‘Flotsam’ Review: Escapist romances

Oggs Cruz

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‘Flotsam’ Review: Escapist romances
'Perhaps the most interesting thing about 'Flotsam' is how it treats a kind of escapist romance without judgment,' writes Oggs Cruz

“They’re here for that moment of magic, not marriage.”

Those words, spoken by Zulu (Zack Varkaris), an overstaying British tourist to his friend from Manila, sums up the charm of Jay Abello’s Flotsam, a film that fully embraces its innate slightness.

In that scene, the friend is wondering how a local surfing instructor (Lemon Superstar Dines) who is described as having “teeth the size of Argentina” is getting all the girls’ attention.  

The film, which is set in La Union during the few days that the sea is bereft of surfing waves, is all about love, but not the kind that leads to the fairy tale endings of most typical romances.

The film centers on various possible lovers. There is Kai (Solenn Heusaff), an architect who is confused about her engagement, and Tisoy (Rocco Nacino), the hostel’s bartender, Mia (Carla Humphries), the hostel’s proprietress, and Zulu, who is due to return to England, and a host of other personalities with love stories that range from trivial to overtly sentimental. 

Escape town

CONFUSED ROMANCE. Solenn Heussaff and Rocco Nacino as Kai and Tisoy. Screengrab from YouTube/Flotsam and Jetsam Hostel

Abello has a clear understanding of his film’s milieu.

San Juan is a coastal town that has been transformed by its famed waves from being a sleepy fisherman’s village into a melting pot of surfers from around the world. Flotsam, which at first glance seems like a film that is withdrawn from reality with its cast of pretty faces with perfect English but mangled Filipino, is essentially about that particular lifestyle that has consumed an entire town’s personality.

The film paints a picture of a community that is defined by its becoming a symbol of escape. Its members are all strangers to each other, connected by the fact that they are residing in the same hostel at the same time, drinking the same beer, listening to the same music, and patiently waiting for the waves to arrive. They are all fragile, having various reasons for being holed up far away from their homes and responding to the same need for affection, no matter how momentary and fleeting.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Flotsam is how it treats that kind of escapist romance without judgment. In fact, Abello laces the film’s slim love stories with palpable gloss and fervor. Abello convincingly weaves an illusion by appropriating the rabid charms of a convincing fantasy to the ephemeral love stories that he crafts out of the lives of the bored city dwellers who find themselves enchanted by the allure of an erstwhile double life.

Sex and the beach

Flotsam looks quite seductive, with textures and colors that enunciate the short-lived infatuations that the place provides. It certainly helps that Abello is also a very talented cinematographer, capable of creating images that convey messages that are outside the realm of the narrative.

 

The film understands the charisma of beach life, how it isn’t all about grandiose concepts such as freedom and tranquility, but also about the sexual appeal of constant visions of bronzed bodies glistening under the sun. The film succeeds in populating itself with visuals that are charged with sensual possibilities. Abello makes most of his cast of pretty faces and perfect bodies, who occupy roles of very limited emotional scope that can only give way to near-naked pageantry.

True, good taste dominates at the end of the day. Flotsam remains decent up to the very end.

LOOKING FOR ROMANCE. Carla Humphries and Marc Abaya in a scene from the movie. Screengrab from YouTube/Flotsam and Jetsam Hostel

Simply put, Abello acknowledges that sex is indeed both the film’s selling point and a resounding theme of its sober appreciation of love. He does not shy from the fact that part and parcel of the lifestyle is the ability to not be bound by social constrictions. It’s all part of the magic, an essential piece to the advertisement.

Transient romances

Flotsam is an ode to transient romances.

SOUND OF THE WAVES. Solenn's character Kai gets ready to surf. Screengrab from YouTube/Flotsam and Jetsam Hostel

The film never really dwells on a particular character or story. It tells just enough to give a sizable access to infatuation, but never enough to dictate or define true love. The film is satisfied with moments, not promises, and most certainly, not unrealistic notions of forever. – Rappler.com

Francis Joseph Cruz litigates for a living and writes about cinema for fun. Thefirst Filipino movie he saw in the theaters was Carlo J. Caparas’ ‘Tirad Pass.’ Since then, he’s been on a mission to find better memories with Philippine cinema. Profile photo by Fatcat Studios

 

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