The story evolves around the different women in the life of Tony Chan (tama ba to???), the patriarch of the family, and his three wives, Sol, Lu Chui, and Belinda.
The movie had a lot of conflicts since it evolves around four personas. Tony was burdened upon whether Le-an was really his son and afterwards proving the truth. Sol's afflictions from her children's sufferings. Lu Chui, being the only full-blooded Chinese, was still bounded to her old Chinese customs and traditions. And Belinda's selfishness on handling all of the businesses left by Tony.
The film identifies the difficulty of marrying someone who is not part of your race. Discrimination is faced in many non-Filipino - Filipino marriages. Most of the time, these problems arise when parents of both parties tend to interfere. The elders are bound to their customary traditions and you have no choice but to follow since you are bound into it, too. A lot of these scenarios happen and the wives are hurdled to accept the reality as it is.
The institution of the family is given high regards by the Filipinos. Often we hear the saying `magsasama kami, sa hirap at ginhawa.' Indeed, this is something you vow in your marriage, but what if you're through? What if you're already fed up? Even the church accepts this reality...came the existence of annulment! But family ties is very important not only to the Filipinos but to the Asians, as well.
Cultural diversity seems to be a major conflict among us. We tend to judge people according to their color, race, beliefs, etc. In this film, it created a room for us to see that even different races, different people can get along. It's all a matter of acceptance and respect. Tony and Sol have it. They did not split up because of their differences.they split up because of Tony's extra marital affair, which is another story. Filipinos are very rich in culture. We are mixed up with different native and foreign influences. We should be proud of it and make use of this rich culture towards peace and progress.
As a conclusion, I find the movie very realistic and better than the first Mano Po (which has a storyline that seems to be adapted from the newspaper!). This movie should not only be seen by the Chinese community but by the others, as well. The lessons that we learn from this movie is something all of us could relate to. A movie that we could reflect on. A film that does not only uplift our spirits but awakens our conscience.
