Is he disturbed by how easy for everyone to worship him? Or is it because he wants to be worshiped elsewhere? No matter what the answer, his dislike for the Philippines impelled him to kill his mother. He witnesses the gullibility of everyone around him and how he could control them with his dollars and looks. This is taken with disgust by Maxim, who although had relations with a teacher himself, states how they do not belong in the Philippines.
Our worship of the Caucasians and the Caucasian-looking is evident with how the students and teachers fawn over the brothers. The scenes romanticize their blooming friendship, or perhaps how Felix sees his relationship with Magnus.įelix’s journal also serves as a lens or a commentary of our colonial identity or post-colonial identity. Magnus and Felix are able to talk to each other unhampered by what people will say.
The scenes between Magnus and Felix, the rural scenes, and the big spaces are reminiscent of “Brokeback Mountain” where desires or the constructs which rule on desire are made subject to imagery of nature, away from the scrutinizing glare of society, wherein the manifestation of self becomes more pronounced. After, masturbating, Maxim punches Felix on the stomach to assert control, but the deed, nevertheless, is done. However, this only magnifies Felix’s power of voyeurism, which he normally exercises through writing. Maxim, who usually has the power, accedes and masturbates in front of Felix. We also see shifts of power throughout the film such as when Maxim takes Felix in an isolated place, where in exchange of Felix coming to them to the beach (the place where Demetria is planned to be killed), Maxim strips off all his clothes and upon the Felix’s further command to “make it hard”. Felix constantly has to keep everything contained through his words, in written ink, otherwise his relationship with Magnus might be in danger: What if Magnus finds out he likes him? The following day, Magnus keeps his distance.
Magnus vents out, stating his dislike for “this shitty country”. Felix follows him, and dares to express his thoughts on the reality of staying, which could be a subtext of “please stay with me”. This can be glimpsed where Magnus runs into the woods after learning that he could not go back to the U.S. Felix must suppress his desire perhaps to continue to be friends with Magnus or because he could not fully accept who he is.
Felix’s journal which boasts of his wide range of vocabulary serves as a lens with how Felix acts vis-à-vis the Snyder brothers, a sort of a gravitational dance, in which the power dynamics of desire and obsession, propels the characters into and away from each other. The first half of the film presents not only how the friendship between Magnus and Felix progresses, but on Felix’s growing feelings for Magnus: He finds a friend, and finds something more. As a result, Magnus and Felix spends a lot of time together, and a friendship develops. Felix meets the brothers, who asks him to help them in their assignments for a dollar price. Someone is going to get murdered.įelix, a film archetype of an intelligent, reserved boy, keeps a journal, narrating in mythologizing English his experiences with the Snyder brothers, who arrives as new students in Felix’s school, stirring students and teachers alike with their glorified Caucasian-ness. Magnus’ words of caution are not made as an expression of a casual familial concern: It is from a place of real, impending danger. Magnus goes to change, leaving a distracted-looking Felix, his eyes not on the slowly submerging Maxim and Demetria, but on the spot where Magnus had been. They are on a beach a few distance away from them Maxim is yanking one of Demetria’s arms, trying to pull her into the water. Magnus Snyder (Ethan Salvador) tells Felix (Khalil Ramos) to keep an eye on Magnus’ younger brother Maxim (Jameson Blake) and hooker of a mother, Demetria (Ana Capri).