This Week in Pinoy Cinema (June '18): The Write Moment, Walwal, Manila Death Squad

When I saw The Write Moment back during last year's QCinema film festival, I liked it on a conceptual level but found the execution to be a bit rough. In particular, I liked the way it laid bare the folly of both hugot and its sibling kilig, highlighting the fact that relationships are a two way street - and hugot stories often end up being one sided.

In the interest of fairness I decided to watch it again today, the first day of its commercial run in cinemas, and I was pleasantly surprised. I'm glad I gave this a second chance, because I enjoyed my rewatch of The Write Moment more than I expected. It felt smoother than I remember, and I could follow it more easily. The film is still imperfect, and that's fine. The second act still sticks out like a sore thumb to me: it still feels like a detour, although its ending scene does hammer home a particular point.  That said, it didn't bother me as much as it did the last time.

Ultimately, the film's central message still rings true: that there is no value in forcing something that doesn't need to be forced. Sometimes love just doesn't work out, and we have to live with that whether we like it or not, even if, on the face of it, it makes absolutely no sense. There's a scene near the end of the movie where Dave, our main character, is unable to let go of his relationship. His soon-to-be ex's last words repeat again and again, as if there is a singular focus on it. But that focus breaks for just one moment, and that gives Dave the clarity to make his decision. In that short moment, he realizes that the woman he loves is not a character in a movie, but a living, breathing person.

They say love can be better the second time around, and this film won me over. Of all people, even the security guard who was patrolling the cinema laughed at the jokes. It's an interesting concept, it's enjoyable and it's funny, thanks to the comedic talents of Jerald Napoles. For a light 81 minutes, I think it's worth looking into.

Jose Javier Reyes' Walwal follows the lives of four young men as they go through various challenges in life. This is not the first time Reyes has made a film about the youth - back in the mid nineties, he made Pare Ko, which starred Claudine Barretto, Jao Mapa and Mark Anthony Fernandez, among others. Pare Ko had its protagonists go through their character arcs while drinking together and having fun. Walwal (meaning to get wasted and/or drunk) feels like a spiritual successor to that film in that regard, though the results are decidedly mixed.

The four young men in question are Marco (Kiko Estrada), Dondi (Elmo Magalona), Intoy (Jerome Ponce) and Bobby (Donny Pangilinan.) Marco is a playboy who impregnates a girl by accident, Dondi is a law student who gets dumped by his girlfriend, Intoy grapples with the identity of his long lost father, and Bobby wants to make films, but his dad isn't on board with that plan.

Dondi's storyline doesn't really have a lot of heft to it; he pines after his girlfriend until he realizes that that isn't the healthiest thing to do, and moves on. The end. Like Bobby, he has issues with his father regarding his choice of career, but like an afterthought, that isn't really explored until the last minute. Bobby's storyline is also rather aimless, and any major conflict disappears by the end. His character gets tangled up in some shady shenanigans but nothing of consequence really happens to him afterwards. He's paired up with Ruby (Kisses Delavin), and listening to their dialogue is by far the cringiest, most awkward experience I've ever had in the cinema this year.

On to the decent stuff. Intoy's story is a bit broader, as it is as much about his mother (Angeli Bayani), than it is about him. There's a major dramatic conflict that sets off the third act, and Jerome Ponce tries to make the best of it. It resolves itself a little too quickly at the end, but it's fine for what it's worth.

It's Marco's story arc that ends up being the most substantial. He's paired with Trina (Devon Seron) and the two have genuine chemistry together, and Marco's character undergoes the most change from beginning to end. It feels like it could be its own film, with Marco coming to terms with his attitude and his actions, and this particular story delves into real life issues more than the other narrative threads. If anything else, this particular pairing shows promise.

For a movie about youth, there isn't anything particularly youthful about the way the film was made. It's all calculated and safe, and there's no experimentation with the form. It's not bad per se, just unremarkable. The film doesn't properly function as a snapshot of contemporary culture either; other than inserting a few phrases of contemporary slang into the dialogue, the film could have taken place in any relatively recent time period.

