Soltero

 So I watched another  virtual premiere of a digitally restored Filipino film via KTX again today! This time it's a 1984 film called SOLTERO (bachelor). Admittedly, I've never heard of this film until it was announced that it will have a screening this week but the premise piqued my interest because it's about the life of a single Filipino man. It's sad that the director, screenwriter and lead actor (Jay Ilagan) are no longer with us. I would have wanted to hear their thoughts in hindsight. We did get to hear two actresses from the film - Rio Locsin and Chanda Romero as they talk about what if was ike when they shot this film and you could clearly feel this was a special one as they tell their stories and insights with so much gusto.

Since I knew nothing about this film I didn't know what to expect but you know that's sometimes the thrill of the cinema, it takes you to places unfamiliar and experience a different kind of life. And this film is also such a time capsule of the mid 80s and glad to see a film capture an ordinary kind of life during that time before I was born with clear video! Anyway, this film is more of a character study with slice of life attack but it's never really boring. The bits and pieces that we knew about the life of Crispin (the lead) are full of subtle details that resonates. This film ultimately explores the loneliness one could feel where you are not that young anymore but not too old either. It perfectly encapsulates the emptiness one could feel. But what I like about is that in the end, there's hope that being a decent and loving person will still lead you a life worth living. 

You could stream SOLTERO and other digitally restored Pinoy classics over at KTX