Love You to the Stars and Back is a lovely film about wounded people and bonding over farts

On the surface, Antoinette Jadaone's Love You to the Stars and Back resembles her sleeper hit film That Thing Called Tadhana: both are romantic comedy-road movie hybrids about a couple with chemistry that go up a mountain (or two). But this film takes this into interesting directions, creating something lovely in the process.

Joshua Garcia and Julia Barretto, fresh from their MMFF hit Vince and Kath and James, play Caloy and Mika. Caloy is a lively young man with a debilitating illness; Mika is a girl who is still in the process of grieving over her deceased mother and  has trouble accepting her new stepmom into her life.

The film suits the road movie structure well: it serves to highlight the emotional journeys of Caloy and Mika as they struggle with their own problems. Jadaone has used this type of movie in some of her best films, such as the aforementioned Tadhana and the lesser known Relaks, It's Just Pag-ibig. There's also a plot element that raises interesting questions about the gigantic financial burden of healthcare, though for the sake of focus the director prevents it from taking over the rest of the film.

The film primarily works because of its two lead actors: Joshua Garcia and Julia Barretto are amazing together. Garcia in particular is phenomenal - it's hard to imagine audiences won't empathize with his character in some fashion. The most powerful scenes in the movie (especially one that takes place on a bridge) shine through thanks to Garcia and Barretto's performances. Jadaone wisely builds the relationship of the two leads by relying on small moments that build up into something more profound, instead of fake grand gestures and manufactured scenes. It makes the eventual romance  flow better and feel more natural.

As with many road movies, the destination isn't as important as the journey, and Love You to the Stars and Back is all about the journey towards love. It's all about how we, wounds and all, find shelter in each other, even if those wounds don't heal easily. It's about how love means we don't have to carry our burdens alone. As a movie, while it stays within the conventions of what you'd expect in a Star Cinema romantic comedy, it does those things exceedingly well. It hits every emotional beat and lives in every moment; it expresses itself with a directorial voice that is experienced and confident. And for me it solidifies Garcia and Barretto's position as a force to be reckoned with as far as love teams go.

The 2017 Death Note Completely Misses the Point of Death Note

I've always been a fan of Death Note, but the announcement of a Western remake of the series had me a bit worried. Any anime remake in the west always has me worried. There's always something that's lost in translation from east to west. I came into this Netflix original movie thinking, "what exactly did I like about the original Death Note, and will it translate here?" I didn't mind storyline changes as long as the work captured what I liked about the original series.

I've boiled it down to two things: 1) the characters and 2) the cat and mouse mindgames. After watching the film it's safe to say that this remake completely misses the point of both.

First off, the characters. The Death Note remake tells the story of Light Turner, a teenager who gains the possession of a magical notebook that can kill. This version of Light is someone who has experienced injustice from society - he's a loser through and through. He uses the Death Note to impress a girl, Mia Sutton (this film's version of Misa Amane/Kiyomi Takada.) And that's kind of the biggest problem with this version of Light: he's become a boring, run of the mill protagonist. The audience HAS to cheer for him because he's such an underdog. In the manga and anime, Light is a super-intelligent, elite student. People don't beat him up and bully him, they adore and revere him; he uses the Death Note not just out of a sense of righteousness, but out of a god complex - he literally thinks he is a god. Making Light a run of the mill protagonist takes away a whole meta-layer of meaning from the film's themes of righteousness and the people who we trust to dispense that justice.

This film's version of L, on the other hand, is still eccentric and a peculiar person, but the script's characterization sucks the charm right out of him. In many ways original L was a mirror to the character of Light - he possesses the same level of intelligence but society views both characters in different ways. In this film, that aspect to both characters is lost. L acts scared and nervous when L should be calm and collected. L isn't even that clever in this iteration. While it's a valid way to take the character, it's just not as interesting.

If anyone should have taken the role of Light, it should be the character of Mia - she's far more proactive with her usage of the Death Note and she overall makes for a more interesting character compared to the boring Light. The film predictably pushes her to the periphery of the story. The only shining spot in the entire movie is Willem Dafoe, who plays the part of the Shinigami Ryuk. I think there's never been a more perfect casting choice in the history of anime adaptations. Again, like Mia, Ryuk is pushed to the side to give way to the more boring characters.

The second thing I liked about the original Death Note is the psychological warfare that occurs between its two characters. Personally this is one of the biggest reasons why the original series is entertaining. There were plans within plans, clever strategies and moments of extreme one-upsmanship. This is a series that can make a simple tennis match or even eating potato chips epic. Guess what, aside from a short thing near the end there's nothing like that here. Without the psychological warfare there was literally nothing left for me to latch on.

Adam Wingard is known for directing horror movies, and it seems he was going for a specific kind of aesthetic with this one, with more gore, sometimes lush colors and an eighties-inspired soundtrack. That aesthetic hardly fits this story, either, as it feels more like the deformed love child of Final Destination and 13 Reasons Why than a Death Note adaptation.

The 2017 Death Note remake is another example of a remake that thoroughly and deeply misunderstands its source material. Even if you have not watched an episode of the anime or read a chapter of the manga, it comes off as a forgettable, boring pseudo horror flick. My expectations coming in were low, but the film shattered those expectations in a bad way - the film was a complete waste of my time.

Mumon: The Land of Stealth or, Don't Judge a Ninja by his (stealthy) Cover

Yoshihiro Nakamura's follow-up to his film The Magnificent Nine (featured in Eiga Sai 2017) is far more action packed than its jidai-geki brother. Based on a novel by Ryo Wada, it's the story of Mumon, the most skilled Iga ninja out there. He's also very lazy, selfish and money-minded, doing work only for the right price. You can't exactly blame him: he's the product of a culture of mercenaries. In the world of Mumon, the Iga Ninja are avaricious thugs who no longer value human life; when they are surrounded by all sides by the forces of Nobunaga Oda, conflict brews between the factions of ninja and samurai.

When I saw the trailers for this movie, I was expecting something along the lines of a bloody action film with cool badass ninja techniques and Samurai skill, but Mumon subverted my expectations. The film can be considered a companion piece to The Magnificent Nine in the ways it deconstructs and critiques capitalism and materialistic attitudes in contemporary Japanese society. While The Magnificent Nine shows us what can happen to a society that is grounded in both capitalism and humanism, emphasizing the collective good over the sake of any single person, Mumon shows us what happens with a capitalist society that is greed-driven and self centered.

The samurai aren't any less honorable either, as they engage in the murder and conquest of territories not their own, where allegiances to lords are flimsy and political marriages are the norm. For most of the movie, it's hard to root for any one faction, as each one possesses their own pros and cons, a sea of shades of grey. The politicking is quite fascinating, however, with both sides deceiving each other in grand schemes geared towards their own goals. At the very least, it was a blast to just go along for the ride.