Walwal is a hit and miss affair, but I didn't dislike it. It's fine for fans, but it doesn't necessarily tread any new ground.

So a new film debuted this week, though not in cinemas. It's available for free on Vimeo, and you can view it by clicking this link.

The gist is: an American reporter (Annicka Dolonius) challenges the leader of a vigilante group (Sid Lucero) to a contest in exchange for a scoop.

It's wild, wacky, fun and frenetic. The movie is bathed in blood red tones (I totally dig the aesthetic) and it all seems like a bit of crazy fun until the end, when the film reminds us exactly who these people are. It's a bit of a tonal shift, but I found the overall effect quite potent.

At twelve minutes long, it doesn't overstay its welcome, and it's free. I mean, what more could you ask for?

Cry No Fear

Over the past few years, local studios have been trying to experiment with different genres. For example, Viva Films tried out found footage horror with last year's Darkroom. This time, with Richard Somes' Cry No Fear, it's a home invasion thriller, but unfortunately the results are quite disappointing.

Kaycee (Donnalyn Bartolome) and Wendy (Ella Cruz) are half sisters. Because of that fact, they aren't exactly the best of friends. During one particularly rainy day, they are targeted by a murderous family and must work together to survive, or else.

To make an effective home invasion thriller, one has to know how to effectively convey the story within a confined space. The thrill comes from the cat and mouse game between invaders and victims, and the terror comes from the loss of safety that a home invasion embodies.  There has to be a sense of claustrophobia to ratchet up the tension, else things fall apart quickly.

In this case, the filmmaking ultimately comes up a bit short. The cinematography largely consists of a lot of extreme closeup shots, whether the scene is supposed to be tense or not. While it helps capture the emotions of the lead characters well enough, it makes certain scenes (like chase scenes) harder to parse, especially without a wider establishing shot. It's too bad that in trying to create a claustrophobic feeling, the film manages to overdo it. The editing also feels muddled and disorganized, making the film even harder to understand.

The film's internal logic is inconsistent, structured poorly, and strains suspension of disbelief. A hand is dislocated, but is more or less normal after a few scenes. There is one particular scene where a dog is killed and decapitated. The head is initially missing, so the protagonists decide to bury the dog's body in the park, which I assume is far from their house (and far from relative safety) because it was their dog's favorite place. And when the dog's severed head shows up in the house a few scenes later, despite the fact that there is a serious threat to their lives lurking outside the house, they decide to go back to the park AGAIN, for the sake of a certain contrivance near the end. Throughout the film, for the sake of a plot device, the characters are made out to be idiots.

And then there's the weird stuff. The film seems to be aiming to titillate and fails spectacularly. In the first half of the film, there seems to be an inordinate amount of attention focused on Donnalyn Bartolome's legs - in fact, the film literally begins with a panning shot of her legs. This is turned up to eleven when a later phone conversation keeps cutting back to her legs instead of her talking on the phone. Patricia Javier is also in the movie, and there just HAD to be a sexy scene with her right in the middle of the film. It does nothing to the plot, and it undoes the effect of some of the scenes directly preceding it. It's gratuitous and distracting.

The glaring missteps in the making of Cry No Fear are highlighted even more considering that another horror film, Hereditary, debuted at the same time, and nails everything Cry No Fear did wrong, in terms of creating tension and claustrophobia through camerawork and editing. Cry No Fear is a prime example of why technical skill and directing should properly complement an inventive concept.

The 1st Istorya ng Pag-Asa Film Festival

June 12, Philippine Independence Day, also marked the gala night of the very first Istorya ng Pag-Asa Festival, a joint project of the Office of the Vice President and the Ayala Foundation. The project started as a photo gallery showcasing the inspiring stories of everyday Filipino men and women as they live their lives with courage and grace. Out of a significant amount of entries, the fifteen finalists were screened during the gala night, with the top three films set to screen in Ayala Cinemas nationwide.

Most of the films were very short (often five to ten minutes in length,) and the stories were varied even though some of the people had similar jobs. What gets me most about the festival is that with our nation in the state it is today, it's nice to have media showing us something hopeful and positive for a change instead of the relentless negativity we experience daily. The festival recognizes that there is something valuable, perhaps even heroic, in ordinary men and women triumphing over adversity..

