Pinoy Sunday

Ho Wi Ding

The story: Filipinos Dado (Bayani Agbayani) and Manuel (Jeffrey ‘Epy’ Quizon) are guest workers in Taipei. One Sunday, they come across a red couch that is abandoned on the street and decide to haul it back to their dormitory.

One of the pleasures of watching films is the fact that it can open a window into a new world – which sometimes happens to be one you are familiar with, only seen from a totally different perspective.

Pinoy Sunday takes place in Taipei but is largely filtered through the eyes of its Filipino characters. Instead of Mandarin and Minnan, it is Tagalog we hear even as the iconic Taipei 101 building looms in the background. Indeed, Anna (Meryll Soriano), a Filipino domestic helper, remarks at one point: “My ears hurt when they curse in Chinese.”

The movie is an exercise in empathy, which director and co-scriptwriter Ho Wi Ding executes with humour and compassion. The Malaysia-born, Taipei- based film-maker was named Best New Director at the Golden Horse Awards last November for this film.

In addition, the film also features a classic odd-couple set-up. Manuel is the charming daydreamer who cajoles the more cautious Dado into taking part in his schemes. As the irascible Manuel, Epy Quizon mixes smooth-talking smarts with a sparkle in his eye, playing off Bayani Agbayani’s grumpy reluctance.

It is an engagingly realistic friendship as they quibble, sulk and groan their way across Taipei while straining under the weight and bulk of a red couch.

The sight of two men struggling with a sofa is a simple but effective visual gag and Ho also cooks up several entertaining episodes along the way, including a detour to the police station and their involvement in an attempted suicide.

For all its light comedic tone, there are glimpses of the darker underside of the lives of foreign workers.

Celia (Alessandro de Rossi), the girl who catches Manuel’s eye, is a domestic helper who is sleeping with a married man. And one of the first things that Dado sees on arriving at Taipei’s airport is a fellow countryman being deported back to the Philippines.

It also means, however, that the film takes a while to get to the men’s adventures in furniture transportation.

There is a sense of urgency to their undertaking as they need to make it back to their dormitory before the curfew and the very real threat of deportation hangs over their heads.

You root for them to beat the clock and wonder how such a story would have unfolded here and what Singapore would look like through Filipino eyes.

(ST)