“PINK HALO-HALO”: A SONG BEFORE I GO AWAY

 

FOREWORD: I JUST DON’T KNOW WHY I REBLOGGED THIS… I DON’T KNOW WHY… AND I DON’T KNOW WHY I WAS “GONE” LAST FATHER’S DAY… I DON’T KNOW… I DON’T KNOW WHY I ALWAYS HAD TO GO AWAY…

sssip 🙂

 

“PINK HALO-HALO”: A SONG BEFORE I GO AWAY

by Robert Manuguid Silverio on Monday, August 2, 2010 at 12:22pm

 

I WOULD cling to his body as he told me stories from far-away unseen lands. I would hit his big but strong belly as he tried to carry me up and wrestle with me. He would show me how strong he was by breaking a branch of a tree in his bare hands. He would look for me every morning and see if I was okay. He was Mang Fabian, the landlord who owns our apartment unit when I was still  but a little boy. And with him, I saw a “daddy” figure- big, strong, macho, helpful and always proud of me and always teaching me and sharing good stories I’ve never heard before. For me, it was like a fairy-tale. Having a strong man to lean on, a soul that would guide me from thereon. But it wasn’t forever. How I wished then, he really was my real dad.

 

OUR CHILDHOOD always brings us back to many good memories. No matter how sad. No matter how painful. The indie film “Pink Halo-Halo”, directed by Joselito ‘Jay’ Altarejos , was one movie I tried to deny the greatness and I tried not to finish. In the middle of the film, direk Jay, through his wonderful work of directing scenes and executing it on the wide screen, captured the vivid wonders of a young boy’s existence. Scene by scene. With correct details and perfect timing. You could see a boy (portrayed on the screen by Paolo Constantino with subtlety) trying to hold-on in the arms of his soldier-father (portrayed by Allen Dizon), wanting him not to leave them anymore. He would go around town, together with a playmate, and sought refuge in the halo-halo store of his aunt (portrayed so nicely by veteran character actress Dexter Doria). He would encounter sadness, bitterness, rejections… but at the end of the day, his dad would always look for him and show his love for him.

 

I AT ONCE KNEW that his dad would die. Soldiers always die. So, in the middle of the film, I went out of U.P. Cine Adarna theater (where the film was shown) to grab a smoke. I felt so cold. The coldness inside that theater deeply penetrated my skin and I was chilling. Maybe, it was a combination of body and soul. As I blew-out some smoke, I remembered my childhood. I remembered the pains. But I had to finish the film so I went back inside after I finished the cigarette.
THE SCENE I saw as I entered back into the cinema was by the sea, people lined-up, waiting for the body of the dead soldier to arrive at land. I tried to calm down. I never knew, I was crying already. The boy’s mom (portrayed so dramatically by Angeli Bayani) couldn’t seem to know how or what to do after her husband died. She was pinning some black ribbons on white wall cloth, and at this point, I couldn’t take it anymore. I left.
BUT I heard a song before I went away. A familiar song. A song in my youth. Could I be imagining things? Could I be creating my own phantoms? My own ghosts?

 

I HAVE NEVER been disturbed as much as I felt disturbed that night watching Pink Halo-Halo. It only meant to me, the director (no other than Jay Altarejos) was so effective. He knew the right camera angles in bringing the vivid scenes to life, he knew the texture, he knew the sentiments… And he will hit you right on your face. His vision of a new cinema was perfectly alright. His love for ‘family unity’ was a call to everyone. And his direct hit on a certain Religion was strong and enlightening but confusing.
I saw the beauty of life once again in the film Pink Halo-Halo. Like riding in your bike with your “dad”, strolling along the city with your buddy, meeting your relatives along the way, and seeing your “dad” fix your bike. Simple joys, simple blessings. But I refused to feel.
How i wished, I had “dads” who would fix my bike and ride with me along with it. How I wished, I had buddies who would always be with me as I stroll in the city, how I wished, I had relatives who would smile to me as I meet them along the way….
And again, the song. Almost like a poem…
“Will you sing me a song before you go away?”, I remembered Mang Fabian asking me when me and my family were about to leave the apartment unit he owned.
And surely, I did sing a song. It was the song he taught me then- a cute song which we entitled “Ang Tatlong Mga Palaka”. Mang Fabian composed that song for me and he also did the lyrics, which I forgot now. When I finished singing the song, Mang Fabian smiled and touched me in the head. He moved backwards so I wouldn’t see him cry.
Just like “Pink Halo-Halo”, movies are made to remind us of people we love. In this case, the director also wanted to make me cry.—***
Rating: Four Stars. PINK HALO-HALO, directed by Joselito ‘Jay’ Altarejos. Starring: Allen Dizon, Dexter Doria, Angeli Bayani, Paolo Constantino, Mark Fabillar. Editing By: Chuck Guttierez. (This movie was shown in the year 2010).