MAGNIFICO

Directed by Maryo J. Delos Reyes

Writted by Michiko Yamamoto
A Film Review by Trinity Nicole N. Escaño

Introduction
Magnifico is a 2003 Filipino drama film made by Maryo J. Delos Reyes and written by Michiko Yamamoto, starring Jiro
Manio, Lorna Tolentino, Albert Martinez, and Gloria Romero, and directed by Maryo J. De los Reyes. The movie was
filmed in the locality of Laguna and is premised on the grand prize winner of the Film Development Council of the
Philippines' national script writing competition in 2001. Surprisingly, it was overlooked by the Metro Manila Film Festival,
which featured mainstream films for the top prize. Maryo J. De los Reyes' Magnifico was released the next year to
tremendous critical acclaim. The movie, sadly, lost out to the blockbuster. Notwithstanding its relatively classic
production look, the film was considerably revolutionary at the time.

The film is about a little kid (then newbie Jiro Manio) who tries to grant his sick grandma (Gloria Romero) a proper
burial. He unknowingly walks around his neighborhood with his friend, talking to different people or looking for ways to
make money to help pay for his grandmother's burial, from the casket he builds out of spare wood he managed to
gather from a local woodworking shop to the exact lot where his grandmother will be entombed. Yamamoto creates an
entire village full of eccentric characters with genuine aspirations and goals.

Plot Summary
One extraordinary youngster alters the lives of anyone and everyone he encounters in a Philippine town beyond the
city of Luzon. Pikoy, the son of an unprivileged household, is renowned to all as Magnifico. His father does various
jobs, his older brother has forfeited his scholarship, and his mother spends most of her time watching for Helen, a small
child with cerebral palsy, as well as her husband's elderly mother, who resides up the stairs in the household. Magnifico
is a nice child who is frequently chastised by his father for being unintelligent, an unfair judgement for a child who is far
more intelligent than everyone gives him respect for.

On the contrary, Magnifico works hard at his job, thinking up a cure for the mortician's diseases, acting as a cupid for
his smitten brother, planning to arrange a funeral garment and casket for his grandmother, and arranging a wheelchair
so he can accompany his disabled sister to the carnival. Magnifico, who seeks hardly anything for himself but to offer
delight to the ones he cherishes, always finds just the perfect answer to meet every need. And then when the big
festival evening comes, his endeavors make amends brilliantly.

Description
Magnifico is about faith, which is an interesting assertion to equate with Magnifico and his family, given what happens
to them throughout the film. Magnifico's family might be able to seek adequate and proper help for their sick and
disabled relatives if they were only more financially secure. If only Magnifico's family were informed, they would've
been aware of the different resources available to them for healthcare and personal support. When something bad is
happening, he doesn't linger on life or unpleasant feelings; rather, he immediately starts figuring out how to address
the situation. Even if his parents don't think he's intelligent, Magnifico is mature and responsible for a young child. I
admire Magnifico's ability to create good decisions regardless of the fact that it appears to be far simpler for him to
create bad ones.

However, when I was starting to reach the end of the film and I witnessed the final scene in which Pikoy died, I couldn't
hold back tears. Regardless, I believe Magnifico left the world a brighter place for everybody that knew him. That is
why I despise the reality that he had such a brief life and died in the casket he was constructing for his elderly grandma.
Given the film's topics and its dreadful conclusion, I find it remarkable that I still correlate it with faith. After witnessing
Magnifico's existence, I think I've come to see the world and other people from his perspective.

Analysis
De Los Reyes films with care, ensuring that each person contributes to the story's dramatic resonance. Despite his
impressive acting abilities, he seldom lets the actors dominate Magnifico or his younger sister, whose heartfelt
exchanges become the focal point of this perfectly crafted melodrama. Lutgardo Labad's masterfully arranged music
is just one of those distinctive and aurally pleasing scores in contemporary Philippine movies. It is calm and somber at
times, but rises when appropriate, letting the picture delve deeply into the souls of its viewers.

It balances the severity of its underlying matter with comedy and wit, letting the youth make a lovely youthfulness for
the picture despite the drollness of the grownups' problems. It's not a hollow consequence that takes advantage of
Filipino vulnerability to thrills and sorrow, as many dramas do in the Metro Manila Film Festival, where it was unfairly
overlooked due to its absence of commercial success. It's truly compelling because it familiarizes you with its own
characters, helping you to comprehend rather than just see their qualities, shortcomings, and modest desires.

Conclusion
Magnifico is a film in which the audience falls in love with the characters and their fight for survival. A film profoundly
alters one's perspective on life. Anything quite as insignificant as a carnival trip, a sibling's grin, or even a grandmother's
love begins to seem more meaningful than the mundane matters of the life we have. Viewers get to observe the real-
life situations that people face and how they deal with them. It's both joyful and heartbreaking at the same time as you
go through each minute. It's a film that evokes great melancholy while instilling in each viewer the same glimmer of
hope that Magnifico possesses. It's an incredible film about charity, compassion, mortality, serendipity, redemption,
and delight. Magnifico will certainly be recognized for far more than all the movies that made it to that year's terribly
mainstream film festival.