Orasyon (Shorts B)

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Independent

IMAGINATION


A short flick with intensifying effect of both imagination and creativity, Orasyon by Rommel Tolentino successfully attacked the viewer’s minds – and pulse rate as well!

Orasyon is about an old woman (Federica Figalan), a devout Catholic, who still believes that she would be visited by her son despite the long time they’ve spent apart. And that she experienced a test of her faith towards God and her belief on seeing her child again by the personification of a helper (Gloria Austria), who is actually an opposite of hers.

The clash between good and evil is a common theme for a story, but seeing Orasyon is different. Aside from the fact that it was a short flick, it still managed to tell a story about the battle of light and darkness completely. And the way Tolentino’s creative thinking of portraying the bad side to an imaginative being is a good and effective technique for the film. In fact, the whole story itself is a plus for Orasyon.

Another technique commendable was the idea of having the whole film in black and white. That approach made the short film more eerie and created an impression of frightening moments which actually scared viewers. The shots and transitions were not perfectly executed though. Having two, or sometimes one, scenes captured in different angles and shown at the same time on half and half of the screen was not eye-friendly. It was a sore for the viewers because it divides their attention, which results to confusion. Nevertheless, the musical score did not fail to make scenes more frightening. It was properly embedded on scenes, which actually made it more intensifying, terrifying, and entertaining at the same time.

Tolentino’s Orasyon creatively shaped the viewer’s imagination and effectively presented the ever-popular battle of good and evil in a different way. Yes, it was scary.