Nico Mendoza (Paolo Contis), a Filipino journalist, travels to the Faroe Islands to film a documentary about successful Filipinos living in the Arctic Circle. There he meets Mahjoy Garðalið (Yen Santos), a successful Filipino expatriate who runs a food catering business. She is married to Faroese Sigmund Garðalið (Hans Tórgar), with whom she has a daughter named Lena.
Mahjoy accompanied Nico all over Faroe, detailing her life there and back in the Philippines as part of their agreement. And throughout their journey, Nico gained a better understanding of Faroese culture.
But as the two spent more quality time together traveling, eating, and meeting people, Nico developed feelings toward Mahjoy, which complicated both of their lives.
“A Faraway Land” follows in the footsteps of films that squander a beautiful place by telling an unoriginal and predictable story.
This film has nothing new to offer. Even the actors are uninspired to experiment with their performances. Paolo Contis and Yen Santos are their usual selves, as they have been in the majority of their TV shows and films.
One undeniable problem with “A Faraway Land” is that, behind the cheesy exchange between Paolo and Yen, Velasco's film romanticizes infidelity. And that really undermines the entire narrative's strength.
There is already an overabundance of Filipino films about cheating (some are even box office hits, while others are award-winning and TV primetime staples). And “A Faraway Land” is doomed to drown in the midst of it all without providing a compelling analysis, argument, and discussion on the topic.
Films about infidelity can be entertaining. It elicit a wide range of human emotions such as desire, lust, anger, and love. The truth is that people have many different faces, and movies about cheating frequently show some or all of them. The most fascinating stories, however, are those that can make viewers feel conflicted.
“A Faraway Land” lacks the complexity to make viewers feel conflicted about Nico and Mahjoy's love. The film provides no backstory or logical reasons for the viewers to hold on to. It's as if Nico only likes Mahjoy for the sake of the plot and nothing else. Everything feels forced and underdeveloped, resulting in a jumbled mess of a film.
Besides, this isn't supposed to be a love story in the first place. This film should have been a study of the cultural clash between Filipinos and Faroese. If there are only 80 or so Filipinos on Faroe Island, this should have been their story. It should document their triumph, their struggle, and the things they do to cope with being away from home, and not another “cheating” tale that no one cares about.
“A Faraway Land” has so much potential that it's heartbreaking to see it become yet another forgettable Filipino film.
Watch "A Faraway Land" on Netflix.
One undeniable problem with “A Faraway Land” is that, behind the cheesy exchange between Paolo and Yen, Velasco's film romanticizes infidelity. And that really undermines the entire narrative's strength.
There is already an overabundance of Filipino films about cheating (some are even box office hits, while others are award-winning and TV primetime staples). And “A Faraway Land” is doomed to drown in the midst of it all without providing a compelling analysis, argument, and discussion on the topic.
Films about infidelity can be entertaining. It elicit a wide range of human emotions such as desire, lust, anger, and love. The truth is that people have many different faces, and movies about cheating frequently show some or all of them. The most fascinating stories, however, are those that can make viewers feel conflicted.
“A Faraway Land” lacks the complexity to make viewers feel conflicted about Nico and Mahjoy's love. The film provides no backstory or logical reasons for the viewers to hold on to. It's as if Nico only likes Mahjoy for the sake of the plot and nothing else. Everything feels forced and underdeveloped, resulting in a jumbled mess of a film.
Besides, this isn't supposed to be a love story in the first place. This film should have been a study of the cultural clash between Filipinos and Faroese. If there are only 80 or so Filipinos on Faroe Island, this should have been their story. It should document their triumph, their struggle, and the things they do to cope with being away from home, and not another “cheating” tale that no one cares about.
“A Faraway Land” has so much potential that it's heartbreaking to see it become yet another forgettable Filipino film.
1/5
Watch "A Faraway Land" on Netflix.