If there's a vehicle to bring a particular place still unexplored or to revisit but time does not permit it (no matter how beautiful or ugly it might be), a film does it for you.
National Artist for Film Lino Brocka had sent us to the slums to get the feel of what poverty was all about in "Insiang"; Brillante Ma. Mendoza brought us to the worn-out, sperm-smelling, sex trade movie house in Angeles City via "Serbis" and the dark alleys and torture chambers of police brutality in "Kinatay"; Olivia Lamasan got us to travel with her to examine lives of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in "Milan" and "Barcelona"; Adolf Alix, Jr. led us to experience the exotic life of people and aquatic animals such as the endangered butanding (whale shark) in "Donsol" etc.
Baguio City, meanwhile, has been a favorite shooting site of filmmakers since way back but this time around, the exquisite flower garden in the suburban Atok, Benguet is the central setting of the youth-oriented movie, "When Magic Hurts," a Rems Entertainment project.
Director Gabby Ramos presented to us during its premiere showing at the SM The Block Cinema 3 a very exquisite and huge flower yard in the boondocks of Mountain Province to subjectify or just prettify the various external conflicts of the characters like unrequited love, arranged marriage, infatuation etc.
As a matter of fact, the beauty of the flower farm robs the whole narrative of its natural scent of what a sweet-smelling movie is all about.
The kaleidoscope of flowers that occupies the whole screen is enough to light up and pull in the youthfulness of its current crop of actors like Maxine Trinidad, Mutya Orquia and Beaver Magtalas.
These three newbies are potential actors if only they learn in the process the ropes of acting.
It's not every day that one has the privilege to be given meaty roles on screen and Maxine, Mutya and Beaver must be grateful of the exposure they get through this film.
The choice of the flower farm as the milieu of the whole exercise is a judicious one.
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