalyst for the events of the film. Similar to Enchong Dee’s performance in Gomburza, Piolo’s portrayal of Jules embodied grief and trauma that may seem a little too uncomfortable to bear for everyday life. This performance probably opened the gates for him as a serious actor. Vilma and Christopher, being the screen legends that they are, brought the much-needed warmth and groundedness to the film. You can immediately feel the grief, the exasperation, and the pride of Amanda and Julian towards their reality and their family. Other standout performances to me in the film were from Jhong Hilario and Dimples Romana. For the sake of memes and laughs, I honestly think that this is Carlos Agassi’s best piece of acting work before he became a cringeworthy social media star. The direction and the storytelling were straightforward, which made it easy to digest without looking at the source material.
With more than 50 years after the declaration of Martial Law and 22 years after the film’s original release, so many things have changed in Philippine society, yet a lot of things still remain the same. We have Marcoses in power, for fuck’s sake. Dekada ‘70 is a film that serves us a reminder of the horrors and the lessons of Martial Law, yet many Filipinos remain indifferent to these lessons up until today. I hope things change for the better.
Dekada ‘70 is available on the Star Cinema Youtube channel in the Philippines. Fingers crossed that they release the full cut worldwide in streaming platforms!