User reviews

At the end, my mother stood on the cliff and fireworks bloomed behind, contributing a very beautiful and unforgettable scene.

Whether the weather is fine is a film that focuses on immersing its audiences to the experiences of the characters, rather than the plot. At its core, this film tells the story of lost people, attempting to find direction in the midst of the chaos and the fog caused by the Typhoon Yolanda.

Something inherent in this film that can be both admirable in the perspective of a film-maker, but detrimental to the box office, is how personal the whole film feels like. It's as if we were asked to experience what these victims felt like when the typhoon hit the Philippines, and it does a tremendous job doing so.

Every frame in this scene smells stinky, and I mean that in an absolute good way. It succeeded in giving out an atmosphere that's only present in a third-world country that's been hit by a natural disaster this drastic, thanks to the cinematography that felt grounded and the direction that bodes well with its gritty visuals.

One weakness of the film can be traced back to its writing, and more specifically, the character's decisions throughout the film. It felt as if it were trying too hard to be humorous at times, which could feel unnecessary.

It's disgusting nature proved at times to be enough, and the moment it decided to go on a tonal shift, it felt too much.

This has got to be the most confusing, disrespectful, and cash grab movie I've seen in a while.

I'm a survivor and was happy to know when they announced that a movie was going to be made set in the aftermath of Haiyan and was going to be spoken in our dialect. But all that crumbled when I saw the movie. The movie felt like a cash grab and taking advantage of the Haiyan story.

The camera work and the sets were very good.

The dialogue was clunky. They speak unnaturally. Norma's accent is not something people from the city has. The pacing was slow. The plot line was confusing.

The subtitles did not match what the characters were saying. I wasn't reading the sub titles that much because what they were saying was different so it just confused me. So I'm not sure what the non-Waray speakers got but I got a lot of cringe dialogue. The movie was filled with try hard comic relief including their choice in songs.

I understood the absurdity and surrealism but it was too much for my taste.

I found how they portrayed the locals was disrespectful.

Norma felt pretentious. Civilians in the movie were mean and some acted savagely. We weren't like that. We were in a bad situation, but we were civilized. We greeted people with smiles and happiness. We didn't snatch people's relief bags from them. We looted shops mostly out of necessity. We shared what we looted with our neighbors and at night had our own patrol to make sure bad people don't take advantage of the dark or the fact that our police force was still out of commission.

The reason why I felt they took advantage of the Haiyan story was because the premise of the movie could have been done in any disaster scenario, even just a fake one. But they had to choose Haiyan because making a movie around a storm that left almost 10,000 dead and missing would have been a big hit and bring them big bucks and international recognition. It worked though.

The movie being set in post-Haiyan time was one of the biggest reason why it got the attention it did. If you changed Haiyan with some random/made up storm, it would not have gotten the attention it did. Again, taking advantage.

What further ticked me off was when director Carlo Manatad said in an interview with CNN Philippines that they already had a completed screen play for the movie, but only added the Haiyan element when Haiyan happened. Which further led me to believe that adding the Haiyan element was just a cash grab attempt considering it was an after thought.

When the movie came out in Tacloban, a lot of people that saw the movie said "you're better off watching Exorsis, at least that one was funny".

The film dwells on the story of how Filipinos from a rural place struggles to survive before and after a typhoon. This may seem like it focuses more on the experiences with typhoon Yolanda back in 2013, but this could also happen in every typhoon that has passed in the Philippines especially as a 3rd world country. Not only did they tackle typhoon problems, but also personal problems as well which makes it a bit more realistic and painful.

I like how the film included traits that Filipinos would do when a typhoon hits the country. An example would be in regards with our faith or how Filipinos would manage to smile especially with the media's presence. In terms of visuals, the film seems to make poverty an aesthetic which would be fine as a film since it could capture the audience's attention and make them feel like they are part of the story. Although in reality, it should not be much glorified for the media and people must actually help these survivors instead. I was kind of sceptical with Daniel Padilla's role in the film at first since it is mostly based on real life situations and it is a heavy topic to ponder upon. His instead has this mainstream image where we only see him as an actor specifically for romantic films. However, he sort of nailed this one along with his Waray language since he did play his part as an actor of his character too.

Overall, it is a great film. This deserves more recognition especially as we live in a country filled with islands which could be greatly affected by typhoons. We must support our own country's films, even if the language being used is not our main language. Imagine it with the same situation as watching Korean series or films without truly understanding the language, but still show our support thanks to subtitles.

From a survivor's point of view, the movie brings back so many memories of that unfaithful day. The struggles were very much reminiscent of how we Taclobanons behaved days after Super Typhoon Haiyan ravaged the city. Above all, I'm just impressed as to how they genuinely sounded like native Waray people. It amazes me to see a representation of us Warays in the big screen.

