Admit it, like Carmen (Pokwang), you also probably said “I f***** love it!” right after you watched Mercury is Mine!
With its well-written screenplay, it’s no surprise that Mercury Is Mine bagged the Best Screenplay Award at the Cinemalaya Awards Night last August 14. Jason Paul Laxamana, the director and writer of the film, surely knows how to deliver a witty, engaging, no-bore satirical comedy film that tackles some of the underlying issues in our country.
Mercury Is Mine tells the story of Carmen Batac (Pokwang), a middle-aged woman who’s about to close her eatery at the foot of Mt. Arayat, when she encountered a teenage American boy named Mercury (Bret Jackson) who begs to wait tables for her in exchange for shelter. Mercury Is Mine easily became one of the favorites among the 9 film entries at this year’s Cinemalaya – and we agree. Here are five reasons why we’re raving about Mercury Is Mine.
(Warning: This article discusses some details of the plot and other elements of the film – may contain spoilers.)
- Pokwang’s effortless, no-nonsense performance
Mercury: “My name is Mercury… Like the planet.”
Carmen: “Oh, like the drugstore.”
Being a comedian, making the audience laugh with her witty one-liners comes naturally to Pokwang. Her unlikely team up with actor Bret Jackson who played Mercury, turned out to be like a 3-in-1 coffee mix that blended so well. Both actors are laudable for embracing and playing the light and dark side of their respective characters so well.
Mercury Is Mine is Pokwang’s first independent film and she said that it was a dream come true for her to do a Cinemalaya film.
- Relatable scenes of how Filipinos react towards foreigners
The film’s hilarious take on how Pinoys react towards foreigners are so on point! Some would avoid talking to Mercury while saying “No English!” Others would just stare at him. For the most part, he became an instant celebrity in Carmen’s eatery where people would eat just to see him and take a picture of him afterwards.
No matter how good of a cook Carmen is, she never had that much customers, to the point that she always ended up eating everything she cooked and throwing the leftovers. Who would’ve thought that a mere blonde-haired white boy could keep her business alive and kicking?
- Tackling the dark reality of white privilege
The reality of how we view ourselves in society according to the beauty standards it dictates, and how people who have a lighter complexion are deemed superior, were well represented in the film. Carmen represents every Filipino who thinks that whitening products and dyeing her hair blonde will make her a notch more “beautiful” than she already is.
The film also used humor in showing the audience how Caucasians get a lot of automatic privilege in this world just by being white. People would come to Carmen’s eatery not because of her cooking but because of the “cute white boy” waiting the tables. As a cook, Carmen’s dream is to have her own cooking show. But the reality is, people would prefer a cute American guy than a Pinoy who really knows how to cook in a cooking show. In Carmen’s words to Mercury, “That’s just the way it is,” here in the Philippines.
- Living the “American Dream”
Whenever we see Americans or foreigners in general, we automatically think of the American Dream – how associating ourselves with foreigners can be an opportunity to better ourselves.
In the film, Carmen is a woman who’s drowning in her own insecurities – ashamed of her “ugly, lazy, and hopeless children”, she holds on to Mercury like the treasure people keep looking for at Mt. Arayat. She keeps Mercury for herself like a trophy with bragging rights while denying the fact that somehow she’s milking him for his white privilege.
- A rare breed of Filipino comedy
Mercury Is Mine offered a type of humor unlike the typical slapstick, street jokes, and punchlines we see in mainstream comedy films these days. It took us on a wild ride of laughter while tackling the underlying issues in the country.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HhB6iXRyhc
During it’s run at Cinemalaya, Mercury Is Mine surely owned us with everything it offered. It served a well-balanced platter of drama, light comedy, and a bit of dark satire. If you missed your chance to see this precious thing on the big screen, you really have to catch it in the future. We hope Mercury Is Mine gets more screenings in the future.
*Crosses fingers*