The film title Dagsin, meaning gravity, refers to what is probably the main thing keeping a crippled judge alive. Justino Razon (Tommy Abuel) starts the Holy Week by courting death through Russian roulette. He loads one bullet into a chamber of a revolver and then spins the cylinder. He points the gun at his head and pulls the trigger. If he survives, he gets to live another day in paradise.
Unknown to him, gravity pulls the odds in favor of a Russian roulette player because a loaded chamber is heavier and likely to end up on the bottom after every spin.
The Russian roulette scene, along with the trailer and poster, supports my initial perception of the film as a melodramatic, courtroom drama. Thankfully, an early droll scene quashes that false concept of mine.
The bathroom scene with a caregiver trying to bathe the judge is an eye-opener. It humanizes the overbearing judge by showing his discomfort, his sense of humor, and his dependence on other people. This scene and another bathroom scene of Justino explaining the reason why he survived countless atrocities are my favorite Tommy Abuel moments. Abuel lends his character a sense of gravitas. It helps that Abuel is a lawyer in real life.
Lotlot de Leon gives ample support to Abuel with her character Mercy. An adopted daughter of the judge, Mercy is the sole living family member of Justino. While cleaning the room of her late mother, Corazon, she uncovers a box of diary journals. The diaries soon become constant reading materials for Corazon's husband, Justino.
The journals of Corazon trigger sweet and horrifying memories. The happy moments show the young sweethearts during the halcyon days before World War II. The film then plunges into the darkest episodes of our country's history.
Justino endured the gruelling Death March and escaped the clutches of death from an ambush during Martial Law. The atrocities he'd seen and experienced shook his belief in God. Decades later, with the death of his wife Corazon, he becomes suicidal and plays GOD (game of destiny) each day.
Dagsin gets away with the verbal joustings of the judge because of the excellent performance of Abuel. His character Justino Razon is up there with other memorable Cinemalaya characters such as Rene in Bwakaw and the eponymous character in Jay.
First-time director Atom Magadia and his wife colloborated on the film. They included things they love on the film. A poem by Magadia was supplied with a lovely melody and ended up becoming the harana song. But, some things are completely out of place such as the pictures of Gloria Romero on Corazon's bedroom. Romero was still of grade school age in 1941.
There are also scenes that clutter the mind of viewers. From a journal entry dated 1956, a flashback shows Corazon and Justino eating ice cream. Corazon then hinted of having children after seeing a child by the ice cream cart. I ended up wondering throughout the film how they ended up childless.
I thought something happened to Corazon during her imprisonment during World War II, but then the Japanese official blew his brains out. Also, the 1956 flashback clearly show a jolly and healthy Corazon daydreaming of raising up a family.
The Martial Law imprisonment of Corazon was another red herring. Nothing traumatic actually happened to Corazon. The closest thing to a traumatic event is the last grave sin committed by her husband, Justino.
A G-word helped Justino survived a hellish Holy Week. Game of destiny is not it. Gravity is also not that G-word although Justino's heavy body dragged the ceiling fan downwards.
Surrounded by religious and prayerful people with names such as Corazon de Jesus Bishop, Mercy Razon, and Grace Santos, Justino is saved by God. The character names are an overkill but the idea that a merciful God answers constant prayers is a nice touch by the Magadia couple.
The last scene shows a smiling, cheerful Justino sunning himself in the garden. His heavy, guilty heart is probably a thing of the past.
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