Batch 81

I have mixed feelings about my experience in the film batch 81, What I like about the movie is that it shows the real things that happen in the Philippines and it does not shy away from reality. Colleges have frats and initiation where they hurt the inspiring members and do not shy away from the violence some parts where too much for me but I know it is necessary for the film. I also like how it represented the Philippines during the time of martial law and how we can only follow Marcos without question and that those who oppose him and speak their mind will be punished. So watching the film makes me know how the Filipinos at that time and frat aspirants don’t have much room to speak their minds and realism makes me enjoy my film experience. What I don’t like about the film is that Sid Lucero the main character’s goal in the film did not change after everything that they were forced to do and all that humiliation that the masters force them to do. What is more frustrating is that Sid Lucero is demanding when it comes to his fellow aspirants when they want to quit and forces them to stay even if they don’t want too. In the end, they got to become masters but at what cost their friends died and they just repeated the cycle of humiliation that they were frustrated about and some wanted to leave during the whole film. Also, the two aspirants that died are the ones that wanted to leave. The convention is that it’s mostly about how to become a member of a frat and the brotherhood and protection that comes with it. There is also violence, the humiliation that comes with the initiation. Also, the unpredictable ending that some characters can die during the initiation.  

The form of the film in a narrative is that it’s about a group of applicants who want to join a frat called Alpha Kappa Omega and that they are going to humiliate them and hurt them to test their allegiance to Alpha Kappa Omega. The stylistic part of it is when they are in a horizontal line and are about to be humiliated the camera moves in a left to right movement to show all the characters and how they react when it’s their turn. When it comes to violence they show the face reactions, and spills of blood and the weapons being used. There is also a confrontation between the two frats and the stylistic aspect of it is that to show them in a wide shot to show how the group reacts and to show a close up of the main characters involved to show their individual reactions. Another narrative is brotherhood and a hierarchy between those involved, so it shows that most of the characters on the top of the food chain are usually standing up and never lying down while those at the bottom when getting hit is at a lower position compared to others.

The film affects my feelings through the use of expectations. An example of this is by gratified expectations because I know violence came with the part of the initiation so I expected the applicants to get hurt so when it happens my expectations were met. It was also a possibility that in the end some of them would become members which happened in the film. Another expectation is cheated expectation which happens when one of the applicants was in an electric chair with every shock I expected him to die and when he fainted I thought he died but he was just faking it so the writers tricked me and played with my emotions. The delayed expectation comes with the group fight when they were fighting about Tina I thought the fight would happen in the middle of the movie but it happened towards the end I knew it would happen and it did, but when it was later than expected I was left wondering when and if it would happen.