Hindsight Review: Technical Achievement, Great Cast Help Carry GMA Network’s Ambitious, Flawed “Pulang Araw”

Hindsight Review: Technical Achievement, Great Cast Help Carry GMA Network’s Ambitious, Flawed “Pulang Araw”

TYPE OF REVIEW : HINDSIGHT REVIEW
No spoilers.

GMA Network’s Pulang Araw may not be the definitive screen depiction of wartime Philippines we all deserve. But that does not take away from the many positive achievements of the ambitious series. Even if its execution leaves a bit to be desired.

In a television landscape filled with recycled stories and tired plots, the fact that a series like Pulang Araw even exists is an accomplishment that deserves to be applauded. To even attempt something this different and on this scale is something we should see more of on Philippine TV.

While that unfortunately might not end up being the case, Pulang Araw‘s technical achievements and its courage to feature stories that are often only relegated to a classroom rather than mainstream entertainment can only be seen as a huge positive.

Attempting a primetime series about the Philippines in World War II requires a lot of effort and a lot of care. And when it comes to the visuals, Pulang Araw delivered. A mix of existing locations (of course, those that survived the war) and creative use of CGI allowed the viewer to be transported to 1940s Philippines.

There is no question about this visual feat. From production design to cinematography, Pulang Araw captured the very distinct world of wartime Philippines in a way that many times elevated and carried the series.

If other things might be lacking, the stunning visuals would more than make up for that.

Also helping to power the series is its great ensemble. Whether it’s our Core4 of Alden Richards, Barbie Forteza, Sanya Lopez and David Licauco plus of course Dennis Trillo or the many supporting actors who breathed life into the many character needed to help fill this world; there is no doubting the capabilities of this talented cast.

Pulang Araw Hindsight Review

The five lead actors who we saw in the title card for 110 episodes were well-cast. They took the material and sometimes elevated it in welcome ways. Other times the material was perfectly suited to what the actors were capable of. And that’s fine.

But there certainly was a point when the supporting characters were much more interesting and engaging. Especially when you have such stunning performances from actors like Isay Alvarez, Rochelle Pangilinan and Ashley Ortega.

The courage to also shine a spotlight on the horrors the Japanese forces subjected Filipino women and girls to is also something to be commended. It’s a topic that honestly seems lost and forgotten amongst the Filipino people these days. But like the continued fight in Korea for justice, so too should it continue for victims in the Philippines as well. And Pulang Araw raised attention for that in a bold and courageous way.

Now for my more critical feelings about the series.

I’ve talked about it pretty much every week and increasingly so over the course of the series. And that my biggest critique will be of the horrible pacing of the series. I think the last week solidified that viewpoint for me when it felt like they were rushing through the end of the war. And that’s even as they stretched this material out to fill the two extra weeks-worth of episodes.

To think about all the time wasted on standard and tired teleserye tropes instead of more engaging topics and themes. It made most of the series feel merely like a moment in time or a small section of a larger story. Which in turn should mean that Pulang Araw‘s decided-upon narrative shouldn’t have been something stretched out to 110 episodes. Equivalent to, more or less, 40 hours total runtime. Might as well have made a movie instead.

The horrible pacing took a lot way from potential impact and from the execution of what should have been important and resonant moments.

With the amount of time of the entire series, it should have been a more comprehensive and wide-ranging presentation of this moment in history. There should have been a more substantive amount of story rather than weeks and weeks of recycled soap plots.

Pulang Araw Hindsight Review

To think about all the time wasted on standard teleserye tropes instead of telling lost and forgotten stories of Filipinos who lived during wartime, it really goes a long way to diminish what good the series might have otherwise.

It almost felt like the war was just a throwaway plot device. And it’s hard not to see of it that way with all the quick history lectures used to move the war along rather than showing us via our Core4 and the people they encounter along the way.

I think part of the poor pacing is the series and its creatives underestimating the Filipino audience. Pulang Araw wasn’t enough to push the boundaries of what can be attempted on Filipino TV. But also not familiar enough to have the mainstream appeal of the typical adulterous soap opera.

This made for a disconnect between the very real history being depicted in the background with the typical teleserye that was shoved to the forefront most of the time.

Many times, the series was just another teleserye, only with a very specific time period and setting.

The series’ creator talked about the need to appeal to mainstream audiences. Because, after all, television is still a business. And they need to make money even if they want to do something more meaningful.

But over the years, we’ve seen that mainstream Filipino audiences seem to love action. Coco Martin’s FPJ-inspired series are the most watched on Philippine TV. GMA scored good ratings with Ruru Madrid’s Lolong and Black Rider. Yet Pulang Araw downplayed the action-focused scenes in favor of disapproving stepmothers and love triangles.

Perhaps leaning into more war action would’ve been the most mainstream-appealing thing they could have done.

But at the very least, Pulang Araw should have found a better balance between legitimate character stories and the bigger picture ideas of the war. Even if needing to infuse it with some soapy elements.

Pulang Araw Hindsight Review

For all that time spent on family drama and love triangles, none of it really had anything to do with the series’ endgame. You would think with the amount of focus in that first half of the series, those things would play bigger roles in the endgame. Yet, you could erase much of those initial weeks and still come to the same result now at the end of the series. Those early scenes would have no discernable effect into how well things would land in these final weeks.

Earlier, I chalked it up to the idea of disrupting the familiar everyday life of Filipinos with this unexpected war. But now I see that was just a cope on my part. Trying to make sense of the now-disappointing decision to focus so much on, frankly, irrelevant stories instead of the more intriguing and important stories that we only got fleeting glances of over the year.

I mentioned in my Week 22 Thoughts how it would have been much better if we had a couple of weeks showing the Core4 in various situations to depict the struggles of Filipinos during the war. Do sidequests. Save the peoples. Engage in thrilling action sequences. There’s definitely a way to do all these things. But the show decided on a very specific direction. And it took away from what the show was capable of.

Pulang Araw Hindsight Review

Overall, Pulang Araw deserves much praise for its scope and ambition. And its effort in re-educating and informing the Philippines of a history that might be long forgotten now. But a strong cast and stunning visuals can’t make up for the show’s narrative shortcomings and somewhat wasted potential.

4 thoughts on “Hindsight Review: Technical Achievement, Great Cast Help Carry GMA Network’s Ambitious, Flawed “Pulang Araw”

  1. I think mahirap talaga makalayo sa teleserye format sa Pinas. Eh TARPH and Survivor nga, ginawang teleserye.

    Maganda naman ang Pulang Araw. At least medyo iba sa typical na soap. Pero agree din ako na marami pa rin tropes. Dahil nga yun, nakasanayan na ng Filipino.

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