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Movie review: Supernatural elements add spice to Nadine Lustre's 'Ulan'

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Fred Hawson

Maya Landicho was orphaned when she was very young. She grew up with her superstitious grandmother who taught her about offering eggs in order to prevent rainfall, believed to be God&#x27;s punishment for the sins of man. Often friendless and lonely, Maya developed a very fertile imagination which made her see tikbalangs getting married, her grandmother&#x27;s third eye, a typhoon as a spurned bride, or her bullies turning into eggs.Growing up, Maya worked as an editorial assistant for a publishing house specializing in erotic pulp paperbacks. However, she had been terribly luckless in all her romantic relationships, which left her all cried out. One rainy day at the jeepney stop, she met a charming boy named Joseph Peter Buendia, a volunteer for an NGO helping street children with their literacy. Will Maya finally open her heart up again for love?<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/D_H2UqfnSQ8?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>Writer-director Irene Villamor, presents us with another unique female protagonist, just as she did in two films last year which she also wrote and directed, &quot;Meet Me in St. Gallen&quot; and &quot;Sid and Aya: Not a Love Story.&quot; Similar to these two films, both of which consistently appeared among the critics lists of 2018&#x27;s finest, &quot;Ulan&quot; was also marked by beautiful cinematography by Neil Daza, rich production design, as well as an evocative musical soundtrack.Nadine Lustre is luminous as Maya. Despite her simple clothes and makeup as a homely wallflower, Lustre never lost her radiance on the big screen. The camera loved her and director Villamor&#x27;s color palette and filters absolutely became her. Maya&#x27;s psyche had been badly traumatized and she had to cope with all of the hurt, and Lustre was able to convey all of that while acting with remarkable restraint.Carlo Aquino is effortlessly natural in portraying Peter, and his chemistry with Lustre was quite good despite the 8-year age gap between the two actors. Perla Bautista has the particular talent to deliver any line and make it sound really tearjerking. Leo Martinez should&#x27;ve stuck out like a sore thumb with the sexist, off-color jokes he made as Maya&#x27;s boss, but he managed to make the role endearing despite the sleaze. Kylie Versoza&#x27;s sexy Princess certainly gave Maya a lot of reason to be insecure, especially in that tennis scene with Andrew (Marc Gumabao).The story was actually quite simple in its very essence. However, director Villamor decided on non-linear presentation in order to make things more interesting. While the story of adult Maya developed in regular order (with exes Mark, then Andrew, then meeting Peter), there would be frequent flashbacks to Maya&#x27;s childhood to certain key people and events (with her grandmother, her teacher, her classmates, close friend Jose Albert Garcia) which molded her fragile psychological make-up into how it is now. The unique spice, though, was in the fantastic creatures Maya saw as a child, and apparently all the way up to adulthood. When you first see these fantasy characters, you will be thrown off at first and will find it too weird. You later understand that these were just the coping mechanisms employed by a lonely little girl longing for a friend. The supernatural elements distinguished this film from other romances out there. However, this may as well also be the very element which may imperil its fate at the box office. This review was originally published in the author&#x27;s blog, &quot;<a href="https://said-fred.blogspot.com/2019/03/review-of-ulan-lustres-luster.html">Fred Said</a>.&quot;

The supernatural elements distinguished this film from other romances out there.

The supernatural elements distinguished this film from other romances out there.