four full length films, and five shorts.
New Breed: Transit
A few years ago, Israel started implementing a very controversial policy that deports the children of migrant workers born in the country. These children speak Hebrew, the older ones go to Israeli schools, and by any other set of criteria they are citizens of the country. And yet, Israel deports them. Some are still in hiding.
Transit depicts the lives of five people living in Israel. Moises (Ping Medina) takes care of an elderly Israeli, while taking care of his son, Joshua (Marc Justine Alvarez.) Joshua doesn't fit the criteria to stay in Israel, and has to hide constantly from immigration authorities. Their neighbors are Janet (Irma Adlawan), a Filipina worker whose visa has expired, and her daughter Yael (Jasmine Curtis-Smith), who is a child of two cultures, unable to fit comfortably in either. Also, Tina (Mercedes Cabral) is new to working in Israel, but fate is not kind to her...
Transit's narrative switches between the experiences of each character as they happen in parallel, much like the structure of director Hannah Espia's previous Cinemalaya effort, Ruweda. Each story adds perspective to the entirety of the narrative. While the overall effect still works, a lot of repetitive scenes can be removed or shown in a different perspective, instead of replaying the same exact scenes.
This is a minor nitpick, however, as the rest of the film is amazingly done. Great camerawork, a good soundtrack and a solid ensemble cast make this movie a top contender. Irma Adlawan is breathtaking as a mother whose daughter is her life, Ping Medina breathes life to a father who has everything to lose, Mercedes Cabral does the best with the short time the film gives her, Marc Alvarez gives the film its charm, and Jasmine Curtis-Smith's subdued yet effective performance is spellbinding.
While not steeped in symbolism, the film's straightforwardness and conceptual simplicity works to its favor. It's one of the festival's best films, and definitely is a film that needs to be watched.
8.5 grains of sand over 10.
A few articles on Israel's deportation of the children of Migrant Workers:
http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/israel-starts-deporting-children-of-some-foreign-workers
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/07/03/israel-s-forgotten-deportees.html
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/aug/02/world/la-fg-israel-foreign-workers-20100802
Director's Showcase: Porno
note: this review contains a lot of spoilers. For a short summary, skip to the last paragraph.
Porno begins with a surreal, voyeauristic sequence that feels like roleplay. We are not sure of the nature of the relationship of the two participants. There is an artifice to the whole charade. Male dominates against female. Then suddenly, the roles are reversed - and things soon escalate quickly.
This sets the tone for the rest of Porno, Adolfo Alix's latest entry to Cinemalaya's Director's Showcase.
Porno is composed of three loosely connected stories: Yul Servo is an assassin fresh off his latest assignment; he spends a momentary respite with his hooker girlfriend (Rosanna Roces) before going back to jail; Carlo Aquino dubs amateur porn and takes advantage of women in his spare time; and Angel Aquino is a male to female transexual who tries to reconnect with her old life.
And in these three vignettes we see a reflection of the titular Porno: after all, Pornography is an artifice based on a very intimate and real act. We see this in the fake moans supplied by Carlo Aquino's character and his fellow dubbers, and his messages to extort naked pictures from the women he woos. Yul Servo's character has a relationship with a hooker and his police handler, either of whom may or may not be real. As for Angel Aquino's character, she has to decide which facet of herself is real and which is the illusion.
For all the sex that goes on in this movie, it never serves as titillation. Sex becomes a means of relief; it becomes a means of respite from the reality of the world. It becomes a means of escape from a reality the characters (and perhaps, also we) are too hesitant to confront.
Like last year's Kalayaan, this movie has mysterious elements that could either be explained as actual supernatural events or mere manifestations of the characters' psyche. The movie never explains it; we are left to make our own interpretation. Through these elements, each character gets their answer, their enlightenment through violence, through guilt, or through a mirror into one's soul.
The acting is okay, but I am still undecided if Angel Aquino plays a transsexual too well (because Angel Aquino is a beautiful woman) or not as well as one could (also, because Angel Aquino is a beautiful woman.) Seeing Rosanna Roces in the buff again is kind of unsettling.
Technically, the production design, scoring and technical aspects of the film are polished and well executed. Some have noted that the ending is too abrupt and in a sense, I agree; I probably would have hoped for something to tie the three threads together at the end.
Porno is an intriguing film, but it's a film not easily understood. It's a film that lends itself to discussion, which is ok by me.
7.5 porn DVDs over 10.
New Breed: The Diplomat Hotel
This movie generated a lot of buzz. It was touted by some as a horror film, a kind rarely seen in this festival. It starred Gretchen Barreto. It had this goth looking lady.
