Dissecting Rainbow’s Sunset (2018) and Queer

Cinema: A Film Review

In partial fulfilment of the

by

SIMEON, Gabrielle Marie Melad

When former Senator Ramon Estrella (Eddie Garcia) throws all caution to the wind and leaves
his wife Sylvia (Gloria Romero) and his children to live with his terminally ill best friend Fredo
(Tony Mabesa) to tend to him until his last breath, his sudden decision starts the onset of ripples
in his family, especially within his three children (Tirso Cruz III, Aiko Melendez and Sunshine
Dizon). They want to bring their dad back home before he puts a dent on their family's long-
cultivated reputation. However, it seems as though Ramon's decision doesn't need any validation,
and to take the complication further, is the fact that Ramon confesses his true sexuality and that
he’s had feelings for Fredo since time immemorial. Will the family accept Ramon's decision or
will they find a way to stop a love that is bound to have no happy ending either way?

This remains to be the central question seemingly imposed by the film Rainbow’s Sunset.
Written by Eric Ramos and directed by Joel Lamangan, the story revolves around Ramon
coming out at the ripe age of 84, and how his family deals with the consequences.

Alongside acting veterans Eddie Garcia, Gloria Romero and Tony Mabeso, Tirso Cruz III plays
Emman, the eldest brother, who has a lot of misgivings and seemingly not as bright as his sisters;
Aiko Melendez as Georgina, the current mayor of their town, while Sunshine Dizon portrays Fe,
a single mom who works with an NGO and takes in a significantly younger lover (Albie Casino).

While the story progresses and family matriarch Sylvia struggles with her own feelings about the
matter, we see their children Emman, Georgina, and Fe collectively team up to keep their dad
from becoming the fodder of gossips in their small town and the rest of the country as rumors
spread about the former senator being gay. This leads to an unravelling of different stories and
conflicts introduced to each of the sibling.
Ramon’s only son, Emman, works in an office where he has an intern, Cathy (Ali Forbes), who
he goes on and engages in an affair with. She is part of the ensemble that launches another layer
of family conflict: a sex video of her and Ramon appears. This is one of the problems of the film:
it incorporates gender and cultural issues and power struggles needing time to shed some light
on, but the movie gives it no space to tackle these problems. Instead, the movie only has band-
aid solutions because the goal is to wrap up the little scenarios immediately so the narrative
could move towards the happy ending. Ramon also has a lesbian daughter whom he cannot
accept, saying “it’s only a phase,” but this subplot is never explored either.

Meanwhile, the youngest of the three children is Marife, a feminist who works at Gabriela, an
NGO that advocates for women’s welfare and rights. Marife is in her 40s and for her own
conflict is a significantly younger lover, played by Albie Casiño. Their love story is never fully
discussed, and, just like the Emman’s dilemma and scandal with his intern, Mr. Casiño’s
character is dropped before the story further delves into this problem.

Initially, Fe is the most tolerant among the siblings, while the middle child, Georgina, is the one
who’s most vehemently opposed, thinking it may affect her political career as she happens to be
the town’s mayor. She does not want her father to be seen with Fredo, who happens to be her
godfather. George’s obvious flaw here is her desire to always portray her family as perfect,
untarnished and unaffected. But in the middle of the story, we find out that she has a corrupt
husband who is plotting in secret but, as is the film’s wont and tradition, this little conflict is
never further discussed and fully resolved.

For the plot’s stronger points, however, is the story of Ramon, Fredo and Sylvia. The film
colorfully oscillated between flashbacks to the beginning of Ramon and Fredo’s relationship and
their current situation, alongside the role that Sylvia played in their uncanny love triangle. The
built flashback setting was phenomenal – it was as if the movie truly transported you to the
wistful and nostalgic love only prevailing in that era.
Unfortunately, the story was not able to fully establish any strength in the past of the present
because the storytelling was disjointed and patchy, as if holding back a crucial part of the entire
story by only showing snippets of Ramon and Fredo’s history. When the elders talk about
meeting when they were younger, swapping common stories from the time their complicated
relationships started, it also seemed wooden and mechanical, as if the script was trying to simply
fill in the blanks with anecdotes delivered by the three veteran actors.

Despite spending chunks of screen time explaining how much people should accept members of
the LGBT community at this day and age, even delving into the difference between true
acceptance and pithy condescension, at one point, the film failed to explain how Ramon can love
both a woman and a man at the same time, losing an opportunity to educate about bisexuality. It
also explores the stigma of being LGBT and how one’s position in society is affected by
“coming out”, no matter what age, but eventually abandoned and left by the wayside. The
conflict between the children also seemed to have been solved too easily, as well as the marital
problems between the eldest son and his wife.

