Philippine E-Journals

Wind, Water, Fire: Faces of Feminism in Kaleldo

Ingrid K. Velasquez | Arby Mari B. Laraño

 

Abstract:

THIS REVIEW of Brillante Mendoza’s 2006 digital film, Kaleldo1 (a Pampango term for “Summer Heat”) presents images of empowered women in a society that is replete with patriarchal ideologies. As a form of mass media, the film carried with it, deliberately or unwittingly, higher expectations of ideology in discussing the dialectics between patriarchy and feminism. Set in the town of Guagua in Pampanga, Kaleldo is a story about a family of three daughters and their father, the woodcarver Mang Rudy (Johnny Delgado). The daughters are: Jesusa (portrayed by Cherry Pie Picache), the eldest; Lourdes (Angel Aquino); and Grace (Juliana Palermo). The story dwells on women and their struggles, loves, and the men in their lives. The film uses images of nature as symbolism of the three: Jesusa as water, Lourdes as fire, and Grace as wind.