The self-destructive nature of searching for meaning, for a partner has long fascinated Elwood Perez. In Lupe A Seaman's Wife (Viva Films, 2003), he strips bare that hopeless pursuit. In those diurnal moments, the unexceptional motions that make up a relationship, Perez disinters the pleasures (however brief) and pain of love. Lupe (Andrea del Rosario) is longing for love. Hers is a Sisyphean desperation. Lupe is a woman with a powerful erotic drive and an indefatigable penchant for verbalizing her emotions. We first find Lupe having energetic sex with her husband Manolo (Leandro Muñoz) humping away and one may wonder if this is a portrait of a liberated woman or a glimpse from the male gaze. Del Rosario is relaxed, nervy, alert and overtly sexy as I can remember seeing her. Perez finds the inexorable beauty (and sadness) in the most corrosive and fugacious of feelings. For Lupe, love is a toxic need. Perez isn’t known for letting his characters have traditionally happy endings and the tragedy here is how normal that feels, how futile love can be for the unlovable.
Jordan Hererra portrays Elmo, a man who could be “the one” for Lupe, but life (and self-destructive tendencies) have a way of ruining this kind of thing. Lupe A Seaman's Wife is easily the most empathetic, heartfelt film of Perez's illustrious career. Throughout, Lupe’s romantic plight encapsulates the confusion of being alone. The film is garrulous especially Marissa Delgado’s appearance as Magda, Lupe's mother-in-law, but within these laughs is a deep, familiar disappointment, the sensation of irreparable loneliness. Perez's films reveal themselves with precision and control often with a reverence for genre, probing the inherent rot in the human core. Lupe A Seaman's Wife moves between dialogue and carnal interludes with rhythmic fluidity. The sumptuous palette intensify Del Rosario's soulful sensuality, her eyes are black orbs of infinite depth. What redeems Lupe is her devastating candor. Del Rosario delivers one of her finest and most subtly calibrated performances. She imbues Lupe with the heart and earthy eroticism that makes her appealing than the pathetic figure she might have been.
Production Designer: Sonny Maculada
Film Editor: George Jarlego
Cinematographer: Jun Pereira, FSC
Sound Supervisor: Joey Santos
Musical Director: Jerold Tarog
Screenplay: Jigs F. Recto
Directed By: Elwood Perez
