Tuli (Circumcision)

Perhaps Tuli is one of the strangest movies I have seen lately. Living currently in a country that was conquered by the Spaniards and with them came all their traditions and the Catholic Church that indigenous population blended with their own magic beliefs, this movie showed me how another country, Philippines, with all the Spaniard traditions and the Catholic Church, the indigenous population did the same as where I live now. Thousands and thousands of miles separate both countries, as they are in different continents.

Then the movie shows the most primitive and surrealistic interpretation of the Passion of Christ I have seen and here we also have similar interpretations even in the tiniest villages.

All this is very strange to me and is not that I do not know it happens in Philippines, as I do; is that until today I haven’t been able to watch it, not even in movies. Still, the first hour or so of the movie is too slow for my taste and even do what I was seeing was quite interesting, it was way too slow.

The movie tells the story of a small village in the mountains and starts with some boys being circumcised, life in the village goes on, the kids grow to become young men; then, one girl gets pregnant, loses the baby and is left by the man to end up living with her childhood best girlfriend (Daisy), who decided that she will not marry a man, as her father ill-treat her and her mother all their lives.

It is after the first hour that the movie starts to tell the most amazing story about two women that I have seen up-to-date. Everything is so simple, so natural, and so basic that if there is a doubt about what are they doing together, they talk about it and simply resolve it as non-important and natural, and continue with their normal life. They live with Daisy's mother, who totally accepts the situation without any problem at all. Then to become a family, Daisy gets pregnant, has the baby and the story has a happy, very happy ending! I know I gave a lot of spoilers but I had to explain why the story is amazing.

See, told you this movie is strange (good strange).

As a movie is not that good, the pace is too slow (bad slow), looks and feels like a not good silent movie, the music does not fit with what is happening and many other obvious flaws. But the story is unbelievably good.

The movie won the Netpac Award at the 2007 Berlinale, a tie, and other awards in Cinemanila International Film Festival.

This movie is not for all audiences, I only recommend it to those that have seen lesbian interest movies before and want to see how simple people, with simple lives can live a happy normal relationship.