EVOCATIVE ROMANCE

Posted by Jojo Devera ,


     Marilou Diaz-Abaya's impressionistic, radiant and feverish romance Sensual (Regal Films, 1986), is anchored by the remarkable performances of the film’s two leads. At its heart is an incandescent performance by Barbra Benitez, who captures the mood swings of late adolescence with a wonderfully spontaneous fluency. She conveys not only the intelligence and will power of a young woman bursting out of her chrysalis like a butterfly, but also the vestigial shyness of a child in the throes of self-discovery, playing the character with honesty and restraint. Benitez brings a sweetness and naivety to Niña that makes her struggle more compelling. She is introduced in the first scene of the film with her best friend Elsa. In Lara Jacinto, Abaya finds a woman without many a facial feature to note, a blank canvas to paint with the story, the mise-en-scène and the management of her inevitably intelligent performance. This suggests that Sensual will be exploring an exotic subcultural space, but in fact Niña's story shares the most basic concerns of coming-of-age narratives, affirming burgeoning sexual identities, negotiating friendships and learning how to be in the world. It's also refreshing to see their stories take center stage. The girls' relationship moves from sisterly, to sexual and beyond, into the kind of all-consuming intimacy that makes everything else seem substantial. Curiosity quickly develops into an intoxicating infatuation after Niña visits Ariel (Lito Gruet). Abaya’s treatment of the love scene is refreshingly natural, free of any tinge of discomfort with sexuality - in many ways theirs could be an adult relationship. Ariel's seduction of Niña leads her to believe that she has at last found true love. 

     There is a vivid party scene that encapsulates some of the film’s strengths. Niña who is feeling her way through early adulthood and her first serious love affair. As the evening wears on, Abaya conveys Niña's awkwardness with painful subtlety. And yet the scene, which also marks a turning point in the central relationship that mirrors the director’s approach toward the representation of women. Ultimately, it is mainly the electrifying performances that Abaya presumably elicited from Benitez and Jacinto that make Sensual a memorable film. Abaya takes us deep inside Niña’s skin in the film’s more compelling final third and she is especially heartbreaking when she portrays the character’s attempts to move on with stunned dignity despite the crushing physical isolation she feels after the carnal relationship has run its course. It helps here that Abaya keeps the camera tightly focused on Benitez's face. This is the movie’s signature shot and the one it returns to most often. These close-ups are one way of looking and they could best be described as adoring. Perhaps it represents Abaya's gaze, mesmerized by the beauty and talent of her young actress. Perhaps it’s our gaze, especially if we feel similarly. Or perhaps it’s meant to represent Elsa’s point of view, her attitude toward Niña fluctuates throughout the movie. Although Abaya reimagines the love story as a tale of evocative romance, she stays true to its fleeting essence. Sensual closes on a bittersweet note, one that sees Niña transformed establishing herself not just bound by sexual identity, but by shared pain and hope. 


Production Design: Jay Sabrina Lozada

Music: Jaime Fabregas

Sound Supervision: Rudy Baldovino

Screenplay: Jose Javier Reyes

Film Editor: Marc Tarnate

Director of Photography: Conrado Baltazar

Directed By: Marilou Diaz-Abaya