If
Tennessee Williams had the opportunity to write a Philippine horror movie, it
might have gone something like this. Julia and Judith were always like the Corsican
Brothers. If one suffered from some sort of pain, so did the other.
Unfortunately, Judith is bold and curious about the world, whereas Julia is
sickly and allergic to nearly everything. Due to her frail health, both sisters
must live sequestered lives. As a result, Judith harbors a great deal of resentment
for her sister. That bitterness and sexual repression leads to violence in Ato Bautista’s Gemini (trailer here), which screens
during MoMA’s new film series, A New Golden Age: Contemporary Philippine Cinema.
As
Manuel’s interrogation begins, the detective acknowledges the slippery nature
of truth, but we have to start somewhere. Julia finally wants to come clean.
Her sister murdered Anton, the brother of their tutor, with whom the more
forward Judith was romantically involved. When Anton eventually showed his true
colors, it sparked a bloody altercation, after which Julia helped Judith
dispose of the body. At least that is Julia’s story and she is sticking to it,
for the time being. However, there are plenty of reasons to doubt her veracity,
starting with the fact Manuel’s partner is a dead-ringer for Anton.
Gemini is filled with
doubling, including the central twins, the odd doppelganger, and the frequent
use of reflections. Frankly, the film is weird in just about every way. Somehow,
Bautista uses techniques and motifs of experimental cinema to disorient and
thoroughly creep out viewers. It is hard to say just what Gemini is, because it is probably too cerebral to be horror and too
gory to be a straight psychological thriller. Regardless, it is certainly
distinctive.
Sheena
and Brigitte McBride are indeed identical twins, who are eerily cold and
distant as Julia and Judith (or possibly Judith and Julia). Yet, we can vividly
feel the fear of the former (presumably), as her constructed realities begin to
collapse. However, it is Mon Confiado who really holds the film together and carries
it through its twists and turns as the interrogator.