Iska Film Review: Poverty Examined in the Philippines
Depiction of poverty is prevalent in Philippine films. The 2019 tragicomedy film, Iska, mirrors this painful and apparent reality through the lens of a character that has first-hand experience of society’s systemic injustice. Directed by Theodore Boborol, the film details the struggles of an aged woman who deeply cares for her differently abled grandchild. With the extent of her care, she has to make major and life-threatening sacrifices to provide for his needs and ensure his well-being. Now accessible for viewing on Netflix, the film has earned many accolades since it was first screened during last year’s Cinemalaya: Philippine Independent Film Festival.
As far as accuracy comes into the picture, the film attempts to investigate the causes and effects of poverty in the Philippines. Boborol takes inspiration from the circumstance of his house cleaner whose situation and experience both become the major root of the story. The titular character, played by remarkable actress Ruby Ruiz, has to face major challenges to give her grandchild, Dongdong (Jonic Magno) a better life. But because of tragic events, she downgrades, as the film states in its summary, “someone society reckons her to be.”
Whether this reckoning is considered bad or good, Iska has her own reasons for her actions. The film starts with a hopeful tone and establishes her unconditional love for Dongdong. Despite his autism which manifests in often uncontrollable fits and tantrums, Iska remains patient with him. She carries the responsibility of taking care of him — from making sure that their home remains clean and in decent habitable condition to working two jobs just so she could provide for their meals and bills. She works as a photocopier at the University of the Philippines — Diliman, and on some days as a house cleaner for a professor (Ricky Rivero). Her husband (Soliman Cruz) does little to help and often trivializes their grandchild’s condition. His abusive tendencies and womanizing ventures make his character an embodiment of toxic masculinity.
When she faints one day due to high blood pressure, Iska realizes that aging is inevitable. Because she is growing old, she fears for the future of Dongdong who is preluding puberty. When her daughter left them, she cannot rely on anyone who would take responsibility for her grandchild. She resorts to finding and seeking aid from a residential institution for children with special needs. But just when everything seems to go well with them, tragedy strikes when the domestic abuse in their neighborhood leads the media to interfere and falsely accuse Iska of a heinous treatment towards her grandchild. She gets separated from Dongdong; and when she loses her job as a photocopier due to the university’s adaption to digital technology, everything goes downhill from there.
Upon seeing the film for the first time, one can notice the underlying elements that revolve around the issues of poverty in the Philippines. One of this is when a community becomes marginalized from society. The film clarifies that Iska has never truly experienced a life of comfort amidst all the tribulations that she struggles to overcome. Adopted as a child, she was forced into hard labor and household chores at a very young age. In her twilight years, she is faced with the responsibility of taking care of a child with special needs without anyone helping her. Her husband comes home rarely and her daughter has left them. These ill circumstances result to her isolation and desperation, leading her to believe that society turns a blind eye over anyone who needs a helping hand.
The film also portrays protests within the university campus as the students’ way of amplifying various causes. Whether these protests support labor rights or free education, student protesters take it to the streets and hallways within their campus to voice the concerns of many people suffering injustices in the country. But then the film depicts the protests remaining that way — an event that amplifies certain advocacies and campaigns.
This leads to a series of questions that one can’t help but see things in new perspectives. What happens when the protests come to an end? Will the participants just do it for the spectacle with all the banners, flags, and posters? In one of the film’s significant scenes, when Iska receives the grave news that the photocopying business has to close down and thereby losing her job, she weeps amidst students chanting about workers’ rights and privileges. They may have witnessed Iska’s ordeal, but raising their voices doesn’t help her find a way out of her misery. Voices may do their part in amplifying causes, but actions will always speak louder and will pave the way for solutions to help others in need.
As far as education goes, innovation may lead to convenience for many people as in the case of the university students and teachers. The film presents the reality that innovation has its own terms of balancing its advantages and disadvantages in society. When digital technology enables the university community to access their reading materials for their classes through their gadgets, they no longer find the need to buy physical copies from photocopying businesses. This threatens the economic means for Iska who relies on her job to provide for her grandchild. Adapting to innovation doesn’t necessarily lead to negative consequences, but there has to be a way to follow certain trends that leave no one behind.
The concept of inclusive development has to apply to all communities, whether these are grounded on academic pursuits or located in the peripheries because every community has issues that need to be resolved.
In the film, domestic abuse plagues Iska’s neighborhood. One incident involves their neighbors, disturbing the late night with their screams and curses. The noise wakes Dongdong up and triggers him into a fit. At the same time, Iska struggles to free herself from her husband who forces himself into her. This draws basis on the current circumstance experienced by a number of households in the Philippines where spouses and children are often left vulnerable from abuses. While this issue does not only affect impoverished communities, abuse often deprives people of happiness and safety, thereby making victims experience poverty not in terms of monetary measures but on the emotional aspects of their lives.
Iska’s ultimate decision in the end where the reckoning happens doesn’t entirely put the blame on her. Like many oppressed people in society, Iska is considered a victim of a vicious cycle which a blind eye cannot even deny. Dongdong’s screams as she tries to soothe him in the later part of the film reflects the agony that many people like Iska faces every day. It’s never easy to take full responsibility on the well-being of a family member, and worse when the family member has special needs. As she grows older, she defies the prospect of living alone and getting separated from her grandchild.
Taking action despite her circumstance is evidence that proves that Iska doesn’t just settle for being a victim. One has to watch the film to understand why she needs to take that choice in the end — the choice to keep her grandchild with her even as it endangers his life and future. But no matter how the viewer tries to assess Iska’s decision, as well as its consequences, one cannot refuse to admit that Iska’s experiences have led her to do what she thinks needs to be done.
Perhaps this is the major takeaway that the film challenges the viewers. Like many works of art, films have their way of educating viewers about the current realities that many people experience and encounter. Iska’s story is based on the experiences of the director’s house cleaner. Who knows how many more tragedies antagonize people who live like Iska? How about those people who struggle to commune with society because their special needs and mental condition set them apart like in the case of Dongdong?
The film depicts prevalent issues that people in the clutches of poverty have to face. It can help spark engagements that can alleviate their lives. But this is only possible when people start to take action so that poverty and all its ills and problems can only be seen more in films and much less in real life.
