Let me start by saying that, Pagdadalaga is not a gay movie. There's more to it than just being called a gay movie.

That being said, I found Pagdadalaga, a very symbolistic honest narrative of daily and real Filipino life. Maximo Oliveros is the Philippines embodied. The blossoming of Maximo is in every way the blossoming of this archipelago from its roots to the present.

The opening scene in itself was richly studded with heavy symbolisms that it really takes careful scrutiny to distinguish and identify each one of them. Keeping in mind, (in Ms. Noriega's own words) that there is at least two symbolisms in each scene of a real film. Back to the opening scene. The audience was greeted with an overview look of the setting, a dirty river landscaped with mounds and mounds of garbage that it is already too difficult to consider where the river started and where the soil ended. An orchid was shown floating on the said river. Later on in the film, a very similar orchid, no doubt coming from the same stalk, found its way stuck in the strands of the title character's hair in a way reminiscent of the Mexican telenovela title character, Rosalinda.

Fortunately, in Gift class, I learned through the film Adaptation, that the word Orchid is actually the Greek equivalent of testicle. There you go. Already, in the opening scene alone, two very heavily encrypted symbolisms that oversaw the theme of the film were already shown.

In a very, very brief scene that almost looked too casual to be overlooked, a subtheme was, literally, shown. After Maximo met the subject of her affections, a movie poster was shown, that of Romeo and Juliet. (I'm not totally sure if it was a movie poster. But that's how it looked to me seeing as in the scene, Maximo just finished watching in a moviehouse, literally. Maximo's actually shown leaving the scene saying the words, "...'di sila nagkatuluyan." Although, obviously the movie in question is not Romeo and Juliet.)

Filipino poverty was scrutinized and evaluated to every little detail. In the film, the Oliveros family lived through the wealth of others. All of them, excluding the young Maximo, were cell phone snatchers. Although their way of life were, by all means, unethical and wrong in whatever aspect, every cause and reason was shown that you somehow feel for them and understand the irony they live through. Setting aside the fact that stealing, in general, is accepted to be morally wrong as stated in the Eighth Commandment, stealing was, in the moral understanding of the Oliveros family, justified. This could further be explained in the father's short speech in the scene when he was telling Maximo to leave the house. Furthermore, he tells one of his sons in one scene, "Pinalaki kitang magnanakaw hindi mamamatay-tao!"

The identity of Maximo as the Philippines at present was ultimately shown, for me, in this scene. Maximo treated Victor to lunch and Victor was interviewing him about his dreams. Maximo related how he wanted to be a dvd seller when he grew up so that he could have all the free dvds and movie-watching time he wanted. This shows to us how content Maximo was already with what he had and how he viewed and accepted his status in the society. Victor commented on how "little" Maximo's dreams seemed, without actually belittling the child.

One symbolism shown in relation to Maximo's gender preference is in the scene right after he met Victor. Maximo is seen being given a piggy-back ride by the policeman with one of his slippers missing. The same symbolism is shown even in the movie poster.

Truly, first love is more oftentimes painful. In this film, we experience an in-depth portrayal of a young boy's first experience with love. (Scene flashback: "Miss Philippines, what is love?"

Maximo's was truly tested and although we can see him obviously contemplating in the end, when he stopped walking for a very brief instant, clearly, he has moved on.

Oh my, I find it so hard to hate Victor but he was one big hypocrite in the end! He was such a bastard to poor, poor Maxi! *chases Victor with a pitchfork* With all due respect to his character, his actions were understandable and he should truly be respected for being able to do what he did. But poor Maxi! (Scene flashback: *Ooops, spoiler!*)

Nakamove-on na ang lola mo! Marame pang ibang lalake sa tabi-tabi!

Unforgettable Quotes:

VICTOR: Maximo, maraming masamang tao sa mundo.
MAXIMO: Oo, tama ka, pero isa lang ang papa (referring to his dad) ko.

FATHER OF MAXIMO: (to Dominguez) Ikaw, isa pa lang ang bituin mo. Ako, marame na.
(He looks up at the moonlit sky and discovers that not a single star was twinkling. He looks back at Dominguez and sees a gun pointed at him.)

The ending scene was like this. Apparently, Maximo has decided to continue studying. He was shown walking up the street in his school uniform. Victor followed close behind him, in his jeep. Soon, though, he overtook Maximo and he stopped just ahead of him. He got out of the jeep and stood on the pavement right beside. Maximo realized that it was Victor but he went on ahead, snubbing him. Some steps after though, he paused for a fraction of a second, clearly in thought, but he quickly regained his pace and moved on.

THE END.

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