‘Motherland’: Busan Review

Dir: Brillante Ma Mendoza. Philippines. 2024. 90mins

What price glory? The latest film from the prolific Brillante Ma Mendoza offers a heartfelt salute to those who lay down their lives in the service of their country. Motherland’s combination of visceral combat scenes and flag-waving patriotism is served with a straightforward efficiency that creates moments of genuine engagement. The emphasis on action and a lean running time leave little room for more subtle reflections on the event that inspired the film; the 2015 Mamasapano raid in Mindanao, in which many police officers lost their lives. Mendoza’s international profile should ensure further festival appearances after a Busan world premiere.

 Motherland is more interested in heroic sacrifice than fully exploring whether the ends justify the means employed

There is little ambiguity about Motherland, which is dedicated to the ”fallen brothers”  of the Special Action Force (SAF), an elite unit of the Philippines National Police. It begins as homecoming hero Tom Dao-ayen (Rocco Nacino) returns to his pregnant wife and loving mother after the clash. Hailed as a “true warrior” by his community, he is determined to tell the story of his part in events that have stirred the nation. That is the film’s entry point into a recreation of a do-or-die operation to kill terrorist and bombmaker Marwan (Nikko Debs Santos). The pressure to succeed on this occasion is underlined by the knowledge that nine previous missions have been aborted.

Dao-ayen goes marching off to serve his country with the blessing of his wife and an abundance of food and clothing from his mother. Mendoza readily embraces the traditional elements of men-on-a-mission storytelling. The screen is marked with a profusion of titles and information on timings, checkpoints and progress as two units of SAF policeman draw closer to the appointed hour of the mission. Crisp editing and ominous music add to the growing suspense before the target it is reached.

It is the aftermath of the mission that provides the bulk of the film, as Dao-ayen and his fellow soldiers find themselves pinned down by members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. As gunfire is exchanged, Mendoza unleashes convincing scenes of carnage depicted in lost limbs, spilled guts, blood-soaked wounds and a rising number of fatalities. The slaughter on the ground is cross-cut with frantic attempts to organise air strikes and reinforcements. There is also acknowledgement that the mission ordered by Dela Pena (Cesar Montano) did not have the full approval of his commanding officer. 

In its favour, Motherland exhibits technical proficiency and an appreciation of the landscapes, forests and rivers in which Dao-ayen and his colleagues have to operate. Mendoza and screenwriter Honeylyn Joy Alipio question the actions of those in power, but Motherland is more interested in heroic sacrifice than fully exploring whether the ends justify the means employed.  A scene of the President (Ricky Davao) scrutinising himself in the mirror as he tries to wash ink stains from his hands offers a modest element of reproach. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front is a largely faceless, gun-wielding enemy in the film whose grievances and aims receive no coverage.

Mendoza’s muscular, simplistic take on this material is reminiscent of the collaborations between director Peter Berg and actor Mark Wahlberg, including Lone Survivor (2013) and Mile 22 (2018). It grows increasingly sentimental and prone to overkill as family members receive official condolences, loved ones return home in flag-draped coffins and the musical score soars to the heavens as it tugs on the heartstrings. The traumatised Dao-ayen is lucky to be alive and stand as a witness to the fate of his comrades. Ultimately Motherland is effectively handled but broad in its storytelling, and lacking the deeper dimensions that might have given it more of an edge.