‘Double Twisting Double Back’ reflects a Grueling Human Struggle
“Sex is the consolation you have when you can't have love”
― Gabriel García Márquez
Fresh from his award-winning film that he directed in 2017’s ToFarm Film Festival, Joseph Abello, young but has a lot to say as a filmmaker-is back with another controversial work via this year’s Cinema One Originals Film Festival entry-‘Double Twisting Double Back’.
Others may find this as a boring piece since its story revolves around Badger portrayed by a committed young actor-Tony Labrusca; who essays his struggles as a gymnast; trying to achieve his dream of becoming the first male Philippine medalist in the Olympics 2020.
For a production that is constraint within a budget for a festival, Abello’s film is ambitious. Yet his attempt to present a reality about gymnastics to be ‘relatable’ and not ‘distant’ to someone isn’t even engaged in such sport. Unlike other filmmakers who tried to make a statement or present a novel idea, but couldn’t even afford to bridge his mere imagination to make his storytelling believable as opposed to unthinkable.
Badger’s character is reminiscent of Natalie Portman’s Nina in the 2010 Darren Aronofsky’s film ‘Black Swan’. Abello’s style is also dark, but he managed to be sincere in describing a scene, the individuality of his characters-Badger’s and Joem Bascon’s ‘uncool’ role. The audience may get confused for a few minutes, but how the story is being told-it needs more focus and deeper understanding. There’s should be no room for any moviegoer to blink in order not to lose the link between Badger and Wasi.
Each scene was carefully handled, beautifully shot and the every routine {on the bars, the rings, and even on the floors or up in the air}-would show how grips, how firm muscle controls must a gymnast have as well as the focus, the commitment and the passion were all painted in Badger’s character. Abello took all what he knew about gymnastics amd dramatically translated it onscreen.
To understand the lead character’s struggle; the audience must realize that the training of a gymnast is no joke. Typically, at an early age, gymnasts already start their progressive training and make their bodies respond to fluidity of movements, and as they mature, the level of competition becomes fiercer. Yes, like ballet, gymnastics do center on the athlete’s body movements-the strength, balance, flexibility and the artistry displayed in a performance. Despite these similarities, gymnastics is different in its physical activities.
It is a sport that encompasses many disciplines, including women’s artistic, men’s artistic, rhythmic, trampoline and tumbling, acrobatic, and gymnastics for all-also known as group gymnastics.
Given these activities, one can just imagine how Badger as a gymnast has to go through a variety of capacities such as functional training on proper technique, landings, strength and conditioning, and mental training. But, how would it turn out to be if he is disrupted in his most important training-the mental part? Bascon’s character reflects Freud’s 1923 personality theory on the id. He is the primitive and instinctual part of Badger’s mind that cuddles sexual and aggressive drives as well as hidden memories.
Though Labrusca is relatively new in acting and this is just his second film after that Cinemalaya 2018 project of his-‘ML’ (which is short for Martial Law); he proved to be effective in many ways since the routines or the stuff needed for him to deliver is already second nature to him. He was a gymnast, too. Moviegoers will definitely feel or resonate with his everyday battles especially against the antagonist-his id and tapping on his super-ego and his ego, respectively.
Both Labrusca and Bascon deserve nominations for their portrayals. The fighting scenes were a clear representation of how Badger tries to overcome and overthrow or even befriend his oppressor. If ‘Black Swan’ succeeded in metaphorical play of scenes or that one in ‘Fight Club’ (a 1999 film that starred Edward Norton and Brad Pitt); Abello has its unique way of painting scenes that are revolting and enthralling at the same time. Watch out for those episodes where Badger battles against grueling struggles and to stay sane, no matter what.
The Abello film also comes in a novelization form in Tagalog by Arlo Icabandi under ABS-CBN Publishing Incorporated. It is now available for Php195 exclusively distributed in National Bookstore and Powerbooks branches! Being an entry to the Cinema One Originals-it is showing in 15 cinemas, please schedule for reference.
Photographs and video courtesy of Kathy Rivera and 'Double Twisting Double Back' Production.