Justice (Hustisya), 2014
Directed by Joel Lamangan.
Starring Nora Aunor, Rocco Nacino, Rosanna Roces, Sunshine Dizon, Gardo Versoza, Chynna Ortaleza and Jeric Gonzales.
SYNOPSIS:
A woman fights for her soul while working for a human trafficking agency controlled by a powerful syndicate.
A man and woman act like a couple of love-struck teenagers while another female passenger is not impressed by what she is seeing. A dramatic shift occurs when the three occupants leave the van and reveal themselves to be human traffickers. The operation is run by Vivian who has Biring distribute the necessary bribes and meet with the various members of the illegal network; the two women are close but trouble arises when the former frames the latter for the murder of her lover who had connived to become a business competitor.
Biring has ignored the illicit actions of shoplifters, murderers, kidnappers, politicians and police officers; however, upon becoming the victim of a conspiracy she is forced to deal with the unsavoury figures to prove her innocence. The problem is that the one person Biring believes will help her happens to be the real murderer and when she uncovers the treachery then revenge takes precedent.
Justice (Hustisya) is not something which could be used as part of a tourist campaign for the Philippines as the squalor and corruption run rampant throughout. The cinematography cannot be faulted as the viewer is placed in the middle of the action. An effort is made to make Biring sympathetic through her nightmares, church donations, and throwing money down to the inhabitants of the city while on top of a high building. Unfortunately, not much can be said of the acting which is staged and the storyline which is a poor rendition of what Francis Ford Coppola was able to achieved with The Godfather (1972) in regards to the character of Michael Corleone.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★/ Movie: ★
Originally published September 2, 2014. Updated April 15, 2018.
