Kamera Obskura which simply means “dark room” is an independent film entry for Cinemalaya 2012 made by Raymond Red. The film has the idea of a retro-futurist world where a prisoner (played by Pen Medina) locked away in a dark chamber for over two decades only sees the reality of the world outside through the small hole in his cell, which projects an image of the city in his wall, the phenomenon of “camera obscura”. He later immerses back into society by slowly climbing up the different social classes represented by the levels of different floors in a mysterious building, where corruption, deceit and betrayal seem to be at work at every level.
The film was far different from the usual independent film, camera shaking, outdoors shoot mostly shantytown, etc. where Raymond Red made an appearance of a vintage film produced sometime in the late 1920s to early 1930s in the Philippines.
It was actually my first time to watch an independent film that goes like this or that has a resemblance of the silent film era and I like it! The story was great and it’s full of twists. You really have to stay focus in order to appreciate and understand the message of the film. It was obvious throughout that the filmmaker used the new technology “Chroma” wherein you can control the assumed location you want to achieve and as if you’re actually in it. The sound effects coordinated with the scenes currently playing. The lights matched with the meaning of the film “dark room” so the shots didn’t need too much lights for emphasis. Overall, thumbs up for the film Kamera Obskura.
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