SOLITUDE OF THE SELF: A review of Kevin Pison Piamonte’s ‘SOLO’

By John Ray Hontanar

Kevin Pison Piamonte’s recent short film “Solo” is more than an elegy rendered through film, it is an exploration and evocation on the depths of love, and the many ways of expressing it without the magic of words.

Perhaps one of the biggest challenges in filmmaking is the transmutation of the narrative from screenplay to the screen. In the case of “Solo”, Piamonte as writer-director triumphs as his most recent film project offers a unique viewing experience that encapsulates the pain and poetry of his story.

Its strength is embedded in its many silences, evocative use of dance, and a love story that enchants and crushes its viewer’s hearts. In the middle of the narrative is Ron and Jim (played by Peter Deocos and Marveen Ely Lozano) mentor and protégé turned lovers torn by the invisible storms of this raging pandemic. But unlike contemporary queer movies that bank on their queerness to propel the story, “Solo” undresses the queer aspect and focuses on the more primeval, more sensual of human connections: a love story beyond gender, beyond the constraints of the physical, and even the mortal realm.

The film touches on social and political commentary, while still remaining faithful to its core narrative. The struggles of Ron as an artist living in the middle of the pandemic is juxtaposed to visual dramatizations of his internal battle with anxiety. Through avant-garde cinematic techniques and musical scoring, the film explores an important health issue in the time of the COVID-19 global health crisis. While the government’s response is more focused on the physical aspect of health, one important thing that should not be disregarded is mental health. Ron’s last moments reveal the many silences and fears that haunt people in isolation. Through flashbacks, poetic interludes, and visuals that are meant to raise awareness towards pandemic anxiety, the film melancholically follows the emotional grief and physical suffering of Ron as he fades away without even saying a proper goodbye to his beloved Jim. The tragedy of the film mirrors the unsung lamentations of thousands of people across the country: that their loved ones, and the beautiful memories and moments of life connected to them are tragically reduced into mere numbers: In the case of Ron, COVID Patient M1163.

The film reaches its emotional crescendo with the dance of two former lovers as life and death, past and present, and Ron and Jim merge into a heartbreaking farewell ritual. The beauty of the film lies in its wordless moments as physical and emotional tensions between the characters overlap with its stirring choreography and sorrowful scoring. The farewell dance between Ron and Jim culminates in a tearful performance by Marveen Lozano who delivered the most poignant “Malakat ka na?” I’ve ever heard in my entire life.

Kevin Pison Piamonte’s “Solo” is a heartbreaking elegy that honors the many loves we have lost to COVID 19. Its soul is in its unforgettable love story. Its tragedy moves past its unsaid goodbyes and leads us to the realization that in the end, we will lose all human and worldy connections and what remains is the solitude of the self.

“Solo” is an official entry for the Fourth Quisumbing-Escandor Film Festival for Health. It will be streamed on the CCP vimeo and Cinemata platforms starting October 15, 2021