The film, however, suffers from an inconsistent tone. It shifts between deadpan comedy during one moment to very serious drama during the next. While Nakamura manages to pull it off with The Magnificent Nine, it's much less effective here.

Fans of Arashi member Satoshi Ohno will no doubt enjoy the film, and he's pretty good as Mumon. The rest of the cast are quite capable as well, with notable performances by Yusuke Iseya, Jun Kunimura (whose minor role resonated throughout the film) and Satomi Ishihara.

Mumon: The Land of Stealth feels a bit off, but the end product is intriguing, and a far cry from anything I'd expected. If you liked The Magnificent Nine, I think it's worth checking out.

Woke Up Like This is quite rough around the edges, but still kinda funny

Sabrina and Nando (Lovi Poe and Vhong Navarro, respectively) aren't what you would call model citizens: the former is vain and inconsiderate, the latter is self-centered. Thanks to a mysterious old man (Lou Veloso) and a magical chicken, the two of them switch bodies.

I'll be the first to admit Woke Up Like This isn't particularly deep or anything like that. It's very much a mainstream comedy. But the flavor of this particular comedy comes from Joel Ferrer, who directed Baka Siguro Yata, which was (and still is) my favorite local comedy of 2015. While in this film the comedic timing isn't exactly there and a number of jokes don't land, I think the film's generally enjoyable.

Like how Baka Siguro Yata shared similar elements with the film Knocked Up, this film shares some similarities with movies like The Hot Chick and Freaky Friday. The bodyswap plot device is used as a means for the two characters to discover themselves and be better people. (Thankfully, no comets are involved.) The film in that regard is pretty simplistic, though this simplicity isn't detrimental to the  overall experience.

The major surprise for me in this film has to be Lovi Poe. She has a lot of funny scenes that work compared to her co-star, and she definitely looks like she's having fun acting as Vhong's character in her body. There are even a few meta jokes in the film where she channels her dad FPJ.

If you're familiar with Joel Ferrer's brand of comedy, the funny scenes in his films can range from something silly to something completely absurd. For example, a character near the end of the film has a right hand  that seems to be possessed by a malicious sock puppet. In this case, the jokes can either be really hilarious or they can fall flat. Maybe it's the script, maybe it's something else.

If you have nothing to do and you want a decent laugh, I think this film isn't a bad choice. I certainly got my fill of laughs. But to be perfectly honest, compared to the rest of Ferrer's output, I wouldn't rank this at the top.

Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino | Patay na si Hesus and Bisaya Humor

One of the most pleasant box office surprises in this year's Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino is the comedy film Patay na si Hesus. The film drew widespread support from audiences, and is one of the festival's top grossing films. I wasn't mincing words when I said the film was the funniest film of 2016.  There's a certain kind of quality to the humor that is far reaching and universal. Some even refer to it as "Bisaya humor."

So what is Bisaya humor? How is it different from Tagalog humor? Is there something in the use of words, the tone, the irreverence of the subject matter?

I decided to ask a few Bisaya friends to find out. Here's what they said:

(paraphrased and translated) There's a certain quality in the Bisaya language that makes jokes funnier. The joke may lose its punch when translated to a more neutral sounding language like Tagalog or English. "Ga-yaya ra man ka uy!" when said out loud has more of an impact compared to "you're a slowpoke!"

 Another one said:

(paraphrased and translated) I wouldn't know if it's really unique to Bisaya culture, but these are jokes that we tell among ourselves.

And another:

(paraphrased and translated) There is a lot of humor that is lost in translation [from Bisaya to Tagalog.] There's a certain mocking (but not mean) quality to it. There could be experiences that relate only to Vis-Min audiences. to  For example: the joke "Ah, Tagalog pala ka," when translated into other languages, isn't as funny [because it hinges on certain assumptions on how Bisaya people speak a language that is not native to them.] I know a lot of people involved in the movie, so it's like seeing my college friends interact.

And:

(paraphrased and translated) I'm not sure  there is a distinct humor unique to Bisaya, (like British humor - or humour) or if it's something that's borne from the coincidence that a lot of Bisaya directors happen to be hilarious.

And finally:

"Alam mo sa tingin ko mga natural na cholokoy lang talaga ang mga  Bisaya."

***

Okay, so we have their point of view on the subject. Personally I think there's merit to the notion that there's a distinct variety of humor with a certain Bisaya flavor.

In local media, Bisaya people have been stereotypically depicted as "indays" -  housekeepers or clueless probinsyano/probinsyana, and for the longest time I've found that stereotype problematic. (Another PPP film, Salvage, partly addresses this during its dizzying climax.) In Patay na si Hesus, we laugh and cry with the characters, not at them. We feel their struggles and empathize with them. They're people just like you and me.

The film is the latest in a long and rich tradition of Bisaya comedies, whether on TV or elsewhere. Ask a Bisdak if they've seen shows like Si Goot Da Wanderpol or Manok ni San Pedro or Boyoyoy da Wonder Boy and there will probably be a look of nostalgia on their faces. The medium of Radio is probably more influential than TV, because it's said that radio was more far reaching than regional TV in those places back in the day.

With the resurgence of regional cinema, movies from Visayas and Mindanao are growing ever more prominent. They showcase movies where Bisaya and Mindanaoans can see themselves as themselves, and not as some outsider's conception of who they are. With it is the uplifting of a regional cultural consciousness.

I hardly bandy around the phrase "must watch," but if you haven't watched Patay na si Hesus yet, there's still today, so watch it while you can!

Happy Birthday, FPJ: A look at the restored Isusumbong Kita sa Tatay Ko

Today (August 20) would have marked Fernando Poe Jr.'s 78's birthday. The Filipino action legend has found his way into Filipino pop culture and the hearts of millions of Filipinos with his trademark swagger and charisma, and people fondly remember the man even today.

Isusumbong Kita sa Tatay Ko pairs FPJ with Judy Ann Santos. FPJ has had a number of leading ladies, ranging from sexy stars like Amanda Page to actresses like Sharon Cuneta. When Isusumbong Kita Sa Tatay Ko came out, Judy Ann was the queen of soap dramas, starring in such series as Mara Clara and Esperanza.

The movie follows a simple father-daughter story, where FPJ is a tough guy mechanic with a heart of gold, and Judy Ann is his plucky, rambunctious daughter Joey. Things come to a head when Joey catches the eye of bratty kid Archie (Kier Legaspi). The movie has its share of twists and turns, with a major dramatic turn near the end that I think is done pretty well (it almost comes as an afterthought, which magnifies the shock value).