As for the shorts themselves, here's what I thought about them:

The Climbing Puppeteer is about a man who, through his mountaineering hobby, discovered a bunch of impoverished settlements. He then finds a way to combine his hobby with community service and outreach. It's not bad, and the film does take an interesting turn when he explains the whole puppeteer part.

McLaine is about a problem student that eventually becomes a teacher himself. It's composed of a long dramatization, followed by only a very brief payoff. The story is nice but the execution feels a bit off.

Dealing With Healing is one of two stories that deal with people struggling with mental health issues. it shows that even people that seem outgoing and extroverted can suffer from this condition.  I appreciate the conversation, though I felt it may have downplayed the medical aspect a bit. Stories like these are very important to me, and as our country is getting close to signing a Mental Health Bill of our own, and I hope these kinds of stories guide us into making the right laws.

Ngiti is the second of two stories of people struggling with hard life challenges and mental health issues. I also have the same concerns with this film as I did with the previous one, but I think this is still a story worth telling.

Ang Gahum Sang Daku Nga Handum is about Vejiel, a member of an indigenous tribe in Negros, who became a teacher to help uplift her community. In a short time, the film highlights the challenges these people have to face in terms of cultural attitudes and socioeconomic issues, and it shows that all it takes is a lot of hard work, determination, and the idea that cultural attitudes can be changed for the better.

Alkansiya probably has one of the festival's best concepts: it's about a boy who dives for coins under a bridge in Manila. This is, according to the boy, so that he can be reunited with his mother who lives in the province. The presentation is not as clean as I had expected, but it more or less delivers on its message.

If you've heard of last year's documentary Haunted or the Malaya Lolas in general, the story behind Liham Pagmamahal Para sa Kasalukuyan should be familiar. It is a shorter version of the story told in that documentary, and it serves as both testimony and reminder of the horrors of the past. I believe it's an essential story to tell given that recently, in exchange for political handholding, some people would rather choose to forget these stories.

Liwanag is about a woman, who, despite being blind since birth, decided to become a teacher. She succeeded, and her next goal is to make it into a public school to teach, which would be pretty awesome. The presentation is great and straight to the point.

Gawilan is my favorite of all 15 shorts, and it made it into the top 3. It's about a man with a disability who is also an Olympic swimmer. The presentation is slick and structured really well. I hope you guys can catch it in cinemas.

Overdrive is about a mother who moonlights as an Uber driver. The film is about the filmmaker discovering her and wanting to share her story. Content-wise, that's all the film has, but it's more than enough.

Pamilyang Bernardo is about a family with ectrodactyly, a condition that results in deformities of the hands and feet. Since there is a genetic component to this condition, this particular family has it in two successive generations. The film is about how the family strives to get along with government help and how the youngest member of the family (who does not have the condition) wants to study hard to help the people who raised him despite their disability. The film is very well made and though a more comprehensive treatment of the material would have been nice, it's okay as it is.

Dibuho is about Jhalanie Matuan, a woman who creates wonderful works of art but prefers to live in the street. This could be blown into a full documentary, because I think there's a lot that can be told about this particular story. Dibuho elects to highlight one particular story in Jhalanie's life, and that works to the film's benefit.

Ang Biyahe ni Marlon won best picture in the festival, and it's not hard to see why: it's well made and presented and is genuinely emotionally affecting. It's the story of Marlon, who works as an Uber driver. But Marlon also has Tourette's syndrome, making him prone to motor and vocal tics. He has been judged unfairly because of his condition, but he shows us, through this film, that he continues to live his life for his family with dignity. It's a perfect encapsulation of the concept behind the film festival, and it's worth catching once it comes out in theaters.

Person With This Ability is about Daniel Padillan, who, despite being disabled from the waist down, managed to represent the country in international archery competitions. Compared to the other sports related short in this set, the story is much more expansive, detailing Padillan's life from his early days to his eventual triumphs.

