Sa North Diversion Road

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

POWERFUL

Love and decision coincides one another in ways which man can never discover why. Both words affect one another: people oftentimes decide who to love, and love oftentimes decide for that person on who should he love. The mysterious and powerful link between these two is artistically offered to us by the film Sa North Diversion Road, under Dennis Marasigan’s direction.

According to everyone’s opinion, love conquers all. But what happens if decisions intervenes love’s power of conquering the so-called all? That is the question that the filmmakers would want the audience to think about.

Sa North Diversion Road’s simple yet inspiring story concerns the consequences to be faced whenever one decides on something – may it be this, or that. The story revolved around a couple, played by renowned actors John Arcilla and Irma Adlawan, which was on the verge of a failure marriage because of recalled secrets and past events. And the husband critically thought the different results upon confessing in different approaches as well.

Though Marasigan only adapted this to Tony Perez’s Palanca-winning play, the story itself is commendable for its simple yet inspiring construction. A well thought-of concept that actually relates man’s decision-making with the North Diversion Road. Because like man’s power of choice, the North Diversion Road has different exits to different places on the north – the man is the driver, the North Diversion Road is the driver’s life, the exits are the driver’s decisions, and the places to be found on those exits are the results of the driver’s decisions. Artistic as it may seem, the films technique of delivering the story was original compared to others. It did not fail to impress the audience at the end of the film, an indication that it was really an effective story.

The portrayals of both actors, considering that they were actually the only two actors in the film which was situated inside this red car all through out the story, were superb. Arcilla and Adlawan managed to carry the whole acting package of the flick and both did exceptionally well. Since this is a full-length film, the two actors were required to portray different sides of their character. Sounds hard, but that was nothing for the two veterans. They managed to portray the serious, hilarious, fuming, silent, and normal sides of their characters. Both actors exemplified impressive and effective acting prowess in the movie.

However, as it comes to the editing and sequencing of events, it was a bit boring. Because of the series of divided segments showed, it somehow created an impression of confusion for the viewers. But still, the film’s development lets the audience realize the connection of every segment on the concluding part of the movie; though the film did bore some on the beginning, it still managed to justify its artistic attack at the end.

The shots were the typical type, but it clearly depicted the variations of characters that two actors portrayed. It still helped in the creative construction of the film’s entirety. And like the shots, the musical score also was of the usual sort, but helped on emphasizing more the mood of every segment on the film.

Sa North Diversion Road did fairly well on entertaining, informing, and inspiring its audience too. Because aside from the fact that it tackled marriage problems, it also discussed the value of decision-making and the art of rethinking, making the film an evident example of a quality local film that incorporates social issues and life values.

One should really never underestimate love’s power, for it conquers all. But one should also consider the power of man’s choice, for it concludes all – and sometimes, no matter how powerful love is, it still cannot overpower and conquer it. And that was observed on Marasigan’s artistic, full-length film Sa North Diversion Road.