I grew up in the province, where – for many of the binatilyo (adolescent males) – tuli (male circumcision) meant going under the (hopefully) steady hands and the blade/s of some albularyo (local faith healer), instead of paying some medical professional a visit to do the penis snipping. I have, therefore, seen lots of boys head to these “traditional” destinations (usually when the summer vacation has just started), then head home later, their hair wet (from jumping to the nearby river after the cutting is done) and holding away from their severed genitals their loose shirts (borrowed from elders) or skirts (from sisters or their moms) or loose shorts (from older brothers, usually). Knowing these, therefore, made me look at Pukpok, an entry in Cinemalaya 2013, with a more critical eye – and, sad to say, Pukpok is a good study of how to make a film without being aware of the real issues surrounding its subject.
Directed by Joaquin Pantaleon with Stephan Domingo and Immanuel Canicosa, Pukpok tells the story of one Mac-Mac as he supposedly stands on the threshold of manhood. The “hurdle” he has to face is, of course, circumcision – which, in the Philippines, is unnecessarily touched by superstitious beliefs (e.g. that if a newly circumcised penis is seen by a girl, it will turn into a tomato), and what-have-you’s.
Some seemingly… basic problems plague the film – e.g. there’s the bad acting (static is the word that comes to mind when referring to the actors), the bad use of camera (in fact, I – as a member of the audience – was so aware there’s a shooting happening I couldn’t really get into the flow of the story), and yes, a weak storyline.
And it is the latter that is most disturbing.
Circumcision in itself is cruel – say what you will (e.g. that it’s cultural, blah-blah), but the fact that we prevent female circumcision ought to apply here, too. Circumcision is mutilation; it is NOT what will make you into a man. If a man of legal age decided to get cut, then it’s his prerogative; but imposing the same on adolescents is cruel and irresponsible. Not seeing it for what it is and presenting it as a “rite of passage” is, simply, simplistic.
It can be argued that it still happens, anyway, and that the filmmakers may just want to capture it as it happens – and this is true. But if so, we’d be better served with a straight-out documentary. That way, we don’t belittle the ACTUAL work done by albularyo – and here’s a truth for the unaware: many of them may not have been educated in Western forms of medication, but their local knowledge is not without merit (it was the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church – threatened by them – that started referring to them as “quack doctors”).
Again, doses of awareness could have helped this film.
True, this is a short film(and it may be argued that, really, just how much of a narrative can you stuff into something so short?); but to actually end up producing something so… trivial in that amount of time makes one feel cheated spending time watching this short film.
CAST: Jomari Sioco, Norman Loteria, Nelwin Buaron, Oliver Torre, Noriebelle Lagunay, Grace Villablanca, Redjie Jimenez, Timothy Obra, Antonio Canicosa III, Ivan Dio
CREW: Director and Editor: Joaquin Pantaleon Writer and Assistant Director: Immanuel Canicosa Producer, Editor and Audio Director: Stephan Domingo
