iving life to the fullest

100 by Chris Martinez is about a woman whose life is about to end in three months because of the dreaded cancer disease. Within those remaining 100 days of earthly life, she embarks on a mission to do all she has to before she dies, from eating the food her figure consciousness deprives her of, to closing the chapter of an illicit relationship.
I gathered that 100 is among the most likeable of the final entries in Cinemalaya 2008 and rightly so because I myself immensely liked it for both content and form. Regarding content, I love the idea of maximizing one’s life because life on earth is really fleeting—it is wise to spend days qualitatively while still alive. This is what Joyce (Mylene Dizon) does before her illness terminates her life: she travels to Hong Kong, China and other places (even France’s Eiffel Tower, in www.youtube.com) in order to marvel such sights in actuality; eats crispy pata, chocolate, ice cream, cake, and other food that will shorten one’s life if consumed in excessive proportions; even ends her adulterous affair with a married man (TJ Trinidad) just so she won’t die being a participant to the husband’s unfairness to his wife. It is just ironic that she affords to engage in these listed tasks only when she has an impossibly short time to do so, but it is better late than never. Many people do not have the opportunity to do these in their lifetime, so while she may, she fulfills her list in order to optimize her three-month stint on earth. As for form, the film is commendable for its crisp pace and youthful take, a reflection of the film’s theme of cramming everything possible within the brief time. The many light moments that sometimes make one cry or laugh are perhaps the commentary of the film about life: that life is basically about happiness and sadness and other emotions of lesser magnitude in between.
I learned from the film the refreshed, age-old truth about living life to the fullest. Indeed, life can be a flash of an eye, so why not perform the things that can cause fulfillment? A lifetime is not enough to do the very best things one can avail of, but surely fleeting time should not be a hindrance to doing so. However short, life can permit humans to find life’s meaning in their unique worldview. It remains on the humans whether or not to pursue life’s definition within such a fast earthly journey.