There is a reason why people are fascinated with ruins, despite the evident disorder and decay. Relics are permanent reminders of a distant glorious past. In Loy Arcenas' Niño, the Lopez-Aranda clan is portrayed with the same allure, as if the family were ruins on display: the bits of opera that Celia sings to bedridden Gaspar with her aging voice being the fragmented pillars, the stories told by Gaspar of his prospering political position are the damaged figures, and the rustic house, its remaining furniture and ornaments and the anecdotes of the loyal household help of the house's former prominence are the collapsed edifices, the wilted gardens, the burnt arcs, all of which are faint indications of the family's expired extravagance.
The film's accomplished climax, a final audacious attempt to grasp against what is left between glory and dignity, is the film's poignant crest. Yet after everything, when the music of the past has faded, the momentary elation and heightened hope have been replaced by the realistic notion that still there are a lot of things that are meant to wither and that what remains are only echoes and shadows from an era of the family's sunken splendor.
Portrayals of the roles are very superb including the performances of Shamaine Buencamino who won as Best Supporting Actress and Art Acuña as Best Supporting Actor. Casting of power house opera singers add up to the lure and musicality of the film making it melodramatic. The very sight of the country's best opera singers together with their old age, belting out voices are fractions of what they are used to be, being both strange and wondrous. The child’s enactment augments to balance the film in having a funny and mischievous character. Their relations and entanglements with each other are grounded on unsophisticated emotions. The film comprehends the pull of disgrace, the way it measures the extent of the family's unquestionable decline. It disrupts desperation with class, moderates wickedness with sensitivity and adds humor.
Niño is a feat to be witnessed for a first time film director. No doubt that it won the Special Jury Price and Best in Production Design. All the elements are packed into one, remarkable production design, elegant cinematography, ensemble and superb acting, operatic musicality, accurate editing and the amazingly constricted screenplay delivering humor without going overboard that are meshed up with collaborative efforts that resulted to an expert precision. The film is patent with disciplined craftsmanship, a rare commodity in filmmaking that has become too compassionate of sluggish, careless and depthless nominal work.