The movie has its share of trademark FPJ action: you really haven't seen an FPJ movie without seeing him get into a fistfight with some thugs, with him doing the trademark FPJ flurry of punches to the gut at the end. But there's a lot of other things for fans to love, too: there are multiple musical sequences (most notably a rendition of Awitin Mo, Isasayaw Ko) and lots of comedy, too.

The restoration job is quite good, though some restored scenes are better than others. The soundtrack sounds like it was remastered, and that's pretty impressive as well.

A crowd pleaser through and through, there's a lot of nostalgia and heart in Isusumbong Kita sa Tatay Ko. It's quite sad if you think about the fact that this is one of FPJ's final movies before his untimely death only four years later. But I think the legendary actor has left enough of a legacy that fans new and old will remember him for many years to come.

Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino | 100 Tula Para Kay Stella brings back lonely, painful memories

Fidel (JC Santos) falls in love with Stella (Bela Padilla) after meeting her during a freshman party. Over the next four or so years of his life he falls in love even deeper with this woman. He makes 100 poems about her, representing the words he wants to express but cannot say out loud.

100 Tula Para Kay Stella is about a kind of love that isn't covered either in local cinema that often, if at all. It's the love that springs from someone pining for someone else over long stretches of time, the affection growing year after year. It's the kind of love that eludes resolution because communicating that love is difficult (if not impossible) for the persons involved and it feels one-sided, even though that may hardly be the case. It's the kind of love that's easy to misunderstand, and telling a story based on this kind of affection is difficult. In this case, however, 100 Tula Para Kay Stella pulls it off effectively.

The movie avoids idealizing Stella as some kind of perfect girl that changes Fidel's life for the better. To scriptwriter and director Jason Laxamana's credit, he frames Stella as merely human, bound by her own frailties and screw-ups. One of my favorite moments in the film is when Fidel's poems are juxtaposed with a montage of Stella making one wrong life decision after another, reality countering her idealized image.

Though this depiction of love is relatively uncommon, I think stories like the one in 100 Tula Para Kay Stella resonate with people in very personal ways, because this story happens everywhere, to everyone. Personally speaking, this movie reflects the story of my life. Way back in 2003, I too was a shy, awkward young man. I grew infatuated with a girl, and she encouraged me to write. This blog would probably not exist if not for her goading me into writing stuff. I too decided to write my own set of short stories for her before she left, cringey stories that won't win me any Palanca awards, but stories I still think are heartfelt. I'm sure that many people in the audience had similar stories of their own, too.

100 Tula Para Kay Stella is heartfelt and earnest, probably one of my favorite Laxamana films since Magkakabaung. It's a movie about how we can create amazing things and change ourselves for love,  and how love can be expressed in different ways. It offers another perspective on the myriad ways we fall in love, and says how that love comes with its own share of melancholy and heartbreak.

***

100 Tula Para Kay Stella is accompanied by the short film Farewell, which begins with the words "Sorry, Ma." Despite being five minutes max it is quite affecting, and it veers into something unexpected at the end. It's probably one of my favorite PPP shorts so far.

Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino | Salvage works best when it subverts its genre

Sherad Anthony Sanchez's Salvage begins with images of manufactured reality: a staged recreation by media, a commercial featuring "genuine" versus "fake" soap. There's a notion of reality and unreality that pervades the film from beginning to end, and Salvage plays with this in interesting ways. We are repeatedly made to question the truth or untruth of what is unfolding around us. In today's world, we experience this struggle between real and unreal daily in the form of fake news or propaganda.

Salvage masquerades under the guise of a found footage film; it's about a team of reporters investigating a series of murders linked to aswang. But as they trudge deeper into the forests of Cagayan de Oro, the movie begins to evolve, and the film begins to leave its genre trappings.

Salvage's images evoke both emotions and memories. A clear and palpable sense of dread watches over the film like a ghoulish spectre. Images both gruesome and surreal evoke the film's many themes: the troubled and acrimonious relationship between journalists and the military, the increasing militarization of the provinces, stark memories of the Maguindanao massacre, even a lingering condescension by the imperialist capital towards what they view as their backwards neighbors to the south. These images challenge what we usually expect from these types of films: instead of recreating these emotions and memories with something grounded in reality, Salvage's images are fantastical and bizarre.

Salvage may sometimes be bogged down by the genre it is trying to escape, the film often finding a reason for one of the characters to keep the camera rolling to maintain the film's identity as a found footage film. The characters are also not averse to behaving in line with established horror tropes, at least in the first half.

But everything changes in the last 15-20 minutes of the film. The line between reality and unreality completely disappears, and the film's subversiveness reaches its limit. Filled with images from a fever dream, Salvage's final sequence is one of the most haunting cinematic sequences in recent memory.

A challenging, imaginative film, Salvage works best when it subverts its genre. It may be held down by genre constraints, at least for the first half, but by the end it manages to become something far more profound.

***

Salvage should be accompanied by a short film, but to be honest I was late and didn't catch the short, if there was one. Maybe next time.

EDIT: after rewatching Salvage yesterday (Aug 21) I manged to catch the short film attached to the film, Shaded. It's a nice companion piece to Salvage, considering its themes. It's also pretty straightforward. The character at the end oversold it a bit at the end, I think.

Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino | Revisiting Ang Manananggal sa Unit 23B

(Read my previous review of the film here. This may contain a few spoilers, so I recommend watching the film first. I think it's worth it.)

I really liked Ang Manananggal sa Unit 23B when it first came out last year. Not only was it one of the most visually striking movies of last year, had I made a top 20 list of my favorite local films for last year, this film would probably be on that list. I then decided to watch Jewel and Rico's journey together again for the PPP and see how it holds up after all this time.

The version of the film for this year's festival has been re-edited in parts. In particular, the transformation scene in the climax seems to have been re-edited, perhaps to accommodate a lower rating. The film flows better than what I remembered, though aside from some of the sensual scenes I honestly do not remember any major changes from the first time I saw the film. In any case, I still enjoyed the film, and it holds up very well on second viewing.

One thing I noticed as I rewatched the film is that I saw it less as a romance and more as a horror film with romantic undertones, which helped me appreciate the film more. Like Cruz's first film Sleepless, this film is about two lonely beings finding solace in each other's company. The romance is kind of a bonus. They both struggle with the prospect of living life alone: Jewel with her probably hundred-year existence as an other, Rico and his life with his grandmother and his recent heartbreak.

The chemistry between the two seems strange, and it should be: Jewel is a nigh-immortal creature of the night, who views the other either as prey or as a curiosity. Rico, on the other hand, is confused by Jewel's seeming rejection of his affection, not knowing that for Jewel, bloodlust and desire are tightly intertwined.  It's not so much love that brings the two of them together, it's the crippling fear of being alone. And their decision towards the end is an affirmation of that need to be together with someone else, no matter the cost.