So is it good?
Gretchen Baretto's character is in the dumps after a botched hostage situation and time inside a mental institution. To save her career, she takes a team to the Diplomat Hotel, a creepy abandoned place with a storied past. As the night goes deeper, each character's psyche unravels, threatening everybody's lives. And as for the hotel? Something lurks in the darkness...
While the supernatural aspect of the hotel threatens to claim the characters, it is the characters' own darkness that consumes them. So the film has some psychological thriller elements mixed in too.
This film is not bad, but the problem is it's nothing new. If there was a checklist of horror movie tropes and cliches somewhere, this movie would probably have all of them checked. The film seems derivative of other works, and the derivation is not necessarily as good as the original material, either. Sudden jump cuts, little visual cues at the corner of one's eye, long haired ghouls, use of darkness, they're all in some other (usually Asian) horror movie.
To its credit, the soundtrack is great, and manages to deliver the scares very effectively. As for the acting, it ranges from really good (Art Acuna is the cameraman?) to so-so. Then there's Gretchen Baretto, whose face seems to stay static, regardless of lines spouted. Honestly, those lips and cheekbones scare me as much as any legitimate scare in the film.
The crowd went along with the scares and enjoyed the movie, so I don't doubt that this will get a wider release. But in the context of the festival, it really doesn't shape up as well compared to the other entries.
6 haunted hotels over 10.
note: eagle eyes may notice a plant/vine/whatever move by itself during one scene - one of the times where I was truly creeped out by the film. Also, eagle eyes may also notice that when you have an establishing shot of the setting, you would probably want to clean the lens/window of the car housing the camera first.
New Breed: David F.
America may have a major influence on Philippine history throughout most of the 20th century, but the role of African Americans during this tumultuous century is not well known.
David F. is composed of three stories of people (presumably in the second part) named David F. The first one is a black soldier who joins the Filipino Insurgency during the Filipino American War, The second is the child of a half Filipino, half Black woman during the waning years of WWII, and the third is an entertainer working the bar scene in Olongapo and Angeles City.
Like us Filipinos, our African American brothers have a long history trying to find (or perhaps reclaim) their identity. The third David is trying to find his place as well: he does not know his father, presumably a serviceman who spent time in the US bases in the late seventies or eighties. The first David has no place back home in America, where he faces a life of slavery; he has no place with his fellow Americans, who treat him no better than dogs; and he finds solace with Filipinos who acknowledge him.
However, while some Filipinos accept the titular Davids in their respective times, some (if not many) Filipinos do just the opposite. The first David is a target of an assassination and is treated as an outsider; the second David is rejected by his own father thanks to his skin; and the third David is marginalized, his performance/act is characterized by making fun of his skin, and there is a sense of otherness in his interactions with others.
It's a facet of Filipino culture that we see everyday: we see foreigners as "others," and we tend to ridicule or make fun of then. How many times did we compare someone to, say, Whitney Tyson so as to call them ugly? How many times have we aspired to improve our skin by applying whitening lotion?
While the three stories have a similar theme, they don't seem to form anything cohesive. They could easily work as three separate movies. Compared with the other movies in the festival, who work with multiple stories or plotlines, it falls a bit short.
But each individual segment works. The strongest segment is the third one, followed by the first one. The second segment is the weakest, due partly to the fact that the main character is mute, and there isn't a lot of room to build and develop the characters anyway.
The American actors are surprisingly good, or at least decent, especially the first David. There's nothing notable about the technical aspects of the film, but it is more or less sound.
David F. is a film that probably could have been pruned down to concentrate on a more definite theme. As it stands, the movie tends to meander and lose focus midway with multiple threads that intersect quite loosely.
7 brothas over 10.
WE WANT SHORT SHORTS SHORT SHORTS REVIEWS
SHORTS B
The Houseband's Wife - production values aren't high, but very well written and witty. 4.5/5
Katapusang Labok - too slice of lifey? The message of the film seemed to be shoehorned into the last few minutes. Something about saving the seas? 3/5
Pukpok - You had me at Filma Santos. Not the best, but I had fun. Definite crowd pleaser. 4.5/5
Sa Wakas - funny, despite the dark undertone. Of course, the dark undertone catches up after a while. As a note, medical establishments have to admit these kinds of patients regardless of the situation. Yes, they may have to file a police report, but still they have to treat the patient nevertheless. Otherwise, refusing treatment (especially emergency treatment) is, IIRC, illegal. 3.5/5
Onang - well, that escalated quickly. Best cinematography work, probably in the whole festival. 4/5
New Breed: Transit
A few years ago, Israel started implementing a very controversial policy that deports the children of migrant workers born in the country. These children speak Hebrew, the older ones go to Israeli schools, and by any other set of criteria they are citizens of the country. And yet, Israel deports them. Some are still in hiding.