The short with the most unique story is probably Tago, which won second best picture. It's about a jazz cafe that has served as a nurturing space for many Filipino Jazz musicians. As a jazz lover myself, this film is totally my jam as it's slickly presented and it's unique concept helps it stand out above the rest.

for more information about the festival and the individual competitors, you can visit the official Istorya ng Pag-asa website at https://istoryangpagasa.ovp.gov.ph/

Kaala (and Indian movies in the Philippines)

Last week, a movie premiered in Philippine cinemas that went completely under the radar. It didn't show up in the usual places for movie schedules (such as Clickthecity), even up to now. No one in the local film news community has discussed it. Even when I went to the cinema where it was showing, it was conspicuously absent from that day's schedule. But this isn't some small indie movie shown in an arthouse venue or a niche theatre. This is Kaala, one of the year's most anticipated Indian films, and for the past few days it has enjoyed modest pop-up screenings in large mall cinemas such as SM Southmall. 

Here in the Philippines, Indian film distribution is tailored towards the large and growing Indian expat population living in the country. Indians love movies, perhaps more than any other film culture in the world, and as nice as foreign productions can get, there's nothing quite like something from home. These screenings are organized by small businesses and fellow members of the community and movie schedules and information are disseminated within these communities, often through social media - so to know the schedule of these films, one has to know someone from these communities. Often, large scale or highly anticipated movies are screened - in the past year or so, films such as Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017) and Padmavaat (2018), among others, have been screened here.

In this case, the movie in question is the latest film from Superstar Rajinikanth, Kaala. To readers who have no idea who Rajinikanth is, the man is a legend in South Indian cinema. He has appeared in more than a hundred films. He is probably best known outside India for his role in Enthiran (a.k.a. Robot; 2010), a science fiction film that also starred Aishwarya Rai. His movies typically enjoy packed, often sold out screenings in South India, and his contemporary film roles are often (but not always) (super)heroic, larger-than-life working class men who fight for the oppressed and downtrodden. Kaala is his second collaboration with director P.A. Ranjith, after the huge success of 2016's Kabali, a darker than usual Rajinikanth film where he plays an old gangster.

Kaala shares some similarities with Kabali in plot structure, but is overall a completely different film: in Kaala, the titular character is an old gangster who serves as the de facto king of the Dharavi slums in Mumbai. Dharavi is the largest slum area in the world, and was featured prominently in such films as Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire (2008.) Kaala helps the local populace live their lives with dignity as the government is either unhelpful or indifferent. Kaala, with the help of his extended family, soon gets into a fight with local politician Haridev Abhayankar (Nana Patekar), as the latter seeks to redevelop Dharanvi, but on his terms (and to the detriment of the people). The appearance of an old flame, Zareena (Huma Qureshi) seeks to complicate things even further.

What follows is an interesting take on the South Indian action thriller that quickly evolves during the second half into something overtly political. While there are enough wacky action setpieces to satiate fans' wishes (of note is the pre-interval sequence where Kaala fights off a number of people armed only with an umbrella), the action takes a backseat to the film's political message - that of land ownership, increasing class divides, the rights of the urban poor, and the value of community organizing. This is nothing new, as Rajinikanth has often discussed political issues in his films before, such as when his 2007 film Sivaji The Boss talked about black money. At one point in this film, a character introduces himself using Rajinikanth's real life name and talks about helping the poor help themselves, and I couldn't help but wonder if this was Rajinikanth himself speaking through the character or something else entirely. Many of Rajinikanth's films use his extremely expansive reach and influence to try to initiate societal change, and at the very least that's something worth celebrating.

The film is relatively serious and does not have much of a comedic streak, save for a couple of moments where Rajinikanth himself does the heavy comedic lifting. It also takes a while to get going, spending most of its first half developing the world and the characters before getting into serious dramatic territory during the last stretch. The heavily rap and hip hop-flavored soundtrack can be quite catchy, especially the title theme song.

Color plays an important role in the film, and serves as Kaala's most important visual motif. It contrasts Kaala's black with Hari's white, making a point that those who are perceived as bad aren't always so, and those who are perceived as good and pure may often be worse. It is in the actions of people that true character can be discerned, not through outside appearances.