A skillful blend of horror and romance, there's nothing like this film out there. Catch it in theaters while you can.

***

Accompanying Ang Manananggal sa Unit 23B is the film Dorothy, whose premise I'd rather have you figure out for yourself instead. While I'm sure the film means well, the film rubbed me the wrong way for some reason. I ultimately found it cloying and manipulative. 

Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino | Triptiko's stories are varied and strange

Triptiko (Triptych) refers to any work divided into three parts. This film's three parts are composed of stories that are quite strange, in some cases even creepy and terrifying. While the three parts of Triptiko offer varying levels of quality, the three stories together struggle to form a thematic whole. To be fair, each story has something really good going for it, or features a fantastic performance from one or more of the actors involved.

The first story, Swerte, is my favorite of the bunch. It focuses on a series of unfortunate events befalling Jake (Albie Casino) as he gets into a very unlucky situation. The tension in this segment ramps up continuously from start to finish. The standout performance in the entire film belongs to Jerald Napoles. Known for playing lighthearted or comedic roles, Napoles shows in this segment that he can be menacing and crazy too. 

The second story, Hinog, feels like a cross between an episode of Shake Rattle and Roll and The Twilight Zone. It has elements of body horror as well, which for a contemporary local movie is quite a novelty. Joseph Marco was pretty good here in my opinion. In this case, the story resolves itself too quickly for my taste, the film spending too much time building up the main dilemma, then spending only a short flashback scene and a few lines of dialogue to wrap up and resolve the plot.

The last story, Musikerong John, is very different in tone compared to the previous two segments. While the previous two segments are similar in tone and even share characters, this story can be regarded as standalone. While I draw positive comparisons to this film and the Michel Gondry short film Interior Design (where Ayako Fujitani turns into a chair), the end product feels lacking, the story trailing off in unsatisfying ways. Kean Cipriano and Kylie Padilla were both great in this segment, but the material just wasn't enough for the both of them.

Triptiko's stories can be fun at times, and there are elements in all three stories that I like, but ultimately the film is a giant mixed bag. Your mileage may vary in this case.

***

Accompanying Triptiko is the short film Fat You, about an overweight girl coming to terms with her self-image. There's a 1st person point of view sequence at the start that I particularly like (and could be expanded into a short film of its own) but it decides to veer into more conventional storytelling territory.

Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino | AWOL is the kind of action film you'd enjoy on a drunken night with friends

After a successful mission to kill the terrorist Al Sajid (complete with misspelled subtitles that look like "aloha snackbar"), super duper ultra expert sniper Lt. Ibarra (Gerald Anderson) celebrates his team's victory with some lechon. Lechon of DEATH, that is. Now on the run from unknown enemies, Ibarra goes AWOL to find out who wants him dead and why... and kill dozens of people in the process.

AWOL is the kind of movie my father used to rent on VHS back when VHS was a thing: a trashy bloodbath fueled by testosterone-laden machismo. If you don't really think of any moral implications while you're watching the film, there are parts of AWOL that are actually quite enjoyable. This is because Ibarra dispatches his enemies with the gusto of a five cent Death Wish Charles Bronson, though not quite as brutal. 

The film justifies the killing by painting the bad guys as drug lords, which is the go-to thing to do to vilify someone these days, I guess. Then again, the characterizations of these people are mostly black and white. The gunplay was decently executed in parts, and those particular scenes made me feel like I was playing Call of Duty or Counterstrike.* This all leads to a fearsome confrontation with the mastermind behind the whole thing. This confrontation turns into a contest where Ibarra and that character both try to be the guy who says "putangina mo" to the other guy with the most verve.

AWOL isn't a good film by any means, but I found it hard to hate on the film. It's the kind of film that you'd watch (and forget) while on a provincial bus or a ferry. It's the kind of film that you'd enjoy while smashed-out-of-your-mind drunk with friends. I'd say I enjoyed this film more than last week's Double Barrel. But to be perfectly honest, once you think about the film, not only is it morally dubious, it all falls apart quite easily.

*(The graphics and reload animations were nice and there was little to no lag; 10/10 -IGN)

***

Accompanying AWOL is the short film Rosa Forgets, starring Mimi Juareza of Quick Change fame. It's about a transgender woman who has developed dementia and has forgotten the fact that she has transitioned. After explaining the premise through dialogue, the movie just ends, albeit on a tender note. While nice, the core ideas could have been expanded a little further, even as a short film.

Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino | Bar Boys is school days nostalgia the film

Four young men eagerly await the entrance exam results for a law school of their choice. Each one has their respective reasons for going into law school and becoming a lawyer. Three pass and one doesn't, kicking off the story of Kip Oebanda's Bar Boys. 

Based on numerous law school experiences, the film tries to capture the struggles of law school life. Studying to be a lawyer is a brutal process which requires constant study and memorization. Every waking hour is dedicated to pass classes, which leads to graduation, which leads to passing the dreaded bar exam. To an outsider, the stakes may not be so high, but to these students, it is everything, and one feels these stakes as one sympathizes with the characters in question.

Of course, that's not all there is to it; there are other problems, both extracurricular or otherwise, that serve as obstacles for the average law student: fraternities, terror professors, family strife, economic problems, even problems with balancing school and social life. Although my own professional field (medicine) has nothing to do with law, it's just as grueling an ordeal and many school experiences share the same problems, so I identified with the problems the students faced in this film, and I think many people will find something to connect with in this film. It's similar to the 2007 Aureus Solito film Pisay, where the diverse cast of characters are tracked from their freshman year to their senior year.

The film concentrates on the students' problems, but neglects the story arc of Kean Cipriano's character, who did not get into law school and pursued a different career instead. It would have been nice to see the contrast between Kean's character and the rest of the Bar Boys, and delve into problems created by social pressure to get into law school. Unfortunately, that isn't explored in the film too deeply and his character kind of fades into the background as the film focuses on the remaining three characters.

Bar Boys is enjoyable and a bit nostalgic as well. It's filled with fun and warmhearted moments of love and friendship. While it works for the most part, I feel the concepts that it introduced can be expanded into a short series, as it is quite challenging to insert the entirety of the school experience in a couple of hours.

***

Accompanying Bar Boys is a short film from Sine Kabataan whose name I can't remember. (I think there's a short film attached to all of the films of the PPP.) In this case, it's a film about a guy enjoying fun times with his barkada. But nothing is as it seems. It ends in an interesting place, and it tackles a subject that is relevant even today.

Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino | Thoughts and Prior Reviews

Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino (PPP) begins tomorrow! For one week, watch locally made films (and ONLY locally made films) in cinemas! I've already watched a number of these films in other festivals, so I'll put links to the ones I've already watched. For the films I have watched, some words of speculation.