Whether the Weather Is Fine is a marvelous representation of surreal experiences meets real life events. In this film we find ourselves scraping at the bottom of the barrel when all has been lost due to the Typhoon, an occurrence almost deemed as anticipated in the Filipino life. Moments of hardship such as finding your loved one among the wreckage, exchanging rations for own personal desires, and finding ways to get off the island. Through this hardship the characters contemplate on future paths they ought to take which brings on the message of the film: having hope despite and in spite of challenges in life.

All messages accompanied with moments of tonal shifts between seriousness and comedy and even an surreal musical number that further implies the spiral down of sanity through these traumatic experiences. The film truly captures the Filipino tenacity but in no way romanticizes the suffering. As a Filipino I can truly relate and empathize with these sentiments however I fear that abroad it may be interpreted as another poverty porn film. For that I strongly advise the proper mindset and framework watching this film and that my fellow countrymen find time to watch this in support or to better grasp what happens to the calamity struck portions of our nation.

Carlo Francisco Manatad's Kun Maupay It Panahon (Whether the Weather is Fine) revolves around the aftermath of the super-typhoon Yolanda at Tacloban, Leyte. It is told from the perspective of three people: Miguel (played by Daniel Padilla), Andrea (Rans Rifol), and Norma (Charo Santos). The film presents the struggles that Filipinos experienced in order to survive the devastating effects of the typhoon.

Right at the beginning, one can already tell that the production design is remarkable. It was able to replicate the horrendous sights; dead bodies lying on the ground, destroyed appliances and furniture scattered around, the children's innocence (personally, I felt scared for them), people fighting, praying, wailing. Combined with the wide-angle compositions, it gives off a sense of immersion for the viewers as to what it could feel like being in those places-rather, in that state. Dir. Manatad focused more on the characters' emotions and thoughts, which made it more intriguing considering that the three main characters had different goals. They also had different perspectives of the reality they are experiencing.

Generally, the film was able to showcase the various impacts of a typhoon (though this film is centered on typhoon Yolanda, it also speaks up for the other typhoons that the Philippines encounter) to people.

This film is uncolored, untethered to any intention of romanticization. It effectively taps into the fear of the unknown which catalyzes the actions of the Filipino people that the film aims to represent - to steal, to cut corners, to burst out into anger, but to also show empathy, dedication to family, and resilience. However, the Filipino concept of "resiliency" is not exploited nor misrepresented, and even provides commentary on films that do tackle that route by presenting restraint (through writing and direction) and then and only then when the context of the entire story has been laid out will it allow complete surrender to the situation. In all of this, the film is still capable of injecting surreal imagery within its hard truths. It expounds to a depth that touches on the nuances of seeking sanity inside and outside an eye of a storm. It is never the fault of those in peril to grasp for every ounce of stillness - stability, security; whether it may be a false sense of the matter or wishful thinking, whether the weather is fine.

The film feels mesmerizing and experiencing to watch in general. The movie presents the issues of Filipino in rural areas struggling in the aftermath of natural disasters to survive. It brought into light the struggle of the people of Tacloban; you feel their pain on the screen, and it is something commonality for Filipino people when a natural disaster happens every year in areas with big typhoons or floods. I also love when they show dance scenes because Filipino would do in a situation in a natural disaster. They would deny their pain by showing something positive like a dance, joke, or smile to present a face in the media. The religious aspect of the movie is another Filipino aspect that is accurate since people in the film pray for this pain to be over. A thing that surprised me was Daniel Padilla's performance in the movie. I associate the actor's acting with his rom-com movies, but in the film, he did a good performance in the role. The best part of the film is how it is surliest or magic realism in the movie without spoiling it; both the visual and music incorporating it visualize the central theme about the aftermath.

Overall, I would really recommend this movie; it deserved more recognition and screening for Filipino people and other people interested in general. It shed topic that is close to Filipinos with a breathtaking experience.

For someone who experienced being hit by a chaotic disaster myself, I went inside the cinema expecting this critically-acclaimed film to be a medium to explore a story of family and drama while facing a catastrophic event that once filled all the headlines and brought in an international attention. But upon seeing the first few shots, accompanied by a very bizarre music compared to the visuals, I already felt what the film is trying to achieve.

Kun Maupay It Panahon (Whether the Weather is Fine) - a debut film of Carlo Francisco Manatad - is a tale about three people; Miguel (Daniel Padilla), Norma (Charo Santos), and Andrea (Rans Rifol); while they cruise through the ruins of Tacloban, Leyte after the devastating supertyphoon Yolanda.

The film's composition of wide shots and very detailed production design gives a sense of immersiveness to the viewers to feel with the main characters. The ambiguity of the characters while they interact with the surroundings blends well with how they slowly walk towards their own different goals. And it's very evident how the treatment of Manatad plays not with the outward interaction of the characters with their environment, but with their inner emotions and perception of their current reality. I also like the film's satirical critique of the Filipino resiliency and the subtlety of how they tried to show it.

Overall, the absurdism of the film worked really well on portraying the stories of the characters. It's a storytelling that gives a firm social voice on how things usually unfolds on casastrophes outside and within ourselves. And it's truly devastating, whether the weather is fine - or not.