By the end of the film, the message and the persona become more than the man himself, culminating in a spectacular sequence of light, color, music and dance that is artfully abstract and open to interpretation. While it does feel a bit abrupt, leaving several plot threads hanging or simply cut, it is, at the very least, fascinating.

What elevates the experience of watching Kaala for me the most is watching it with a receptive Indian audience. I've watched Indian films mostly by myself through streaming services, DVDs from who knows where or through Youtube, so it was nice to watch a film like this with an audience that knows what they're watching. I may have been the only Filipino in the whole theater, but I was cheering along with the crowd whenever Rajinikanth had a cool fight scene (there aren't a lot, but Rajinikanth isn't getting any younger) and I cheered whenever he said something awesome (which is often.) That experience in itself is worth the price of admission.

Ultimately Kaala may not be Rajinikanth's best film, but it's a treat for fans, and is almost worth watching for that ending scene alone.

Sid & Aya (Not a Love Story)

Irene Villamor's Sid & Aya begins with an overhead shot of intersections, which will become one of the film's visual motifs. Because it is in these crosswalks and intersections where people meet, sometimes fleetingly, sometimes once then never again. 

Sid (Dingdong Dantes) works as a stock broker. He's nearing the top of the financial food chain, often screwing over co-workers for his own gain. When he meets Aya (Anne Curtis), he approaches her on similar terms: he offers her money in exchange for her companionship, a scenario that on the surface shares similarities with Gary Marshall's seminal Pretty Woman (1990). Sid's offer is done out of both loneliness and curiosity. But Aya has her own wants and needs, and she's playing the game too for her own reasons. 

What results is not quite a love story, but the means to get to something quite like it. Villamor has mastered the art of the meet-cute; in her previous film, Meet Me in St. Gallen, the meet-cute forms the center of the story, while in this film, the meet-cute is extended to a number of interactions that fleshes out Sid and Aya's relationship and makes any potential heartbreak all the more effective. And like her previous film, the last act of the film displaces both characters in an unfamiliar place, symbolic of the growing disconnect in their relationship borne from their respective life situations.

It's evident as Sid and Aya's relationship grows that they are constrained by their different socioeconomic backgrounds, which inform their viewpoints and life decisions. Sid has never lived for anyone else but himself, and his life (and his attitude towards relationships) are more open and liberal. Aya has spent all her life living in the service of others, and her filial responsibilities are  a major part of the film's eventual conflict. Romances that hinge upon socioeconomic inequality are a staple of Filipino storytelling; one cannot count the number of local romantic stories involving a rich person marrying someone born from poverty. But Sid & Aya is one of the few works of fiction that grounds that notion in reality, eschewing the fantasy wish fulfillment treatment. Their ultimate decisions - and their character arcs - are more realistic and relatable as a result.

To be honest, it's hard to articulate the appeal of this film. There's something in how it's constructed and crafted, in how the chemistry between the two leads work so well, in how their lives mirror ours in more ways than one, that I just love.

The film is admittedly not perfect. A particular story arc peters off with little to no resolution, for example. But those are minor quibbles in what is otherwise a remarkable, strangely appealing film. I fell in love with Sid & Aya from the start, and I think it's one of the year's best so far, featuring a director at the top of her game.

Ang Misyon: A Marawi Siege Story was apparently made by people

...and that's surprising, because for a moment there I thought most of the cast was replaced by robots.

The Battle of Marawi was a costly and devastating conflict that took the lives of many brave soldiers and civilians. It's a rich source of conceptual material, especially for a film that aims to shine a spotlight on the many acts of heroism and valor that both soldiers and common people have done for the service of their country and home. In that respect, Ang Misyon: A Marawi Siege Story is borne from good intentions.

However, good intentions are often not enough. It doesn't exactly show us a tale of heroism in the midst of battle - instead, it shows us the life of a terrorist sympathizer whose motivations are left ambiguous to the very end.

