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Balane, Justine Raphael Luis C.

BAMC-IV
Journ 104 Final Paper
Honor Thy Fathers use of spaces and symbols to challenge authority
Honor Thy Father came out at Christmas in the Philippines, at the most
Catholic of times in the most Catholic of countries. The movie ruffled a few feathers
last year for unapologetically tackling themes on questioning faith and defying
authority. Erik Mattis work makes us question about the common human flaw of
blind faith and groupthink.
The story follows Edgar (John Lloyd Cruz), a detached man who left the
province to have a family with Kaye (Meryl Soriano). Edgar seems like an indifferent
character in the first part of the movie. As his wife charms a crowd of people to
enter her pyramiding business, he is usually in the backdrop, looking after their
young daughter. In church, Edgar is a still figure in a sea of animated worshippers.
Their life turned around when Kayes business turned out to be a scam,
leaving Edgars family in peril as the people demanded for every cent to be paid upby hook or crook. When everyone has turned their backs on them, a desperate
Edgar is on the run to save his family.
The movies significant feat is its use of spaces and symbol to portray scenes
of dominance and submissiveness, hope and helplessness. In an early scene, Kaye
is inside a circle of parishioners, sharing her success stories and convincing people
to invest in her business. Kaye is in the most visible part of the circle. In the
backdrop, angled above Kayes right shoulder, Edgar and the daughter are sitting
down, waiting. Everyone in the circle listened to Kayes stories, accompanied with
an occasional Praise, Yeshua! in between pauses. The scene cuts with Kaye
counting the new investments in her business.
When the scam broke out, the parishioners stormed Kayes house and
demanded for their money back. All the respectful tone provided to Kaye in the first
scene was gone. Kaye, helpless in this scene, is at the bottom of the steps as a mob
of angry investors yelled and threw pointed fingers in her direction are on top of a
staircase. The scene ends with the parishioners ransacking the couples home;
Edgar beaten black and blue on the ground.
The movies authority figure and antagonist is the greedy and charismatic
Bishop played by Tirso Cruz. There is no scene where the Bishop is not in white (a
symbol of purity). In scenes on the church, the Bishop is standing on top of a stage,
as he addresses a sea of followers. His words are sharp and his gestures are big. He
commands a lot of respect from people as they respond to his homily with frenzied
hallelujahs and excessive applause. Bishop reveals that the church is building a new

parish and he asks for the followers to be more generous with their donation, as it
was what Yeshua wanted.
Later on, we learn that Bishop is greedy and corrupt. Even as Kaye pleaded
and kneeled down to the Bishop to return their donation to pay back the angry
victims, the Bishop insists that what they need are prayers instead. The Bishop puts
his hand on Edgar and Kayes forehead and began speaking tongues. This is where
Edgar interrupts the scene and steps out of his detachment. He swatted off the
Bishops hand and placed him in a chokehold, effectively bringing him to his knees.
This is where Matti used space for Edgar to reclaim authority from a patronizing
character.
Mattis use of symbols to tell the story intensifies as the movie progresses.
Before Edgar decided to leave home to take matters into his own hands, he shaves
his head. The cutting of hair is used as a symbol in a lot of movies to signify a
change in character. The hair-cutting scenes are found in movies like Mulan, before
she left for the army and GI Jane, where Demi Moores character wanted to fit in
with the boys in the barracks.
As Edgar shaves his head, he tells his daughter about not worrying when she
poked a Peeping Toms eye in school. If you didnt do it, hed just go off and do the
same thing to other people, Edgar told his daughter.
This was a scene where Edgar leaves home to settle their issue. The
daughter asks him, Are you going to poke their eyes too, daddy? The constant use
of the eye as a symbol is a reference to the historical Hammurabi Code: eye for an
eye. This is a scene where Edgar vows to get back at the church which has denied
them of safety and the mafia-like family threatening their life.
A scene in the movie opened discussion on justifiability of hurtful actions.
The theory we can look at here is Immanuel Kants theories on Duty and Morality.
Kants view is that our morality is no longer guided by obedience to a God but to our
own rational conscience. The morality of an act is validated by the fulfillment of a
persons duty.
In this case, we can argue that Edgars duty as a father is to protect his
family. His stealing from a corrupt church is not the basis of morality but his duty to
look after the safety of his wife and daughter.
Mattis masterful use of spaces and symbols launched this defiant project into
the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and did well locally, even with their
disqualification from MMFF.

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