TPO, Altarejos’ static cinema opens

In Joselito Altarejos’ TPO (Temporary Protection Order), the narrative turns into an exercise in objective filmmaking for a reason.
“Grabe, nate-tense ako sa TPO. It’s an experiment on my part — static shots, long takes, no close-ups,” says the director on his edginess with this new film.
TPO is Altarejos’ entry into the Second Sinag Maynila from August 22 to 26 at select SM Cinemas. The Sinag Maynila film festival is organized by Solar Entertainment and Center Stage Productions Co. with MahusayKolektib and Outpost Visual Frontier.
Written and directed by Altarejos with Archie del Mundo as co-writer, production design is by Jeng Torres, sound by Drew Milallos, cinematography by Cesca Lee. Tieng and Brillantes are executive producers, while Annalena Durano is associate producer.
Altarejos employs a static-cinema approach in a non-linear narrative. The blog What is Great Cinema? describes static cinema as thus: “The shot stands still while characters and objects move through and about on it, thus being s sort of reverse of most tracking shots. It gives prominence to setting. Almost making setting a character, and reduces the prominence of each of the individual characters.”
The director likens his treatment of the material to “a court that just appreciates the facts. The approach is very distant.” This effect is also achieved by the cinematographer through color grading the shots neutral, balanced, not over dramatic. “Kasi we want to have an unbiased treatment sa story so the audience can judge the scenes by themselves.” Altarejos adds.
His most technically different film to date (except perhaps the continuous shot of Ang Laro sa Buhay ni Juan), TPO is not his boldest. Death by Gokkun is a cinematic look into the life of  male and female sex workers that crosses the unlikely boundaries of classical music and pornography.
TPO is still unscreened, and Altarejos has refused to show it in the First Sinag Maynila as he does not agree to any form of censorship. Knowing this is not possible in the Philippines, he patiently waits to have the work shown in a film festival in Europe.
TPO is about Miguel (Oliver Aquino), the abusive husband of Teresa (Mara Lopez), a former town beauty queen. They have an eight-year-old son, JR (Miko Laurente), and live with Miguel’s parents (Menggie Cobarrubias and Dexter Doria). The family is shattered by the vicious cycle of domestic abuse. A friend (Yayo Aguila) goads Teresa to seek a TPO from the court after a night of beating from her abusive husband.
The TPO is a legal remedy that a battered woman can avail of under Republic Act 9262 (Anti-Violence Against Women and Children Act of 2004) to protect her and her child against anyone harming them.  
Teresa is granted the TPO against Miguel. But in this legal tug-of-war of familial rights, JR is ignored until he shows aggression in school. But Miguel’s parents coax him to file for child custody. Just like our legal system, the film slowly unravels their story.  
TPO turns into a cautionary tale on domestic abuse that examines the lives of a small family victimized by it. It is his second film in a trilogy about domestic abuse. The first film was Siklo (Cycle).
In his work, the violence between the couple is obscured. He uses static cinema as a device not to promote wife battery, but to make a definite statement against it. “Even if it is not graphic, any form of abuse, and whether it is done once or repeatedly, it is still abuse. And women or anyone should get out of it and take action. I interpreted the law visually. I allowed Mara to not become ‘dramatic’ as she is already a victim and the law takes the victim’s side, however she presents herself.”
Unlike Siklo where there is graphic violence, Altarejos does not repeat himself in TPO. “It’s a conscious decision as a filmmaker. This time, the ‘focus’ is the child though you will notice in the film that the parents and even my narrative ignore the child at first.”
He will conclude the trilogy with In Saecula Saeculorum that traces the origins of the abuser, the seed that has borne the abuser.
“I like TPO. I want it to capture instances of life, not just moments,” explains Altarejos about the treatment, adding, “My anxiety is part of the process.”
Altarejos does not compare TPO with Kasal, the film which won for him Best Director in the 2014 Cinemalaya Directors Showcase. Rather, he likens it to Pink Halo-Halo because of the child theme. “‘Yun ang lumabas ma kwento sa TPO,” he shares.
But Pink Halo-Halo is not violent. Altarejos says it is about the violence of war. Buzzstation notes that it  suggests violence as no such scenes are depicted except in television footages or talked about in the narrative.
Basically, a TPO is a legal instrument or remedy that a victim of domestic violence can avail of under RA 9262. The justice system is deemed impartial. Therefore, the treatment has to follow the material.
Thus, he shot from afar, through the window. “Parang observer lang, one angle, one shot per scene,” he explains. “The transformation is due to the theme dealing with the law, a stylistic approach in the impartial narration of facts.”
Aquino and Lopez’s non-acting helps tremendously to achieve this effect. “They are in character for the entire duration of the film. They serve the purpose of the script and narrative,” he comments.
“Oliver and Mara had a good working relationship. Di ko masabi kung na meet nila ang expectations ko. I just wanted to finish the film. ‘Yun ako naka-focus during the shoot,” Altarejos adds about his lead actors.
Award-winning performances? “‘Di ko alam kasi iba ‘yung approach. They are good, but not the usual ‘good acting’ that award-giving bodies are looking for. All the elements of the film including the acting just served the narrative.”
It is then up to award-winning director Lav Diaz and other foreigner judges to decide on the issue.
Not inspired? “Napagod lang siguro. Pero okay naman ang TPO, because it dragged for so long, so, parang, okey napag-isipan ko na ‘to nang matagal. Okay na. Tapusin na lang.”
Was he burnt out from the “abuse” issue? He acknowledges, “Napaso, napagod. Gusto nang umayaw.” But this does not translate that he has turned away from his anti-violence advocacy as he has done two and thinks that’s a fairly sufficient count.
“Domestic abuse doesn’t begin and end with the victim. I believe it begins and ends with the victimizer,” he concludes, having tasted the issue’s bitter end.