Lola / Grandmother, PH-FR 2009 colour  110 min.
dir: Brillante Mendoza
pro:  Ferdinand Lapuz, Swift Productions, Centerstage Productions
sc:  Linda Casimiro
ph:  Odyssey Flores
mus:  Teresa Barrozo
ed:  Kats Serraon
cast: Anita Linda, Rustica Carpio, Tanya Gomez, Jhong Hilario, Ketchup Eusebio
dis:  The Match Factory

Two elderly women bear the consequences of a crime involving their respective grandsons— one is the victim, the other is the suspect. Both weak and poor, they laboriously solicit money in the midst of a storm — one for the victim’s burial, the other for the suspect’s bail bond.
As the story unfolds, Lola Sepa, together with her 8-year-old grandson, lights a candle on the spot beside a bridge where an elder grandson was killed by a cell phone snatcher the night before. After praying, she arranges the funeral and files a formal complaint to the police. Then she wades through the bad weather to collect money for the burial and court hearing. Meanwhile, Lola Puring painstakingly raises funds for the temporary release of her grandson, the assailant, who refuses to languish in jail. A pro-bono lawyer advises her to work for an amicable settlement since the criminal case is non-bailable. Capturing the desperate and frantically beautiful texture of the urban Manila landscape, “Lola” confirms the depth and range of Filipino director Brillante Mendoza’s vision. Anita Linda and Rustica Carpio deliver incisive performances as the two determined leads in writer Linda Casimiro’s penetrating critique of the criminal justice system, its accompanying bureaucracy, and the incomplete quest for justice and reconciliation.