Sajid (Martin Escudero) is a nurse who works in a hospital that tends to wounded soldiers. He encounters a wounded soldier and the two engage in a conversation that feels more like the scriptwriter talking to himself rather than realistic dialogue between two human beings. After a few vague flashbacks, it turns out that Sajid's father was killed by (((someone))), and that leads him to take up a position with an ISIS-linked group. He isn't even secretive about it; his room is filled with books that scream "ISIS" and he watches training and propaganda videos out in the open. Excuse me if I can't see the heroism in this tale at all. It tries to explain the roots of extremism, but does so poorly.

Putting that aside, the rest of the movie is pretty garbage. The characters in this movie don't act like human beings, and 90% of the actors in this movie have the acting range of a cardboard cutout. The film feels preachy and didactic. A woman is given an engagement ring in one scene (curiously, her fiancee to be doesn't even open the ring box, he shoves the unopened box in her direction), and with the bluntest affect and delivery ever, she states that she is surprised. There are tears in her eyes but that's obviously visine or something the staff dropped in her eyes to simulate the act of crying, probably because robotic technology hasn't advanced to the point of artificial tear ducts yet. Add the fact that after giving his fiancee the ring, the man talks about how much debt he had to accrue to acquire the ring, which is the most romantic thing ever.

In another scene, a man dictates the five pillars of Islam (probably from Wikipedia) to his son, who has been Muslim since birth. Our heroic protagonist (who is married) is shown to be flirting with a coworker, for no other reason than to have an extra character during a later dramatic scene. Martin Escudero tries his best to mimic a regional accent, but it doesn't work if the rest of his co-actors speak straight Tagalog. The filmmakers have obviously hired a number of non-actors in this film, and they are terribly directed, often looking like they are reading off cue cards. As for the rest of the movie, the music is bizarrely jarring, the editing feels too stretched out, and the action scenes in this film are poorly staged, tepid and boring.

As a Muslim, I don't know if I should be offended or not. At least the film's intentions were good... I hope. What's sad is that at the end of the film there is genuinely good footage of the men and women who protected our country during the siege. I would have loved a story about that, but unfortunately that film is not this one.

Ang Misyon: A Marawi Siege story is a horror story about the dangers of deforestation. Because if you have this much wood in the actors' performances, a lot of trees have presumably died for that, and that's a problem.

So Connected

Karter (Jameson Blake) works in a small company that makes Youtube videos. When Karter's phone gets stolen, he tracks it down and discovers that it is now in the possession of Trisha (Janella Salvador), who is otherwise a complete stranger. Karter becomes smitten with Trisha, which ultimately leads to him planning to meet her in person.

While watching So Connected, I found myself drawing comparisons with this film and Laxamana's earlier Instalado (2017), where technology is a tool used by people for both good and bad things. So Connected wears the disguise of a romantic comedy, but in truth it asks deeper questions about how we use social media today and how the personal information we choose to share can push ethical boundaries. It's greatest asset is that it provides a neutral viewpoint of these two characters. Like previous reviews have stated, the film does not judge them for their actions; instead, it understands that these actions are the result of the world that has shaped them. Karter's sister acts as his conscience, and the folly of his actions are soon exposed..

In many ways the film also acts as a critique of social media, as it turns out both Karter and Trisha have been shaped by social media in negative ways. It sheds light on the fact that while social media can be curated, it often lacks context, and that fact creates an environment where a culture of shame can thrive. This is one of the first local films to tackle that particular issue. While Karter does get to know Trisha through the photos she takes on her smartphone, it is hardly a complete picture of her life, as one's online presence is often carefully curated, leaving out the bad stuff in favor of the good. Karter may know Trisha's favorite food, but he doesn't know about her family situation, or her true inner thoughts about her life. The microscope of social media is ultimately superficial, and is often based only on the people we want to be instead of who we really are.

And like other films like Her (2013), So Connected shows us a world of lonely people only wishing to make a connection with someone else. It is one of the greatest ironies in the world of social media that while people create these large online personal spaces, they end up being more isolated from each other than ever. So Connected might not exactly be a love story, but it shows us how lasting  connections are truly formed between people - through a gradual, mutual process of knowing one another.