Thy Womb (Center Stage Productions Philippines, 2012) breaks new ground, pinpointing its attention to a lesser known region with sincere urgency. The woman at the center of this film is Shaleha (Nora Aunor) who, under Brillante Ma Mendoza’s skilled guidance is a mesmerizing, engrossing and beautifully realized cinematic experience. Aunor is hypnotic as Shaleha. We see the plot develop from her perspective and the story unfold from vantage points close to her face. Ensuing choices and consequences rife with tension and heartache, extreme close-ups convey Shaleha’s internal woes with an earnestness few working actors can match. In her most wrenching scenes, Aunor presents Shaleha as a woman drowning in waves of longing. Still, you feel for her because there’s no way to look into her eyes and dismiss the sorrow that has made a home there. Aunor is at the peak of her acting powers here, conveying incredible depths of emotion with a stare. Her day-to-day struggles, whilst not completely universal, encompass the role of a wife and a working woman–all things that Shaleha is expected to be. She has to be the primary earner, but also subservient to her husband, Bangas-An (Bembol Roco). Thy Womb clearly belongs to Shaleha and Aunor, who does career-best work here as the aging village midwife, whose every expression, every gesture is revealing and heartbreaking. Her body language speaks volumes. Shaleha is reserved and resilient. Her silences, her eyes and her restraint add gravitas to the character and the film. Aunor's performance is both authentic and effective.
Mendoza knows how to use visual and dramatic means to make a milieu palpable to an audience by providing an introduction to the complex blend of emotion that permeates the film. His incredible artistry and narrative complexities are often overlooked for the visceral quality of his cinema. His particular tone balances the onscreen expressiveness with the heightened emotional states of his characters. The conversations between Shaleha and Banagas-An are some of the best parts of the film-their talk is at once poignant, punctuated by long silences. Much of the film’s emotional impact manages to feel entirely earned. The scenes showing Shaleha's ice-cold indifference to Bangas-An is well achieved, creating a strong and disturbing degree of sympathy for the treatment of women by society. The hushed score during moments of true emotion never manages to eclipse the very real human stories that it accompanies, nor are the experiences ever trivialized. Interestingly, the film’s final scenes are set against the backdrop of Bangas-An's marriage to Mersila (Lovi Poe). In trying to understand Shaleha, who lives with willing resignation to her fate, she sets her husband free. Whether that’s a failure of imagination on Shaleha's part or a success depends on your point of view. And while a single viewing of Thy Womb may not be enough to appreciate the intricacy of these characters or the journey they take, revisiting the detailed and mesmerizing world of the film would be a rare kind of pleasure.
Director: Brillante Ma Mendoza
Screenplay: Henry Burgos
Director of Photography: Odyssey Flores
Music: Teresa Barrozo
Editor: Kats Seraon
Production Design: Dante Mendoza
Sound Design: Albert Michael Idioma, Addiss Tabong