FILMS I HAVE ALREADY SEEN

I've already seen Ang Manananggal sa Unit 23B during the 2016 QCinema film festival. Reception to the film has been a bit mixed, but personally speaking, I really enjoyed this movie. It's about a guy forming a relationship with a flesh eating manananggal. The film looks absolutely gorgeous; if you saw how nice Sleepless and Can We Still Be Friends looked, you'll be in for a treat here. (Personally if I had a cool romantic movie idea, I'd want Prime Cruz and co. to shoot it because I love their aesthetic.) One more thing for people who've watched the film already: this movie has been re-edited and remastered for the PPP, so I might go revisit this film and re-review it when it comes out tomorrow.

Birdshot was the Cinemalaya 2017 opening film, and I still think it's one of the best local movies of the year. Everything about it is a technical accomplishment, and I will be revisiting this film because I felt I missed out on a lot of things the first time I saw it. A solid recommendation from me.

Hamog was featured in the 2015 Cinema One Originals festival. It's a pretty interesting tale about "batang hamog." It's one of Ralston Jover's stronger works in my opinion and the performances by the young actors (especially Teri Malvar) are all excellent.

Paglipay is one of two entries from last year's ToFarm Film Festival that has found its way to the PPP. Paglipay is a really sweet romance between an Aeta and a college student. The romantic story may be simple, but the film finds ways of letting the romance grow in ways other contemporary romantic films fail to do.

Patay na si Hesus was also featured in last year's QCinema Film Festival. It's no stretch to call it 2016's funniest local film. It's since been re-edited and remastered since it screened last year. I've seen this re-edit and it fixes all of the issues I had with the film when I saw it the first time around.

There's a strange kind of charm to Pauwi Na that made me like it more than I expected. It's also a roadtrip movie like Patay na si Hesus, but there's a bit more drama to the proceedings. It's quirky and sometimes weird at times, too.

Star na si Van Damme Stallone is a relatively light drama-comedy about a mom raising a child with Down's syndrome, but the film is still full of very powerful moments. It features a really great performance from Candy Pangilinan. In addition, it's very pragmatic and respectful towards its subject matter, and that matters to me a lot.

FILMS I HAVE NOT SEEN YET

AWOL is an action film by Enzo Williams, who directed the MMFF Bonifacio film a few years back, which was ok, and last year's the Escort, which was not ok. We'll have to see what's in store this time.

Bar Boys is by Kip Oebanda, who has worked for a number of films, including Shift, one of my favorite films of 2013, and assistant director for Jet Leyco's Bukas na Lang Sapagkat Gabi na. He's also one of the Cinemalaya 2018 directors. The previews look promising, if anything else.

Sherad Sanchez's Salvage was featured in 2015's Cinema One Originals festival, but I didn't get to see it. He's directed slower pieces like Imburnal. The description of Salvage makes it like some sort of horror found footage film, but I think it's far more than that, so this should prove interesting.

100 Tula Para Kay Stella is a romantic movie by Jason Laxamana. Laxamana is probably one of the country's most prolific local directors right now, and his movies are usually conceptually rich, with varying results execution-wise. Either way, he has a knack of making movies that local audiences appreciate, so this might be an audience favorite.

Triptiko is a collection of stories directed by Mico Michelena, who is better known as a cinematographer. This is the film about which I know the least, so I might take a look at this one first.

See you all at the movies tomorrow, and support your favorite films at Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino.

Cinemalaya 2017 Closing Thoughts

Another year, another Cinemalaya done. This year probably isn't going to be hailed as a landmark year for the film fest or anything like that, but the lineup has a few really impressive offerings that make it a Cinemalaya worth seeing.

Cinemalaya and the Cinema of Change

The local independent film landscape has changed drastically. Cinemalaya is now the old stalwart of indie film fests. Many filmmakers have flocked over to fests like Cinema One Originals and QCinema, who have helped make some very interesting films in the past 2 or so years. The Cinemalaya foundation gives filmmakers a grant of 750,000 pesos, and limits their overall budget to something like 3.5 million. I can't tell you if more money necessarily correlates to a better film; there's no empirical proof of that. I can tell you that a couple of films (such as Sa Gabing Nananahimik ang mga Kuliglig) did some amazing things with that miniscule budget, and some filmmakers would probably be undeterred by this notion anyway.

Our country has changed as well in the past year - we have entered an era of impunity, of false news, of fanaticism and misplaced nationalism. We have made an entire segment of the population into boogeymen. And like all forms of art, the cinema of today reflects the zeitgeist in varied and interesting ways. In depicting this change, the movies featured here (and elsewhere) also highlight the sobering fact that many things still remain the same: the widening gap between rich and poor, the lack of justice for the poor and marginalized, the incompetence and corruption in government.

The Emergence of Discourse

Art exists as a means by which we wrestle with our societal problems, to find solutions to change society for the better, and in the themes of the many films in this year's festival, we get just that: neocolonialism, changing definitions of masculinity, the inhumanity of bureaucratic social systems, the unchanging cycle of violence and impunity, the importance of education as a universal right, the concept of otherness, the gnawing societal frustration that leads to vigilantism and lawlessness.

On the flipside, there are also lighthearted films that seek to entertain, or to tell a compelling, personal story. I think these films are just as valid and are part of the discourse as well.

The emergence of social media and the internet has led to a widespread democratization of film appreciation and film criticism. When I started blogging about films (and other stuff) in 2005, there were only a handful of us blogging about Philippine Cinema, and my contemporaries at the time were far better than I am to be honest. 12 years later, anyone with internet access has an opinion about films. Sites like Twitter and Facebook serve as outlets for cinephiles for their film opinions, while longer pieces stay with blogs like this one. I'm also happy to have met a lot of these people in real life during this particular festival; these are people that have never seen in person, but I have read their works for years. It was a joy talking about the films we watched, even though our opinions were wildly divergent. I guess that's where the fun really is; you can't really have proper discourse if you're not talking to someone else. Right?

More than ten years watching this festival and I know I'm getting older. I'm not the avid festival goer that I was five years ago who would go every single day and watch every single film. But this festival will always have a special place in my heart. The crowds may have thinned, the food stalls may not be as numerous, but I'll keep coming as long as I can.

...and I'll always have Gardenia. Because Gardenia is life.

THIS IS NOT A SPONSORED POST LOL

Cinemalaya 2017 Quickies: CFI films, Please Remember Me, Pastor

We begin this short entry with the films of this year's Cinemalaya Institute. The institute holds classes for filmmakers of every stripe in such fields as directing, cinematography and so on. This year's batch of offerings wasn't as extensive compared to the last time I saw the CFI in 2015; in fact the screening was barely an hour long. Apparently there were less classes this year compared to last year.