Transit depicts the lives of five people living in Israel. Moises (Ping Medina) takes care of an elderly Israeli, while taking care of his son, Joshua (Marc Justine Alvarez.) Joshua doesn't fit the criteria to stay in Israel, and has to hide constantly from immigration authorities. Their neighbors are Janet (Irma Adlawan), a Filipina worker whose visa has expired, and her daughter Yael (Jasmine Curtis-Smith), who is a child of two cultures, unable to fit comfortably in either. Also, Tina (Mercedes Cabral) is new to working in Israel, but fate is not kind to her...
Transit's narrative switches between the experiences of each character as they happen in parallel, much like the structure of director Hannah Espia's previous Cinemalaya effort, Ruweda. Each story adds perspective to the entirety of the narrative. While the overall effect still works, a lot of repetitive scenes can be removed or shown in a different perspective, instead of replaying the same exact scenes.
This is a minor nitpick, however, as the rest of the film is amazingly done. Great camerawork, a good soundtrack and a solid ensemble cast make this movie a top contender. Irma Adlawan is breathtaking as a mother whose daughter is her life, Ping Medina breathes life to a father who has everything to lose, Mercedes Cabral does the best with the short time the film gives her, Marc Alvarez gives the film its charm, and Jasmine Curtis-Smith's subdued yet effective performance is spellbinding.
While not steeped in symbolism, the film's straightforwardness and conceptual simplicity works to its favor. It's one of the festival's best films, and definitely is a film that needs to be watched.
8.5 grains of sand over 10.
A few articles on Israel's deportation of the children of Migrant Workers:
http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/israel-starts-deporting-children-of-some-foreign-workers
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/07/03/israel-s-forgotten-deportees.html
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/aug/02/world/la-fg-israel-foreign-workers-20100802
Director's Showcase: Porno
note: this review contains a lot of spoilers. For a short summary, skip to the last paragraph.
Porno begins with a surreal, voyeauristic sequence that feels like roleplay. We are not sure of the nature of the relationship of the two participants. There is an artifice to the whole charade. Male dominates against female. Then suddenly, the roles are reversed - and things soon escalate quickly.
This sets the tone for the rest of Porno, Adolfo Alix's latest entry to Cinemalaya's Director's Showcase.
Porno is composed of three loosely connected stories: Yul Servo is an assassin fresh off his latest assignment; he spends a momentary respite with his hooker girlfriend (Rosanna Roces) before going back to jail; Carlo Aquino dubs amateur porn and takes advantage of women in his spare time; and Angel Aquino is a male to female transexual who tries to reconnect with her old life.
And in these three vignettes we see a reflection of the titular Porno: after all, Pornography is an artifice based on a very intimate and real act. We see this in the fake moans supplied by Carlo Aquino's character and his fellow dubbers, and his messages to extort naked pictures from the women he woos. Yul Servo's character has a relationship with a hooker and his police handler, either of whom may or may not be real. As for Angel Aquino's character, she has to decide which facet of herself is real and which is the illusion.
For all the sex that goes on in this movie, it never serves as titillation. Sex becomes a means of relief; it becomes a means of respite from the reality of the world. It becomes a means of escape from a reality the characters (and perhaps, also we) are too hesitant to confront.
Like last year's Kalayaan, this movie has mysterious elements that could either be explained as actual supernatural events or mere manifestations of the characters' psyche. The movie never explains it; we are left to make our own interpretation. Through these elements, each character gets their answer, their enlightenment through violence, through guilt, or through a mirror into one's soul.
The acting is okay, but I am still undecided if Angel Aquino plays a transsexual too well (because Angel Aquino is a beautiful woman) or not as well as one could (also, because Angel Aquino is a beautiful woman.) Seeing Rosanna Roces in the buff again is kind of unsettling.
Technically, the production design, scoring and technical aspects of the film are polished and well executed. Some have noted that the ending is too abrupt and in a sense, I agree; I probably would have hoped for something to tie the three threads together at the end.
Porno is an intriguing film, but it's a film not easily understood. It's a film that lends itself to discussion, which is ok by me.
7.5 porn DVDs over 10.
New Breed: The Diplomat Hotel
This movie generated a lot of buzz. It was touted by some as a horror film, a kind rarely seen in this festival. It starred Gretchen Barreto. It had this goth looking lady.
