TRIBU ( A FILTHY MUSICAL SCORES...)

Violence dictates the end of society, this is the morbid conclusion of Jim Libiran's urban study on the doomed youth of Manila. If you really look closely around you, what we have now is a growing urban warfare that most of us are not very familiar with... and if we don't do anything about it, we'll surely loose the battle.

But how can we fight something that the society chooses not to see or does not give a damn in the first place? I must admit that after watching TRIBU, I was shocked that there are stories like these happening that aren't being discussed by the local mainstream media. Street gang wars, kids no older than 10 year-olds carrying guns in the filthiest part of Manila, killings that are as casual as taking a bath, I was so taken a back because I can't believe that I was actually seeing Filipino lives unfolding on the bigscreen.

I remember seeing LA HAINE for example, Mattheiu Kassovitz take on the riots of neglected Parisian immigrants, and CITY OF GOD, Brazilian director Fernando Mereilles' epic scale drama on Rio' De Janeiro's dark gang war past... and I can't help and feel sorry for the morally bankrupt society of these two countries... but these stories happening in my Manila? I'm so sorry for me being naive, but really, the disparity that's happening in the country is already a heinous crime as it is.

TRIBU is a big slap in everyone's face. It shows that film as a medium is as powerful as the guns that these kids use to survive. And the daring by which the director chooses to present the lives of these kids is already the biggest triumph of the movie..

The actors here were truly amazing... and for me, more than anything, the ensemble was the best thing about this movie. You'll never see the likes of John Loyd Cruz, Jericho Rosales or Piolo Pascual here... and that's a good thing. Though these guys have shown their capabilities as actors, they will never be as effective as these unknown actors.

The director chose to get real life gang members to play the key roles in this movie. And as an audience, you're given freedom to whether or not empathize with these kids. Unlike if you see Piolo for example, you've no choice but to root for him because of your previous bias for him as an actor. In Tribu, you just don't simply know who to root for because you know for a fact that what they're fighting for is a lost cause to begin with. You just watch and follow the movie to see how the inevitable doom of these kids will unfold.

Oh did I tell you that this movie is a musical? I'm serious, it's one heck of a musical!!! But when I say musical, fans of Stephen Sondheim must not really expect something similar. Instead, what you have here is an anthology of gritty and in-your-face rap songs that tell the real state of these boys. And mind you the songs are all impromptu... the fresh lyrics actually make it more powerful. They're what these kids call "FREESTYLE". Never have I seen in a local movie that music was used most effectively. In one powerful scene for example, when the group of boys were attending a wake of their fallen comrade, a boy bursts into a "FREESTYLE" and raps how they will try to get even and get revenge from the other gang for the death of their friend. An impromptu eulogy that's so Shakespearian... it gave me goosebumps really, lending a sense of near-palpable foreboding to this exceptionally powerful film.

TRIBU is an iconic movie that needs to be seen by many. I wouldn't want to get political but if many of you found GMA's SONA speech a little lacking and a bit wanting then this is a must see... for this is truly the real state of the nation that many of us choose not to see.

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TRIBU (2007)
Written and Directed by JIM LIBIRAN
Winner of BEST FULL LENGTH FEATURE - CINEMALAYA 2007
Winner BEST ACTOR (ENSEMBLE) CINEMALAYA and CINEMANILA 2007