If it were a daydream, "Isa Pa with Feelings" would entice sleepyheads to stay in bed to receive the iconic overhead shot of expert lensman Prime Cruz. His fourth feature is loaded with Cruz signatures -- catchy indie soundtrack featuring "Sino" by UNIQUE, picturesque shadowy scenes glazed by neon undertones, and the indulgent still frames. Such are his stop-motion sequences that show his characters in a statuesque stance while reality continues its natural flow around them. It magnifies the feeling of being withdrawn from life despite progressing without much ado about it. The lapsing stills are present in the director's previous gem, "Can We Still Be Friends," where Arci Muñoz gazes lucidly into the camera while a late-night rave is surrounding her. In "Isa Pa with Feelings," Cruz's muse is Maine Mendoza inside the same moody frame; her stare is dazed to oblivion unraveling a dire state whilst enveloped by festive affairs. Cruz's recurring elements in his films elevate him nearer to auteur status. To catch the flick's sauntering feel, he recruits Nestor Abrogena ("Tayo sa Huling Buwan ng Taon," director) to design the production. Abrogena whirls the set with excruciating detail that enlivens the setting of "Isa Pa with Feelings." The half-bright lamps in the apartment are especially inviting of a sound conversation beneath dusk. "Isa Pa with Feelings" delivers the first on-screen pairing of indie darling Carlo Aquino and mainstream media star Mendoza. She is Mara, an aspiring architect, who incidentally lives in an apartment next to his. Aquino is Galli, a clever Deaf, teaching sign language in a specialized school in which, coincidentally, Mara enrolls. Galli becomes her sign language tutor, revealing the third party and most probably the main attraction of Cruz's films: fate. No questions asked, destiny perseveres in pivoting the plot into its sweet essence like in his first piece "Sleepless." A few minor plots remain unsolved even after "Isa Pa with Feelings" plasters its title card on the screen for the second time before the credits. For instance, Galli's scheme to secure a scholarship in Gaudet University is never resolved, just as Mara's future beyond her dutiful efforts at becoming a licensed architect. Granted, "Isa Pa with Feelings" seems to shelve the result of her studying sign language although it suggests that the character's motivation is her Deaf niece (a child actress mothered by veteran actress Nikki Valdez). Fate may have polished the rough edges of their back stories since love replenishes the energy spent in turning the pages of their tale. The role of Mara is intended for the charming Maine Mendoza. Her viral content of dubbing songs, movies, and television shows are sufficient poof that she can conduct facial plus bodily cues that illustrate genuine feelings. Withal, Aquino simmers with palpable rhythm in his body language. "Isa Pa with Feelings," being part silent movie and part talkie, depicts a passionate couple who utilizes all means of communication at their disposal to persuade their hearts to listen to the frequency of its beats. Because in a reality contained inside a sound-proof bubble, only the voice of emotions can be heard. It echoes the solitary bridge where the Deaf and the Hearing can meet -- love, which quite simply is the universal language. For much of Aquino's truthful antics, reality has the knack for being the noise that interrupts communication. "Isa Pa with Feelings" iterates that the Deaf and Hearing convey meanings in their certain realms, but they could co-exist in a shared language. Aquino gestures with honesty though as the silent type, his emotions are dead air to the normalcy of listening to an actual speaking voice. The unfortunate truth is demonstrated in Galli's perspective as Cruz lets him swim a sea of inaudible echoes, to maximize the feeling of a muted dimension where the sole music is the humming emotionality. Cruz exemplifies a communications theory in "Isa with Feelings:" 'The medium is the message,' coined by mass media scholar Marshall McLuhan. The movie seethes with amazement back-dropped by light bulbs of affections. One musical sequence presents Mara and Galli in a room curtained with little bulbs. Playing to the heart-stopping "Buwan" by Juan Karlos, the lights flicker according to the song's symphony while Galli relishes the throbbing beats with his hands atop the booming speakers -- "listening" to the music via enchanting beats then seeing the tiempo among the flashing beams. It is media being playful, conveying its message through its own functions in the dialect known as romance. "Isa Pa with Feelings" tributes American filmmaker David O. Russell, too. Cruz fits a sub-plot entailing Mara and Galli to learn social dancing then let it drive their feelings into the movie's final act. The dance -- from practice to the actual number -- is reminiscent of "Silver Linings Playbook" where Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper undergo a similar but more cute-awkward presentation. Cruz borrows from Russell's camera techniques. He begins a sequence with a shot of Mara and Galli in the dressing room before the dance, and tracks toward the balcony to survey the stage below. Its a semi-long take that Cruz effectively maneuvers from the Russell's playbook. Further, "Isa Pa with Feelings" tells a more urgent matter: the Deaf and the Hearing can communicate in the same realm. Understanding is key though the door may otherwise need a doorbell even if futile for both parties. The ringing can be recognized in inventive forms, just give the beating heart a chance to come in upon knocking with loving frequency.
Director: Prime Cruz Trailer © YouTube.com; Black Sheep
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