The emotional fervor of Joselito Altarejos' films requires levels of accommodation and relief all their own. Serious, probing and at times uncomfortably graphic, Jino to Mari (Solar Entertainment Corporation, Center Stage Productions, Co., BeyondtheBox Productions, Inc., 2018) expresses such a raw, unvarnished sexual and emotional intensity that seeing it is like a confession of faith. Every second of this movie breathes. The opening half hour feels discursive, practically shapeless. Stripped of exposition or psychological underpinning, the work has such an immediacy it seems impossible not to be drawn into its intricate, peculiar texture. Altarejos moves with authority and speed, finding a boldly expressive and fluid camera style that underlines the anxious, disruptive interaction of its two protagonists. In Ang Lihim ni Antonio (2008) and his other works, Altarejos has been drawn to themes of sexual indeterminacy and shifting ambiguities. With Jino to Mari, Altarejos and co-writer John Bedia deploy this emotionally extreme set up not necessarily as a meditation on longing and feeling, but preferring instead a moral inquiry into choice, disruption and sensibility. Altarejos discovered something profound and meaningful in the climactic sex scene. As his camera assumed the subjective point of view of lead actor Oliver Aquino, Altarejos gazed deep into the beatific visage of lead actress Angela Cortez and her breath-heavy, ecstatic reactions.
As a physical production, Jino to Mari is striking. Cinematographer Mycko David has a precise, poetic style that the film is alive with possibility and resourcefulness. In addition to Altarejos, David has collaborated with the country’s three most important young filmmakers, Antoinette Jadaone (Never Not Love You), Mikhail Red (Birdshot) and Dan Villegas (Changing Partners). His street scenes carry such a jolt of electricity, each shot carries a charge of excitement, wonder and revelation. The use of light is also beautiful, most effectively in denoting the sense of disappointment across Gino’s face. Altarejos understands that sex is rarely just about sex, that it's a balm for loneliness, a refuge from the fear of mortality. He also has a loving eye, filming his actors with an intimacy that never exploits. He creates erotic compositions from limbs, thighs and backsides, giving the body an almost whimsical grace. Altarejos finds his most expressive and audacious formal qualities in his actors. Aquino inhabits Gino with a still ferocity that you expect him to shatter like porcelain before the drama slowly builds to its shocking conclusion. Aquino's composure is like a painting, look close enough and you'll see the cracks in the surface. Cortez's performance is magnificent. The sadness is sealed by the recognition in her eyes that her life will never be clean again, her love for her daughter will have to be enough. Jino to Mari strikes a harrowing, emotionally bruising chord on the need for self-expression. But most plaintively, it underscores how restricted and trapped these characters are.
Director: Joselito O. Altarejos
Screenplay: John Bedia, Joselito Altarejos
Director of Photography: Mycko David
Editors: Diego Marx Dobles, Joselito Altarejos
Musical Scorer: Richard Gonzales
Sound Designer: Andrew Milallos
Production Designers: Robert Habal, Alexander Alih, Jay Altarejos