We were shown entries from the cinematography and directing classes. For the latter, directors had to shoot a scene in black and white telling a simple, character driven story.

I wont go over all the individual films, but my personal favorites include 3:15, about a security guard and a mysterious tenant, Takas, which is exactly what it says on the title, and Kinsenas Katapusan, which manages to fit in a classic assassin's story in 10 minutes or less. The films feature relatively well known actors and actresses and looking at the production credits, the films also had crew from the TV and film industry, so the films themselves have an impressive amount of technical support.

I'll be looking forward to the CFI next year. Hopefully the volume of entries will be more substantial.

The last Asia Visions film for this year's Cinemalaya is the documentary Please Remember Me by Zhao Qing. It's a very simple and sweet story about an elderly couple based in Shanghai. The husband, Feng, has taken care of his wife Lou for many years. Lou has Alzheimer's disease, and over time it has led her to forget most of the people around her.

Feng's increasing age has made him unable to properly take care of his wife, and this has led him to consider intermittent stays in nursing homes. Throughout the film we see the couple struggle to fit into their new lifestyle, as Lou's condition slowly deteriorates.

But the film isn't dreary or depressing. Instead, the film is filled with happy moments. Feng and Lou are the sweetest old couple one can find, and their interactions are both warm and fuzzy and heartbreaking at the same time. This is a couple that knows they are in the twilight of their lives and have decided to make the best of it. I personally could not wish for anything more from a partner.

We also see a glimpse of how the elderly are cared for in mainland China. With a population poised to move from an industrialist state with a rapidly growing population to something more like Japan, populations are sure to get older over time.

Please Remember Me is a documentary in its purest form: no pretensions, no twists or gimmicks, just a heartfelt personal story of two people that is relateable and endearing.

Cinemalaya 2017 ends with Adolfo Alix's latest film, Pastor. The film reunites Phillip Salvador and Gina Alajar, who have starred together in such landmark films as Lino Brocka's Bayan Ko: Kapit sa Patalim (1984). It took a long time to get off the ground, predating Alix's earlier films such as Ang Alamat ni China Doll (2013).

Pastor draws inspiration from the Story of Job, where a man's faith is tested again and again by God. It draws inspiration from other biblical stories as well - the prodigal son, the temptation of Jesus in the desert, the story of Lot and his wife. Its interpretation of personal change and the uncertainty of personal redemption is obvious, especially within its final few frames.

There's a certain clever metafictional conceit in having Salvador in this role. Salvador is best known as an action star, the guns blazing, kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out type. The opening and ending scenes serve as glimpses of that previous life. (Whether it also reflects a yearning for that previous life is up to your interpretation.) Far removed from his action movie days, Salvador is now a Born Again Christian. In many ways, his journey reflects the journey of the pastor character in this film.

That said, the film suffers from a plethora of story problems. The film doesn't quite know if it wants to be a faith based film or a film that seeks to doubt that faith. Many scenes feel awkward or unintentionally hilarious - a certain police raid scene ends up extremely rough in its execution. And some scenes end up stretching my disbelief too much, as a moviegoer and as a medical professional.

Like the titular pastor's faith, Pastor the film is extremely conflicted. While it has moments of greatness, it's bogged down by weird storytelling decisions.

***

next up: Cinemalaya winners and Closing Thoughts.

Cinemalaya 2017: Animahenasyon Program 2, Turah, A Gift

On the penultimate day of Cinemalaya 2017, I decided to take a look at the Animahenasyon program. They feature a multitude of entries that run the gamut from thesis films, 2D and 3D animations and so on. I haven't personally known the Philippines to have such a rich pool of animation talent, but this array of short films quickly proved me wrong.

Bahay Kubo is filled with statistics and pretty drawings, which collectively is pretty cute. There are some weird statistics that really don't have anything to do with the subject at hand (like what does the status of indie filmmakers have anything to do with maternal mortality?) but I'll take it anyway. Then it gets really dark by the end.

Inday Wanda reads like the concept to an interesting comic book or TV series, but doesn't really go further than the concept. The basic premise was pretty nice though.

Ang Lalong Ni Kulakog is about a cock... and/or rooster. My memory is fuzzy, but one or the other spits out magical rainbows. It's done in CGI and is obviously a student film, but yeah, I'll take it. 

Building Too is like a really cool music video about people (most probably millennials) hanging out and doing stuff in the metro~ like going to pubs and shit at night and meeting in discos. I actually love this short because of how nicely the animation flows.

Sulundon is about a boy and his father. The boy loves boxers (the sportsmen, not the briefs), the dad is a referee and the kid resents him for that. It's done really nicely, and the animation is actually quite good. Things end up in dark places by the end, so that puts a damper on things, but overall I think this is one of the best ones of the lot.

Baka Nasa Labas si Ramil is about innocence in the midst of conflict. It was made by students in Zamboanga, so it really captures the mood down there in the south. It also escalates quickly by the end.

Josephine, made by the same guys that animated Saving Sally, is quite gorgeous; it looks sleek and professional, arguably the most polished of the lot. The story is largely symbolic but it's still pretty nice.

...then the earthquake happened and we evacuated. Shortly after, we continued with...

Milkyboy, directed, written and animated by Arnold Arre, is my favorite animation of this batch. You may know Arre more as a komikero, responsible for such works as The Mythology Class and Ang Mundo ni Andong Agimat, but he's made his share of animated works too. Milkyboy, the story of an advertising guy who struggles with life and love, has influences from both comics and anime. Some of the realistic backgrounds reminded me of a Shinkai film. I'm just amazed I haven't seen this one yet.

I've already covered Geo during the 2015 MMFF New Wave festival, and I still think it's pretty cool and sweet. Moms really are heroes to many of their children.

Pasintabi is about a boy and his lolo and three supernatural Nuno sa Punso who decide to curse him. It goes on for a little too long for my taste, but the animation is good nevertheless.

We Give In Sometimes is a music video for the Up Dharma Down song of the same name, and in some ways is the ending song to the whole set. It's got this nice Japanese/Chinese traditional art aesthetic going for it that I found really entertaining to watch. Of course, the music is Up Dharma Down, what's not to like?

***

The Indonesian film Turah begins and ends with an obituary; an occurrence that normalizes death in a quiet riverside community. We soon get accustomed to the rhythms of life in the village. The titular character, Turah, is the community's de facto leader, helping various villagers with their problems.

Yet one immediately sees the problems with the setup of this village. As it is located in a remote area, it doesn't exactly fall within the jurisdiction of the government. An early scene shows government workers taking a census, but when confronted with the question of why they haven't brought basic necessities to the village, the government official answers with "it's not my problem." The lack of government support has led to a relationship with a rich landowner that is both oppressive and a bit feudalistic. The title has meaning as well - in Javanese, "Turah" means leftover, which describes the plight of these people well.