So is it good?
Gretchen Baretto's character is in the dumps after a botched hostage situation and time inside a mental institution. To save her career, she takes a team to the Diplomat Hotel, a creepy abandoned place with a storied past. As the night goes deeper, each character's psyche unravels, threatening everybody's lives. And as for the hotel? Something lurks in the darkness...
While the supernatural aspect of the hotel threatens to claim the characters, it is the characters' own darkness that consumes them. So the film has some psychological thriller elements mixed in too.
This film is not bad, but the problem is it's nothing new. If there was a checklist of horror movie tropes and cliches somewhere, this movie would probably have all of them checked. The film seems derivative of other works, and the derivation is not necessarily as good as the original material, either. Sudden jump cuts, little visual cues at the corner of one's eye, long haired ghouls, use of darkness, they're all in some other (usually Asian) horror movie.
To its credit, the soundtrack is great, and manages to deliver the scares very effectively. As for the acting, it ranges from really good (Art Acuna is the cameraman?) to so-so. Then there's Gretchen Baretto, whose face seems to stay static, regardless of lines spouted. Honestly, those lips and cheekbones scare me as much as any legitimate scare in the film.
The crowd went along with the scares and enjoyed the movie, so I don't doubt that this will get a wider release. But in the context of the festival, it really doesn't shape up as well compared to the other entries.
6 haunted hotels over 10.
note: eagle eyes may notice a plant/vine/whatever move by itself during one scene - one of the times where I was truly creeped out by the film. Also, eagle eyes may also notice that when you have an establishing shot of the setting, you would probably want to clean the lens/window of the car housing the camera first.
New Breed: David F.
America may have a major influence on Philippine history throughout most of the 20th century, but the role of African Americans during this tumultuous century is not well known.
David F. is composed of three stories of people (presumably in the second part) named David F. The first one is a black soldier who joins the Filipino Insurgency during the Filipino American War, The second is the child of a half Filipino, half Black woman during the waning years of WWII, and the third is an entertainer working the bar scene in Olongapo and Angeles City.
Like us Filipinos, our African American brothers have a long history trying to find (or perhaps reclaim) their identity. The third David is trying to find his place as well: he does not know his father, presumably a serviceman who spent time in the US bases in the late seventies or eighties. The first David has no place back home in America, where he faces a life of slavery; he has no place with his fellow Americans, who treat him no better than dogs; and he finds solace with Filipinos who acknowledge him.
However, while some Filipinos accept the titular Davids in their respective times, some (if not many) Filipinos do just the opposite. The first David is a target of an assassination and is treated as an outsider; the second David is rejected by his own father thanks to his skin; and the third David is marginalized, his performance/act is characterized by making fun of his skin, and there is a sense of otherness in his interactions with others.
It's a facet of Filipino culture that we see everyday: we see foreigners as "others," and we tend to ridicule or make fun of then. How many times did we compare someone to, say, Whitney Tyson so as to call them ugly? How many times have we aspired to improve our skin by applying whitening lotion?
While the three stories have a similar theme, they don't seem to form anything cohesive. They could easily work as three separate movies. Compared with the other movies in the festival, who work with multiple stories or plotlines, it falls a bit short.
But each individual segment works. The strongest segment is the third one, followed by the first one. The second segment is the weakest, due partly to the fact that the main character is mute, and there isn't a lot of room to build and develop the characters anyway.
The American actors are surprisingly good, or at least decent, especially the first David. There's nothing notable about the technical aspects of the film, but it is more or less sound.
David F. is a film that probably could have been pruned down to concentrate on a more definite theme. As it stands, the movie tends to meander and lose focus midway with multiple threads that intersect quite loosely.
7 brothas over 10.
WE WANT SHORT SHORTS SHORT SHORTS REVIEWS
SHORTS B
The Houseband's Wife - production values aren't high, but very well written and witty. 4.5/5
Katapusang Labok - too slice of lifey? The message of the film seemed to be shoehorned into the last few minutes. Something about saving the seas? 3/5
Pukpok - You had me at Filma Santos. Not the best, but I had fun. Definite crowd pleaser. 4.5/5
Sa Wakas - funny, despite the dark undertone. Of course, the dark undertone catches up after a while. As a note, medical establishments have to admit these kinds of patients regardless of the situation. Yes, they may have to file a police report, but still they have to treat the patient nevertheless. Otherwise, refusing treatment (especially emergency treatment) is, IIRC, illegal. 3.5/5
Onang - well, that escalated quickly. Best cinematography work, probably in the whole festival. 4/5
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