‘First Light’ review: A nun wrestles with her faith in assured, precisely crafted Philippines-set debut

Dir/scr: James J. Robinson. Philippines/Australia. 2024. 118mins

James J. Robinson’s quietly assured debut function First Gentle follows a nun dealing with a number of challenges to her longhand beliefs. The pure great thing about Luzon within the Philippines supplies a hanging backdrop to a exactly crafted, meditative exploration of ethics, morals and blind religion. Robinson’s assured dealing with of favor and substance mark him out as a filmmaker of promise, and will guarantee additional competition publicity for the movie following screenings at Melbourne and Marrakech.

Robinson’s assured dealing with of favor and substance mark him out as a filmmaker of promise

Sister Yolanda (Ruby Ruiz) lives with a neighborhood of nuns in a 400-year-old convent that was one of many first constructed by Spanish missionaries. There are echoes of Powell and Pressburger’s Black Narcissus (1947) within the shut ties between the sisters, however the temper is of quiet devotion relatively than hysterical repression. Yolanda’s mild smile and unassuming presence replicate a lifetime of selfless dedication to others. She visits the sick, tends to the dying and supplies religious steering to younger novice Sister Arlene (Kare Adea).

Robinson underlines the tranquil, unvarying lifetime of the convent via his measured pacing and eye for the countryside that surrounds it. His profession as a photographer (for the likes of Vogue and GQ) is felt all through the movie within the precision of his framing and use of color. In a single scene, the sky blue of Yolanda’s behavior is farmed towards the sickly inexperienced of an emergency room and the blood pink smears on a affected person. Cinematographer Amy Dellar captures a variety of azure skies, the quiet circulation of the close by river, the solar rising via clouds drifting over the native mountains and the glow of dozens of candles lighting the way in which to worship.

Robinson additionally supplies a refined sense of some form of hassle brewing in paradise. The convent is topic to energy cuts, buckets catch dripping rainwater from the ceiling, bats have made a house within the tower and there’s a scent of rot from the native forest. Worry of the longer term provokes reminiscences of the previous. The stifling humidity and sense of slow-decay counsel the world of Lucrecia Martel.

Yolanda is visiting a hospital when she is approached to consolation a dying man in his last moments. Development employee Angelo (B. J. Forez) has suffered an accident and the docs have deserted any hope of saving him. Angelo’s concern of loss of life is unsettling to Yolanda. Subsequent occasions train her a stark lesson within the inequalities and injustice of the society round her. Even Father Claridad (Soliman Cruz) and the native church are complicit in sustaining a world that favours the haves over the have-nots. The splendour and dimension of the church are a stark distinction to the circumstances wherein the nuns reside.

Yolanda’s instinctive want is at all times to assist others. She would by no means draw consideration to her personal cares, however we progressively turn out to be conscious of the burdens that she carries and the conditions she feels powerless to affect. Generally religion is probably not sufficient and First Gentle additionally turns into a coming of age story wherein Yolanda is uncovered to the messy realities of the broader world and the way she has been sheltered by her naivety. What’s required for folks to be good turns into a preoccupation.

Robinson grounds the movie’s engagement with morality and mortality within the landscapes, skies and lifetime of the Philippines’ largest island. He provides house to think about the movie’s central points, however that philosophical heft is matched by the mild, understated humanity of Ruby Ruiz as a girl led from religion to doubt and motion. Ana Roxanne Recto’s delicate rating utilizing guitar, cello clarinet and harp enhances the movie’s contemplative nature.