Originally published onhttp://www.asiancinevision.org/gracelandreview/Marlon Villar (Arnold Reyes), a subservient chauffeur for the corrupt Congressman Manuel Chango (Menggie Cobarrubius) and a family man desperately waiting for a kidney donor for his wife’s, is nothing more than an everyman that would be easily passed by in the buzzing streets of Manila. His insignificant stature goes unnoticed even when he is suddenly dragged into the most unimaginable turmoil. His daughter Elvie (Ella Guevara) is mistaken for Chango’s daughter and kidnapped and worst of all, Chango’s mischievous princess is shot dead on the spot. Now Marlon can only keep the truth under the radar of Chango and the inquisitive Detective Ramos (Dido de la Paz) for everything he has in the world is at the mercy of others. In the first 20 minutes GRACELAND hits you with hammer blows non-stop and then the story unfolds, as the madness snowballs along the way, with more secrets revealed, and everyone involved stripped off the thin layer of innocence.Ron Morales studied Photography in Parsons and earned a BFA in filmmaking at NYU. Working as a key grip for studio productions but always inspired by a variety of indie gems, he went on to make his first feature film SANTA MESA in 2007 about an orphaned boy departing for the Philippines from New Jersey – alluding to his personal trajectory of homecoming. In his research for his second project, Ron encountered the issues of human trafficking and child prostitution that have been visible and pressing topics in the Philippines, but the combat against which has been constantly impeded. For a summer he interviewed people from all walks, many of them were victims of these trades. “They told me who they were and they talked about all kinds of family struggles,” Ron said, “To let them talk about their own experiences was a kind of support.” Beyond the therapeutic listening Ron has transformed the raw materials to a narrative film, because it would cope more in depths and reach to a broader audience. With a strong belief in the power of storytelling, and with an extraordinary impulse to tell the story well, he constructs a scenario that studies the behaviors of individuals enmeshed in a dysfunctional system and intricate interest struggles. The documentary aesthetics applied to the handheld camera work, the visceral texture of Metro Manila’s underworld, and the un-exploitative, yet unwavering approach to the dark subject matters, are delicately framed within the somberness of a tragedy – every move would potentially lead to devastation on a larger scale.Like most crime thrillers, Marlon is a reluctant hero snatched onto an impossible journey, but the film also makes it clear, non-judgmentally, that he is a passive accomplice as well as a victim. Wala is a Taglog cockfighting term that came to Ron Morales oftentimes when he was writing the script. The “have not” (literal translation of “wala”) is to some extent on the same wavelength of “the disfranchised”, but more poignant in its emphasis on survival that first and foremost entails possession in the underworld. There is neither temptation, nor superpower bestowed on Marlon Villar, only the bad luck that keeps catching up with him. Justice appears irrelevant in this game. It is a luxury unaffordable by Marlon, and a responsibility never taken by the powerful like Chango. But in the end, the karmic price is paid by the most vulnerable: the motif of premature demise or victimization runs throughout the film, from the shocking shoot-dead of Chango’s daughter, to the heart-wrenching expose of the brothel of child prostitutes, to the very end, when Marlon has to witness that the necessity of being dishonest is imposed on and then internalized by his own kid.What makes the film stand out of the current Filippino crime thrillers is its understated display of wealth and sex, two subjects that would easily be rendered self-congratulatory or exploitative. On the other hand, Marlon’s behavioral logic strapped to the naturalism the filmmaker envisions for the film, curbs a Quentinian underdog’s revengeful killing spree. A tint of turquoise in the rural scene is reminiscent of Park Chan-wook’s SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE, a story also about kidnapping going awry, organ trafficking and unrequited indignation that turns flamboyantly absurd in the end. What constitute Metro Manila in the world of GRACELAND are the dilapidated slums, vast dumpsites, seedy streets and stagnant waters, stylistically framed, dimly lit and compassionately tinted in Morales’ lens. The repression never has a chance to turn into to a carnivalesque, every move of Marlon, his wordlessless connivance, muffled growls and silent lies, are all tied to the immediate urgency to save the family and to survive.Second Place Audience Award winner at Tribeca Film Festival 2012, where the film held its world premiere, the somber message of GRACELAND and its genre elements made it a success both at home and worldwide in the festival run – “generally speaking”. People outside the Philippines have always approached Ron with the “Is it real?” kind of questions. While among the domestic Filipino film audience who have been excited about a series of record hitting romantic comedies in 2012, “when people get to see the film they really appreciate it.” The production of a film of such a weight on a micro-budget is a such rarity in both U.S. and the Philippines. In the five-year long march to get the film made, the actually shoot was finished within 17 days in Manila, thanks to a devoted crew mixing locals and U.S. filmmakers, and blessed discoveries of the right locations. Upon the film’s theatrical release in the U.S., aside from the awareness-raising aspects of the film, Ron hopes that the film will also encourage the Film-Am community to go back to the homeland: “The Philippines has changed a lot. Every time I go back, I am amazed by how beautiful the places and the people are.”