YANGGAW A Reaction Paper
Submitted to: Prof. IRMA R. TAN
Submitted by: MARC JOSEPH T. LOYOLA Comm 2 – B 1
February 11, 2010
Yanggaw is a horror film written and directed by Richard Somes. It is a Filipino Indie film done in Illongo or Hiligaynon dialect. The Illongo term yanggaw means infliction in English translation. It is used to refer to people who were poisoned and bewitched into turning into an aswang. The names, as well, of the characters are names of endearment by the Illongos such as Toto and Inday. The movie begins with Junior (played by Ronnie Lazaro), who is a patriarch of a family living in a remote community of a province. One day, his daughter, Amor (played by Aleera Montalla), comes home with a mysterious illness. She spends her day in bed, weak. Every morning she is found to have dirty feet and blooded hands and lips. Junior consults a doctor and a healer. Later he finds out that she has been inflicted by venom which is slowly turning her into an aswang, a monster. Initially, she goes out every night to hunt for animals but her hunger later evolves into a desire to drink human blood and eat human flesh (internal organs). There has been mysterious cases of deaths in their area and the townspeople especially Dolpo (played by Joel Torre), Junior’s best friend, were starting to make suspicions. The situation worsens when his family starts to break up because of his decisions which were unacceptable for the rest of his family. With the local authorities getting closer to the truth, Junior strives to save his daughter from this curse at all costs. His family even leaves him behind but then realizes they are all one and returns to Junior. This film is truly one of a kind. It is so unique that it has certain factors that are totally different from common Filipino horror movies. In fact, the way the movie was made is amazing: it was able to combine traditional elements of a horror movie and family melodrama, thus creating a picture that is so bizarre. The story revolved around the challenges faced by Junior while simultaneously trying to save his daughter, Amor, and the unity of his family. Al-
Though it was Amor who caused the deaths in their place, his father never lost hope that she can still escape from that curse be reunited with her family. It was so ironic that a monster that is threatening a lot of people was being protected. It is another twist of the story: despite of its horror nature, it was able to portray what is a Filipino Family. Taking to account the making of the film, it is actually very simple yet the story was well laid. The story used the conventional or linear form of writing making it easy to comprehend. There were no big twists, only big revelations from time to time. One only needs to sit and be prepared for the next surprising scene. In the beginning of the movie, no one would actually think that it is a horror film for the reason that the first scene had a happy atmosphere. Junior and Dolpo, together with their friends and colleagues, were playing volleyball and other people were enjoying watching the game. Thinking that it is strange for a horror film to have a scene like this, one can say that it was totally irrelevant with the story. However, things always have reasons, that is why there is logic. By the end of that entertaining scene, one will have learned about the relationship of Junior and Dolpo – they were best of friends. This particular scene was in fact effective in showing how grave the effect of Amor being turned to Aswang was. Junior reached to the point the he had to kill his best friend only to save his daughter who was then a monster. Behind that particular scene in the opening of the movie lay a story that balances horror with rich familial themes. This rare horror film would make people realize that horror works much better when there is a personal dimension to it and when there are emotions to hold on to and the characters to care about (Dy, 2009). The characters were well-written particularly Junior, whose choices and decisions were deeply flawed but painfully understandable. Junior was just a father and everything he thinking
of was her daughter. Even the casting was great with Ronnie Lazaro and Joel Torre, who are both good actors. And it was clear that they were really at their best in this film most probably because they are more comfortable with their native tongues. They were so at ease with their mother tongue and one can even feel that some if not most of the line were adlibs (Koon, 2009). The supporting actors and actresses were so good. Simple as it may seem but Yanggaw is not ordinary. With obvious low cost production Yanggaw was able to give an atmosphere that is quite creepy and they were still on the right track. Moreover, the film did not have many special effects. Even the actors and actresses used very minimal or no hideous make-up at all. These helped them make their acting more realistic. They did not overact and as a matter of fact, they were very natural. The lack of special effects and scary make-ups did were not hindrances from creating a scary movie; instead they facilitated in making the movie more realistic and depict a real situation. Of course a movie cannot succeed without special techniques and these were what the director used: As mentioned, they had no special make-up; they used typical costume of a rural place as props; lighting was given special attention. Shadows were used as instrument in creating atmosphere. There was an impressive sequence wherein Amor appears from her room with her body partially illuminated while her face is completely unseen. It was quite simple but paired with effective camera techniques, it was effective in creating in creating an awkward and eerie feeling throughout; Finally, the sound was cleverly laid. The ambient noise and the long stretched deadening sound very efficiently created a feeling of fear and made the emotion and tension felt by the viewers. Unlike horror movies of this time, where graphical effects are too much even to the extent of turning the movie into comedy, Yanggaw and its simple structure had an effective set-up for the ensuing thrilling events (Somes, 2008).
One thing good about this movie is its accuracy. It is accurate in the sense that the script seems to have been well-researched and portrayed in the movie. It showcases what is the belief of the Illongos and the Filipinos. The details like how a human becomes an aswang by being inflicted of venom through the ears are the common depiction of Illongo mythology. Yanggaw is in fact a fresh take on Filipino local myths (Seishiro, 2009). The use of native dialect, on the other hand, was not as efficient as the other elements in creating a sense of horror. Familiarity with the dialect could be advantageous. It helps in measuring or judging the film’s sincerity and thoroughness, and in better understanding the movie. The reason why the use of dialect is not effective is that it is a film shown in different places, where people have different dialects. It’s good for the Illongos but for those who are not familiar with Hiligaynon, language may sound funny due to its words and intonation. It’s a horror movie but it may become a sort of comedy in some ways (Koon, 2009). Despite its horror nature, Yanggaw contains a handful of life lessons. It is said that the film was actually based on true story which may be the reason why it’s realistic (Seishiro, 2009). The film showcases the values of family and friends and most especially it presents to the viewers what is a Filipino family. Junior loved his family and it was shown how his decisions were affected because of this love. In the end, God is whom everybody resorts to. After watching the movie, anybody can say that what they saw is not a horror movie but a movie about how a family stays together in fighting whatever comes their way. Overall the movie was very good, indeed. Even in its low cost production and simple plot, it was able to show what a real horror movie is. Moreover, it was remarkable how the aswang inspiration was attained even without hi-tech effects but still it was delightful to see. The movie was more than just the usual jumping-out-of-the-shadows effect that populates the
common movies nowadays. With promising actors and actresses this movie was indeed a success. It’s true that only the Illongos and those who understand the dialect can well appreciate the movie for English translation do not actually give justice to its real meaning. Nevertheless, the movie did a great achievement in creating a fantastic picture by mixing elements of horror and family melodrama, which would surely stick to people’s minds a long time after seeing it.
REFERENCES Dy, Philbert. 9 Jul, 2009. Movie Review for Yanggaw: Infectious. 6 Feb, 2010. . Somes,
Richard. 2008. Yanggaw (Affliction). 6 .
Koon,
Charlie. 30 Jan, 2009. A Parody .
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Seishiro. 16 Nov, 2009. Yanggaw. .
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