100 Tula Para Kay Stella (2017): A Stutterer's Review





My friend and I planned to watch three movie entries from Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino (PPP) when we learned about it, let alone the enticing student ticket discount (100 pesos outside Metro Manila). One of our picks is 100 Tula Para Kay Stella - with a synopsis of: "A bittersweet romance about a shy, unassuming guy's secret love for one of his classmates who inspires him to write poetry as an outlet for his undeclared feelings."

After watching its trailer, I had a reason to be more interested. The male lead has a speech defect that is similar with mine - stuttering. "How would he portray such character?" I asked, and this became my major reason for it to be my personal top pick from the movie entries. 

 To state abruptly, the movie didn't disappoint me! It doesn't fail to trigger the viewers' emotion with the actors' portrayal of their respective character, remarkable poem lines, and a bit conventional yet heartbreaking story. Both Bella Padilla and JC Santos, who are the lead cast, did a good job in giving life to the story made also by the movie director Jason Paul Laxama. 

 I must say, JC Santos did a terrific job in portraying Fidel, the male protagonist with a speech defect who loves to write poems as his way of expressing his admiration to Stella, the female protagonist played by Bella Padilla. In fact, I saw myself in Fidel's character as I am a boy who stutters and loves writing too. I can say that his acting is almost as genuine as a stutter's facial expression, body language, and communication incapability, and I truly appreciate it. There's no question that he is a good actor and will be a great one; I commend him for that. However, I must say that there's something lacking in Bella Padilla's portrayal which I don't even know what. I might say this subjectively (since I have limited knowledge about acting and portrayal), but she can be more captivating than how she was in the movie. I hope I'm not saying this because of how the story turned out in the end (Spoiler Alert!) 

 I have to mention this - the poems are damn beautiful. IS THERE A PUBLISHED BOOK OF THE POEMS WRITTEN/USED IN THE MOVIE OR WILL THERE BE? Because I want them ALL. I want to read each poem from the 1st to its 100th entry because the movie didn't totally reveal it all (which is understandable for the context of the film). 

 My friend was sad about how the story turned out in the end, but I still liked the film itself. Not every story has an expected happy ending, and not every film has to end happily. Furthermore, it is still satisfying, or more so - the pain from the movie is a substantial element for its effectiveness to deliver its purpose. "Damn. It hurts so much. It does..." cried Fidel in the latter scene of the film. By the way, the movie comes with an English subtitle and for me, it gives more intensity as the translated language adds more impact. But it didn't take away my focus from the scenes as I didn't only hear every line... I also felt it. 
Regarding the technicalities (Editing, Directing, Production, Design, Cinematography, Sound), I wish I could add a section about it but this is actually my first time to write a review for a movie and publish it publicly. I still have limited knowledge to objectively review these aspects. Even so, the artistic aspect of the film (the story, concept, acting, and creativity) generally passed my satisfaction as an audience. The movie is heartbreaking and the majority of the scenes are a tearjerker (says a guy who happens to relate so much about the main character). 

 I hope I didn't spoil you at all. 😅😁 
PPP only runs from August 16 - 22. I think the student discount is only valid within these days, I don't know if the movie entries will be cut after the date or if it will still be screened in cinemas on a regular basis (4 weeks, I think?) without the student discount anymore. 

 For those students, present your ID, and you have to know and write your ID no. (LRN Student Number). 

 -TBWS
August 19, 2017
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 Here are my other PPP movie reviews: 

 Patay na si Hesus (2016): A Review

 A Movie Review: Bar Boys

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