Still Life along with Endo and Tribu were the three best full length films of Cinemalaya 2007. Considering the quality of this year's batch, that's saying a great deal. The lead is played by thespian and film noob Ron Capinding. As good as he may be onstage, the breakthrough performance of Glaiza DeCastro makes you forget he's even there. She's that damn good here. This is nothing like the Glaiza you see on the idiot box. This is the actor with something to prove and in Still Life, she proves her worth well. Angel who?

While Tribu aims for your jugular with it's visual assault and Endo aims for your heart to remind you you still have one kahit na 'ang pangit pangit ng buhay', Still Life goes right for your soul. The arrow that makes the shot is aimed masterfully by Katrina Flores - who ironically enough is an Atenean and therefore should have apprehensions about Archers.

It's a very touching tale but Katski Flores adds a touch of the almost cynical with her story. She tempts you with a view of Glaiza that shows a little bit here and a little bit there so she can chide you in the end for doing so. How dare you look at her that way. It's to tell the story better and because of Katski's means, it falls on the shoulders of Glaiza to add the warmth. Emma is jsut as much an invention of Glaiza DeCastro as she is of Katski Flores because of the depth of her participation in bringing her to life.

Katski paints a portrait of the world thru the eyes of the dying depressed artist - as all great artsists should be, really. She shows you how he sees the world in all it's colors and forms. Cinemalaya this year had some of the most beautiful visuals ever captured on the digital medium and Still Life plays a big role in that. It's beautiful to look at. The world's digital filmmakers could learn a thing or two by watching Still Life and all of Cinemalaya, imo.

It'd be a great insult to call the revelation at the end of Still Life a twist. It's nothing so pedestrian. So many storytellers now arm themselves with a 'twist' that they've stopped making films that aim towards their eventual conclusion or resolution. Their films no longer tell a story, they merely set you up for that big twist at the end instead. Katski Flores does no such thing. The revelation is an integral part of the story, but it's the story as a whole that elevates Still Life to the heights of it's lead character's paintings.

If there was a flaw to Still Life, it's that the revelation touched so many people in the end that before during and after screening the film, you're bound to hear someone SPOILING the story to as many people they can. They do it with so much beaming pride, too. These people were everywhere at Cinemalaya and I couldn't even take a pee without hearing someone blurting out the end.

Katski Flores did her film so well but now it seems almost necessary to blemish it with a message during the end credits to remind the audience not to spoil the film for everyone after seeing it. Just tell them to watch it instead. Still Life is worth it and it makes you wish everyone found their own Emma.