Things come to a head when the village drunk, Jadag, speaks out against this unfair system. While Jadag is far from paragon -he is by all accounts a cantankerous, incorrigible old man - he does have a point. The story is relatively simple, and the conclusion serves as an appropriate bookend to the film. It shows the powerlessness of those at the bottom-most rungs of society, when the systems that should work to serve us fail us horribly.

Cinemalaya has been (and always will be) an exhausting, but fun experience in the ten or so years I've been going to the festival. But sometimes the dreariness of the film choices kinda pulls you down (last year, while impressive, was an egregious example). So it comes with a bit of relief that the last film I saw today, A Gift, is for the most part, festive, feel-good and entertaining. It's not particularly deep or substantial - I mean, this isn't an Apichatpong film by any means - but hey, I was in the mood and I dug it.

A Gift is a warmhearted collection of three interconnected stories, each based on a piece of music composed by the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej. All three stories are rooted in a different genre: the first is a romantic comedy, the second, a melodrama, and the last part is a straight up comedic piece.

The first part is about a guy and a girl who meet during rehearsals for a relatively high profile dinner. The relationship of the two leads builds up well, and is quite charming, even though it's rooted in mainstream rom com sensibilities. And despite that, the two characters grow closer together organically and it never feels forced. The film's denouement, though incomplete thanks to the limited running time, is pragmatic instead of overtly whimsical.

The second part, about a woman taking care of her father with Alzheimer's, can be pretty poignant at times. The last scene in particular is quite the effective tearjerker (I find that the Thais are pretty good at this, if you've seen any of their commercials on Facebook or Youtube). Nittha Jirayungyurn carries this part on her shoulders with a pretty effective performance. 

The third part is an all-out wacky comedy about a retired rock musician who gets dragged into leading a band by his bank co-workers. The timing of this segment is an appropriate counter to the heavy drama of the second part, so it's a welcome treat. The third segment ends up being the weakest of the three segments, as it doesn't have the time to develop its characters as much as the other two parts. Still, it's a pretty nice way to close things out.

Technically, the film is sound. the musical score is pretty good, and the King's songs are actually quite catchy (the filmmakers even obtained royal permission to use the songs). Overall, the film is cute and charming and a definite crowd pleaser. My expectations were really low coming in to this film, and coming out I was pleasantly surprised and entertained. I really can't ask for anything more in that regard.

Cinemalaya 2017 + Eiga Sai 2017: Poolside Man, The Painter's View

How does one dissect chaos? When I look at crimes committed by lone perpetrators, there are times when I cannot fathom the reasons behind their outrageous acts. The titular character of Hirobumi Watanabe's Poolside Man is one such cipher. He is literally wordless as he does not speak a single line, and he barely reacts to the people around him. 

The film uses the apparent repetition of shots to create a sense of habit as the Poolside Man goes about a daily routine that almost never breaks. Yet the shots are slightly different - as one realizes that these sequences take place during different days. The first runthrough establishes the contents of the habit; the second establishes its nature as a routine. This extended setup takes more than half of the running time, and can be a challenging watch.

Within its black and white frames, our character becomes a blank slate onto which the rest of the world is imprinted. News reports of terrorist attacks saturate his day, yet when juxtaposed with the mundaneness of his daily life, the horrible news feels remote. We see the Poolside Man go to daily screenings of films that involve war and chaos, yet we do not see the movie itself - we only hear the sounds of gunfire and death. The tediousness of this first half serves a purpose, creating the film's initial sense of emptiness, the title character defined by his ennui.

The repetition breaks when his mundane world is interrupted by a coworker who joins him when he is assigned to a different pool. By this time, the film is almost done, and that's probably my biggest problem with the film: it's too overlong, too tedious, stretching out everything so much that by the end my ennui matched the Poolside Man's. The film concludes with a number of striking images, but the character arc of the Poolside Man doesn't exactly pay off or pull through with the momentum it had been building for almost two hours. 

Poolside Man is a film that takes its viewers on a ride to nowhere. While I liked its general structure and experimental feel, it didn't lead to anything profound or meaningful in the end.

While probably a relative unknown here in the Philippines, Lee Jung-seob is one of Korea's greatest and most legendary modern painters. The documentary A Painter's View examines his life as he wanders South Korea during the aftermath of the Korean war, separated from his wife and two children.

Lee's art pervades the short 66 minute film. During the postwar period he drew on anything he could - foil cigarette wrappers, exam papers, scrap - works that are now featured in New York's Museum of Modern art.

He sent postcards to his wife, who had opted to stay in Japan, and these postcards were filled with scribbles and cartoony drawings. These postcards and the words that sometimes accompanied them are heartfelt and sincere.

Lee's life is mostly told mostly through narration, rarely through interviews and sometimes through reenactments. While some of the scenes are indeed fascinating, for the most part it's a standard documentary. Lee died alone and penniless in the 50's, but his works have since gone on to received critical praise, with Lee's style helping create a modern art aesthetic that Koreans can proudly call their own.

Double Barrel (Sige Iputok Mo) made my head hurt

Let's take a short break from the Cinemalaya films and look at a local film that has just come out. Master Director (tm) Toto Natividad is probably best known for his work on the teleserye Ang Probinsyano. Before that, he directed a number of action films in the nineties and early noughts, most notably the 2006  cinematic masterpiece Tatlong Baraha starring the Lapids.

The trailer showed a lot of footage of people getting killed extrajudicially, so I naturally assumed this was an EJK film. What I didn't expect was how much it supports the current war on drugs. I guess, looking at the title, I shouldn't be surprised.

After getting busted in a drug operation (where he miraculously stays alive,) Jeff is hired by a tough talking dirty cop (Jeric Raval) to kill drug pushers and users for him. Now you'd normally expect that Raval's character is portrayed as a cartoonishly evil villain, but no, Jeff actually sides with the potty mouthed policeman, spouting such oft-repeated rhetoric such as "the police are killing only bad people", and "I'm doing this for the nation, the future of my kid and for peace and safety." Soon, even his wife (Phoebe Walker) gets involved in the killings and they both become a team of druggie-killing assassins. Again I expected her to be the voice of reason, but my faith in this film is clearly misplaced, as the film seems to be populated by idiots.

Technically, the film looks like shit, and I really do mean shit because the color palette is a sickly shade of brown. The camerawork is so shaky and jittery that I thought the cameraman was a paranoiac who was furiously masturbating as he held the camera. It certainly does no favors to the action scenes, because the camera is darting all over the place so one barely knows what's going on. The sex scenes recycle footage, leading me to believe they only had the budget for one sex scene. They even have a sex scene to celebrate a successful killing. Cars turn over and explode at random, which is kind of a 90's Filipino action move staple, I guess. At least the drone shots were nice.

