Analysis: Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa
Profound, complex, and beautiful.
The 2011 drama
film of Alvin Yapan is an acclaimed motion picture that uses dance, poetry, and
emotion to symbolize a deeper meaning about gender, sexuality, and character. The narrative involves a love triangle between Marlon
(Paulo Avelino), Karen (Jean Garcia), and Dennis (Rocco Nacino). Dennis has
started to invest emotionally on Marlon upon teaching him to dance to impress
their literature teacher/dance instructor whom the latter is infatuated with. The
film, however, does not focus solely on the romance of the characters but with
the meaning behind every delivered poem, every dance routine, and every subtle
projection of emotions through visual portrayal and effective sound. Ang Sayaw
ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa is wisely created as there’s more than the movie plot
– there are reflections of gender sensitivity and fluidity, paradoxical
representation of sexuality, and philosophical insights about feminism,
affection, and devotion.
In the context of
religions in Asia, the movie can be viewed in multiple angles. For one,
devotion and passion are evident in the art of dancing. Karen teaches literature
and at the same time teaches other people to dance. She allots time for the
things she loves which is a representation of devotion on matters that are part
of her character and belief system. She also discovered that Dennis, one of her
students, has a passion for dancing but is financially challenged to attend her
dance classes – so she made an agreement that she’d allow him to attend her
dance class as long as he helps her teach other students in return. It can be seen
as a representation of influence through actions. A belief system of any religion
can be shared when one has the same belief system thus having a common ground
which benefits one another.
Moreover, Marlon
desires to make a move towards his teacher, despite the age gap, and discovers
that she teaches dance in a studio. He saw it as an opportunity so he planned
enrolling to her dance class until he met Dennis who, little did he know, was
his classmate in literature class. Marlon learned about the situation between
Dennis and Ms. Karen so he asked Dennis to teach him the dance routine before
Ms. Karen teaches it so he would make a first good impression on her. The plan
worked until Ms. Karen found out and learned that it was problematic than it
seems because Dennis seems to have feelings for Marlon. This represents a
conflicting interest among people who had a common ground. With regard to
religion, one can be introduced to a mean to reach his goal and entertain it as
what Marlon did. He started to appreciate the poems and think deeper. He
devoted his time and money to learn how to dance just to pursue his personal
objective, and that speaks a lot about the values of a person. He used dancing
as a means to an end but he did not achieve his goal, did he?
People use
religion as a mean to their goal. People become devoted to a belief system
because it gives them fulfillment respective to their personal purposes. One
may not advocate for it like what Ms. Karen did to Dennis; she warned him about
the path he was about to step in. Contrary to what Dennis did to Marlon, he
introduced dancing to him making Marlon passionate about it at his own
discretion. Words from a poem and
actions from a dance are affective to one’s character, so is religion in
general. The movie surely isn’t about religion, but in a way, it reflects it.
Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa speaks more of feminism and gender fluidity
which I think has also something to do with our religions. Religion has
ascertained fixed foundations of values and virtues that its follower has to
practice and even advocate. However, the film blurs the politics of such belief systems in a
sense that it bends the expected representation i.e. feminism is only advocated
by women but Yapan himself is an advocate who casted men as his actors in his film
that speaks about feminism, which he claims to be historically ironic. The use
of dance in the movie, in the context of religions in Asia, is an example of
creatively representing the detail of devotion and passion which may fix or
bend one’s character and belief system.
Movie screening - Reaction Paper (Prompt: film and religion)
SOC SCI 2 (Social, Economic, and Political Thought)
7 October 2018
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| https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1961180/mediaviewer/rm2877809920 |
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