Rainbow’s Sunset confuses itself about its own direction when it attempts to incorporate family
drama with its advocacy to show the older LGBT experience. It looks as if the story only feels
obligated to deliver the family situation by focusing on the children’s problems when it should
have devoted its attention to the main story instead.

The splendid acting, however, truly saved the film. From the elderly stars to their children, who
have their own personal problems, to their grandchildren who are also affected by their
grandfather’s late blooming admission about his sexual identity. Eddie Garcia has complete
understanding of his role, Ramon’s desire to be liberated from the trappings the world has
imposed on him, and to love freely.
Gloria Romero also stands out for her very quiet and understated portrayal of the very
understanding wife, Sylvia, perhaps the most endearing character in the film. She knows how
deep and fervent is the relationship of Ramon and Fredo that dates back to their childhood. Her
role as family matriarch was also underscored by how the children always came to her whenever
they felt confused and desperate, and how, no matter how old one got, the film showcased how
important a mother’s role is to a household, and the strength it took to become a woman that
everybody depended upon. Enlisting a cast of acting veterans also guarantees that they will do
justice to their complicated roles and relationships. The natural bond that Romero, Garcia and
Mabesa are able to project on screen was beautiful to watch, and heartbreaking too at the same
time, given their story.

Among the three kids – all flawed, imperfect characters – Tirso and Aiko shine simply because
of the opportunities given to their characters. Tirso is quite moving in his scene after his personal
setback when his sex video with his intern is uploaded on the internet. Aiko gives a vibrant and
energetic performance as the imperious and commanding George, particularly in that
confrontation scene where she gives Sunshine Dizon a piece of her mind in front of Gloria
Romero. Sunshine has the more quiet role as Fe, but she also delineates all her scenes very
convincingly.

Rainbow’s Sunset jumps from one conflict to another hoping that the audience wouldn’t notice
the gaps. In the end, the clan – somehow – “resolves” all their issues and all’s well that ends
well. Both Eric Ramos and Joel Lamangan definitely envisioned something huge when they took
on this sprawling story. It was quite obvious from the set up that the movie had plenty to say
about the acceptance of LGBT in society and using an elderly couple to underscore that true love
comes in many forms certainly caught the attention of many. It was an ambitious movie, but
unfortunately isn’t smartly played out and the resolutions are haphazardly done and superficial.
All in all, Rainbow’s Sunset had a lofty goal and the tools to achieve it. However, it tried to bite
of more than it can chew by opening doors that it could not close by the movie’s end. As a result,
the film felt like scattered pieces of a puzzle that never quite became whole. The message and
representation of a minority is incredible, something real that needs to be heard by the masses,
but the execution leaves a lot to be desired.

These conflicts divide the siblings but, in the end, family love prevails, with the characters
coming out as real people and not mere caricatures manipulated to elicit desired responses from
the audience, although the film has quite an unpredictable ending that makes you feel like the rug
is suddenly pulled under your feet. The final scene, which is void of dialogue, where Gloria
Romero quietly feeds Ramon, seen from outside their window while the camera is slowly
zooming out, is truly very touching.

Rainbow’s Sunset has not been the first cinematic venture to tackle the older LGBT experience –
“Beginners” in 2000 and “Love is Strange” in 2014 with John Lithgow and Alfred Molina
showing the struggles of the oft forgotten age bracket of the LGBT community, both excelled in
straying from the conventional “coming out” narratives that seem to dominate queer cinema and
instead focused on the quiet and more nostalgic aspect of one’s twilight years. But locally, this is
the first film about two aging gay men who have maintained their relationship through so many
years. Rainbow’s Sunset is indeed a fitting title – a quite satisfactory curtain finish to a love story
which was never given space nor screen time to really develop and thrive.

In the end, there are still huge portions of the LGBT experience that need to be given space on-
screen, undoubtedly. The stigma of coming out, homophobia, even the systemic exploitation of
the community is still so very real and persists for so many LGBT people in the real world. But
LGBT characters thriving, falling in love, having fun, saving the day, overcoming challenges,
staying together and being given the space to live happily ever after – these are what people
would like to witness and hear. Being queer is not always easy, but up on the big screen, it
shouldn’t always be this hard.