The luminescent tryst between Baby (Vilma Santos) and Roy (Phillip Salvador) in Baby Tsina (Viva Films, 1984) remains to be Marilou Diaz-Abaya’s most complex and revelatory examination of unfulfilled love. She doesn’t solely rely on the flashier aspects of her patented style to convey a character’s fated desires or failures. She positions individuals as pieces of a larger mosaic, one populated by burgeoning and disintegrating relationships that reach beyond the frame. This construct produces subtext-heavy conversations containing real conflict and tension at their core. As Baby Tsina turns into a masterful dissection of loyalty, Ricardo Lee's dialogue expresses the characters’ way of maneuvering around emotional responsibility, of circumventing the betrayals that are lingering in plain sight. This conflict builds for long sequences before erupting in stunning moments of physical violence. In this very banal-looking world, unfulfilled desire turns sour from all the repression and guilt. Baby and Roy's conversations grow shorter and more kinetic, jumping past the traditional banter. The unique ways emotional expression shifts mid-moment really distinguishes the film as an organic work, a morphing cinematic experience that changes with the years to fit our individual perspective of unrequited love. Unlike the showy emotional relationships in Abaya’s other films, the connection between Baby and Roy feels bonded in actual human emotion. Baby Tsina centers around the title character - played with gusto by an always illuminating Santos. Her tremendous poise, visible at once in the opening credit sequence introducing the tone and protagonist of this very different film. The precisely-edited sequence serves Santos exceedingly well.
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and granted a 1080p transfer, Baby Tsina is sourced from an older master with some obvious limitations. As a result, the technical presentation is somewhat inconsistent. While most close-ups convey fairly decent depth the larger shots tend to look rather flat. During nighttime footage or elsewhere where light is intentionally restricted shadow definition also isn't as good as it should be; select segments are too dark and some detail is lost. Generally speaking colors are stable, but in two different scenes I noticed very light but short color pulsations. There are no traces of sharpening adjustments, but grain should be better exposed and resolved. During a couple of darker segments some light halo effects can be spotted as well. Overall image stability is good. Lastly, a few minor flecks pop up here and there, but there are no large cuts, damage marks, or torn frames. The film has what I consider to be a soundtrack that breathes much easier here than it does on previous video release. Generally speaking, dynamic intensity is more pronounced, but even during the more casual footage there are obvious improvements in terms of depth (these are very easy to hear during the action scenes). However, there is still room for improvement as some nuances in the mid- register appear a bit flat. Baby Tsina is perhaps one of the most successful protagonist Ricardo Lee has crafted. Her desires and motivations are clear, and her thought process is shown in full. And best of all, she feels real.
Screenplay: Ricardo Lee
Musical Director: Willie Cruz
Sound Supervision: Vic Macamay
Production Design: Fiel Zabat
Film Editor: Ike Jarlego, Jr.
Director of Photography: Manolo R. Abaya
Directed By: Marilou Diaz-Abaya