Now I'd be content to leave the film as it is, but suddenly it seems to backtrack a bit on the rhetoric it had been spouting so far. So is it a film that supports the war on drugs, or is it secretly against the war on drugs by showing us how ludicrous the entire thing is? Should I be spending brain cells on this? Probably not, then again thanks to this flip floppery I actually have no idea what the film's trying to say, as the ending leaves us in ambiguity. I need a paracetamol badly. So this is either the most bizarre film I have ever seen, or the most stunning work of genius. Truly, a Master Director (tm). 

10/10 bestest movie of the 20th century uguu~

Cinemalaya 2017: Ang Pamilyang Hindi Lumuluha, Above it All

These days, every Cinemalaya has one movie with a really big star, and this year it's the one and only Megastar Sharon Cuneta, who hasn't been in a feature film since 2009-2010. Her comeback comes in the form of Mes de Guzman's Ang Pamilyang Hindi Lumuluha, where she plays a mother seeking to reconnect with her family.

The movie starts off with a number of jokes, mostly coming from the inspired pairing of Sharon and Hatima "Moi Bien" Marcampo. Thanks to excellent performances from both actresses, it's all quite hilarious, and the hilarity continues for most of the film. And the jokes go on... and on... and on.

And while the laughs do provide a generally fun, lighthearted source of entertainment, the film has several structural problems. Everything is tied together too loosely, the plot existing to serve the jokes instead of the other way around. One wonders how exactly can Sharon's familial problems be solved by  reuniting the titular Family, but the film glosses through the admittedly convoluted explanation with a vague notion of 'they bring good luck'. Then more jokes ensue.

Behind the laughter is a vulnerable, lonely woman who has sought love from her family and friends, only to get nothing in return. Sharon's performance is wonderful during the rare moments when her facade cracks, showing the damaged woman underneath. Those are the moments that stuck with me the most instead of the comedic scenes, and I think the film could have gained a bit more nuance had it built up its characters more. And with such characters, the film's resolution comes almost as a deus ex machina, where everything sorts itself out somehow instead of, for example, having the new people in Sharon's character's life help her out in more direct ways.

A crowd pleaser through and through, Ang Pamilyang Hindi Lumuluha will no doubt entertain fans and casual movie goers. However, it is basically a loosely knit patchwork of funny scenes with a thin plot holding it up, which at least to me was disappointing, considering the fact that the Megastar has an impressive body of work behind her, such as the excellent Crying Ladies (2003), which mixed humor and a solid dramatic story. In any case, with the Megastar gearing up to make more independent films in the future, I remain optimistic.

The original title for Anysay Keola's 2015 film Above it All is Noy, which refers to two characters with that name. One is a medical student who is having trouble coming out as gay to his family, while the other is a Hmong woman who must make a decision between true love and supporting her family by getting married to a complete stranger.

One of the few Marxist-Leninist states left in the world, Laos is a country with a turbulent history. In the course of that history, human rights have been violated and ethnic minorities have been marginalized. The film seeks to give people from these marginalized groups their own stories. It tries to show the how these people face discrimination, or how they deal with social taboos. 

The film has a tendency to meander with its two stories. The lack of focus slows the film down, much to its detriment. Certain dramatic scenes fall a little flat thanks to this habit. The sound was extremely loud in some scenes, though I've yet to determine if this was more a technical problem than a problem with the film itself.

The international title, Above it All, serves the movie well: in seeing beyond petty biases or discriminatory ideas about race or gender, the characters of the film see the shared humanity that we all possess underneath. 

***

That ends my coverage of the competition films, but I'll still be watching Cinemalaya's exhibition films until Saturday, with a short break today. See you guys tomorrow.

Cinemalaya 2017: Kiko Boksingero, Maestra

At a lean 76 minutes, Kiko Boksingero is the shortest full length film in this year's Cinemalaya. Its story is simple enough that I think it could have worked as a short film. But surprisingly, Kiko Boksingero packs a lot of emotion and heart into its modest running time, and is filled with tons of heartfelt, deeply affecting moments.

The film isn't really about boxing. It's a character study of a boy who is desperately looking for someone to love him after the death of his mother. This leads him to try to reconnect with his father, a professional boxer. 

The film's greatest merit is in how spartan it is, trimming away all the fat and filler and concentrating on its central drama. It does not meander into grand melodramatic set pieces, instead opting to stay in small, personal moments instead. The film tends to show rather than tell, easing the audience into their own realizations instead of resorting to needless exposition. And ultimately, it leads into some really heartwarming payoffs near the end. The boxer, so to say, has maintained his weight and packs a solid dramatic punch.

The whole cast deserves merit, but Noel Comia Jr. and Yayo Aguila both deserve praise for their roles as Kiko and Diday, respectively. While some child actors tend to overact and be annoying, Comia brings it in, and it's impressive, considering the kid hasn't been in a lot of roles prior to this.

Kiko Boksingero exists as a heartwarming counterpoint to all the doom and gloom of the other entries. It's a testament of love and how it exists in plain sight, but not necessarily in things we may readily notice.

Lemuel Lorca's latest film, Maestra, is nothing if not earnest. It's a collection of three stories about teachers struggling to make it in a country that doesn't exactly put education as its highest priority. These stories are based on real life people; two of the three outstanding teachers who served as an inspiration for the film were in the audience.

Of the three stories, only Angeli Bayani's story ended up being particularly compelling to me. The other two have a number of storytelling hiccups. Anna Luna's segment, that of a extremely talented teacher shackled by the limitations of her economic status, tends to tell rather than show, and ends when things start to get interesting. Gloria Sevilla's segment, that of a veteran in the education field who wants to keep teaching even well after retirement age, doesn't have much to work on, either. (Her character is pretty interesting, though.)

Angeli Bayani's story, that of an Aeta teacher who perseveres to uplift her small community, is the most fleshed out of all the stories. She has taken the licensure exam for teachers multiple times (29 in real life) without passing; and yet her determination has led to the construction of a school for the members of her community, one that is accessible only by a four hour walk to the location. It could definitely have worked out as a short, and Angeli Bayani's the kind of actress that can carry such a thing on her shoulders.

It's no secret that the film is co produced by a popular review center (and the film seems to be peppered with random product placement), but I think the true stories that the movie depicts are important and inspiring nevertheless. It's just that the storytelling for most of the stories isn't getting where it's supposed to be. Ultimately, in terms of what it says about education, I think this is better than the other teaching-themed movie I saw in Cinemalaya this year..

***

Later today (or maybe tomorrow) - A look at Asia Visions, and the last competition entry that I haven't seen for this festival. Have I saved the best for last? Stay tuned.