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The movie underscores a great story of friendship, trust, humility, faith, survival and family. It had portrayed a good example of how a family thrives to survive amidst the many horrors and challenges they are facing. It had showcased the culture inherent in every Filipino family-- that is, joining together and putting God as the life of their hope for survival in times of dire conditions and misfortunes. We can see it in the very person of Julia (the mother in the family) who, by way of her religiosity, always shows to God her undying faith on Him through uniting themselves in fervent prayers. Furthermore, the movie also expressed the indiscriminate pains and horrific oppressions brought by war in the hearts of many people. It showed how war devastated humanity-- the injustices on the victims and most of all the prevalent wreckage on the dignity of human life.
Survival-- united in prayers of faith and hope
The film did not focus on actions and animated scenes of the war going on but it did showed the miserable effects of the battle. We cannot see on the movie the bombs exploding on the horizon and the soldiers firing their guns towards their opponents but we can subtly feel the misfortunes of the victims-- the cries of the children who were horrified by gun fires and bomb explosions and the constant fear that dominates the hearts of every people trapped on the paws of the battlefield. As we can see, the family of Julia (played by Sharmaine Buencamino) and Ricardo (acted by Nonoy Froilan) was forced to abandon their house and evacuate to a farm owned by their relatives wherein they set up a small shack as their shelter. Packed like sardines, they stayed together as one complete family being united by their faith and hope to survive the war. Though they had faced dire adversities, they never give up instead they joined themselves together and persevered. Their faith were being tested but they did not lose it instead strengthened it. Their hearts were made strong because of their undying faith to God.
Survival-- showing modesty and humility
The family did not only outweigh their survival with virtues but also developed attitudes and behaviors that lead them to have close ties with the Japanese soldiers. The movie, as most of us expected, did not show much how the Japanese armies treated inhumanely our Filipino countrymen during the Pacific War Period. It had showed on the other side on which the family had developed friendship to them instead of making them as their mortal enemies. Of course they had to do it in order to survive. They had to be modest as possible in order to gain favors from the Japanese authorities. They must set aside the hatred and anger they feel against them. But whatever it is-- we may think that it is not a patriotic act, it is still considered the most practical way in order to survive; the issue being involved here are their lives. If they did show off their hatred and anger against them in a very inappropriate place and time, they are just like killing themselves by their own actions. This could be possible for Nina (Meryll Soriano) who was befriended by an American pilot much the same to Ricardo who had tortured by the Japanese officials. Fortunately, they controlled their emotions.
