Cinemalaya 2018: 'Liway' is a Deeply Personal Account Inside a Martial Law Prison

Director: Kip Oebanda
Cast: Glaiza de Castro, Dominic Roco, Kenken Nuyad, Soliman Cruz

Photo Credit: Cinemalaya

Liway tells many stories about the harrowing effects of Martial Law in Inday’s (Glaize de Castro) life such as the consequences of being imprisoned with her son, Dakip, (Kenken Nuyad) whom she protects from the horror and reality of their condition by telling folklores about an enchantress named Liway; the strain in her relationship with fellow activist and husband, Ric (Dominic Roco); and the atrocities prisoners get through in Camp Delgado, a prison camp containing all captured criminals and rebels of Martial Law. This results into an uneven and convoluted movie despite its heavyweight subject. Strangely, it also works effectively as it is eager to tell these eye-opening stories, opposite to Inday's hand-shadows and sanitized bedtime stories to Dakip.

Glaiza de Castro's Inday/Liway is touching, brave, and seemingly captures the heart of the titular role. She carries the whole weight of the film with much needed confidence and passion for the role, very much like Brie Larson in Room, and one would also think of Roberto Benigni in Life is Beautiful. She makes prison-living safe and warm for Dakip, also heavily felt beyond the screen, especially when she sang Lolita Carbon's Himig ng Pag-ibig. Truly a career high for the actress.

There is no denying that Liway's story is important and authentic. It's a story that needed to be told. Its loose treatment to the material, however, makes it a bit melodramatic and detached. One quibble is how there seems to be minimal danger in the prison camp that they're living in wherein there are only a few wardens in which some of them even bend the rules, walls that look like they can easily be broken, and so on. Case in point: as much as it preaches the abuse of Martial Law, it's not as believable in its depiction. Authenticity in the story is one thing, but authenticity of the depiction is another.

It pretty much picks up by its third act with its steadier score, stronger dialogues, and more compelling events. But the biggest twist is when we learn that this is a deeply personal account of director Kip Oebanda that leaves everyone woke and touched, evoking a huge applause from the festival viewers.