SIGLO NG KALINGA (2023) Review
Directed by Lemuel Lorca
Nothing can compare to a Filipino’s way of caring. How we do more beyond our jobs, beyond what we are told to do because we care. But being presented with those stories hits different than what it might sound.
Heroes. Siglo ng Kalinga presents us with our modern day heroes – people who works in the medical field especially the easily-disregarded but equally as important as doctors, the nurses. It’s a profession that’s hard to love because it doesn’t love its workers back but it’s a calling. It’s something that’s hard to explain but you keep on doing what you love and what you think is right. That’s what Siglo ng Kalinga wants to tell.
The film covers a lot. From the Japanese era to the current global pandemic. It’s not the easiest to consume movie but I find myself indulged on how it shows the challenges of choosing to be a nurse and they’re not pretty to look at. The challenges these medical workers had to go through is at times, unimaginable. And having the platform to show those, it’s heartbreaking.
The film doesn’t want to be treated as entertaining or something that audiences will find delightful after watching. It just wants to tell the stories of nurses, their century-long battle for better treatment. And that they’re not just assistants to doctors but individuals who can also save lives.
You might find the story dragging at times, but you also kind of forgive the film. Because it is really dragging to present a profession that’s less than often acknowledged by the society, especially the women.
It’s not bad, but it’s also not that good. And while I wanted maybe a more focused story, Siglo ng Kalinga has some interesting choices for the stories it wants to present.
‘Siglo ng Kalinga’ opens in Philippine cinemas on May 31, 2023 from Dr. Carl Balita Productions and the Philippine Nurses Association. Rated PG by the MTRCB.