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| Althea Vega from Amor y Muerte |
By
this time, I’ve decided just to watch a couple of films per day since I would
not be able to survive the remaining days of Cinemalaya if I decided to push
myself to the limit. And I was also forced into doing it since getting in the
late night Gala Screenings at the Cultural Center of the Philippines were not as easy as in previous years. But I
considered this a blessing in disguise since I was able to go home earlier and
get much needed rest.
Porno
Porno got a lot of hype not just because
of the expected nudity brought about by the title but also due to filmmaker
Adolf Alix’s decision to pull out the movie from satellite venues. Sadly, it
didn’t live up to the hype for me. Told in three parts, Porno told the story of
an assassin (Yul Servo), a porn film dubber (Carlo Aquino) and a transvestite
(Angel Aquino) whose lives are connected through a porn film. One stars in it,
one dubs it and then the other watches it. All I can say that the film didn’t
climax. There was no peak and it went limp during the third part. The
characters were not that sympathetic and engaging. There was a bit of mystery
with the dubber (Did Carlo become Angel during the third part?) but I still
couldn’t wrap my head on the idea that secretly taped sex footage would require
post production work.
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| Angel Aquino from Porno |
David F
David F was supposed to be a film that
would shed light to one of the Americans who sided with the Filipinos during
the turn of the 20th century. This film by Emmanuel Palo also served
as a commentary on how racism and bigotry exist in Philippine history up to the
present time. The story begins with Dave, a dark skinned drag performer with
deciding to search for his African-American father who was once stationed in
the country. This search triggers the story to go back in
time during the turn of the 20th century and also during the time of
World War II. The first part recounted the tale of David Fagen, the
African-American solider who defected to the Filipino side. The second part
chronicled the life of who could’ve been her daughter as she and the rest of
her husband’s family struggled during World War II. The link between these two
generations was clearly established but how all this could be linked to Dave in
the present was left hanging in the air, since the third generation was never
explored. The film had some very uncomfortable moments when Dave’s fellow drag
performers went too far with their racist remarks. It’s sad to realize that the
Philippines is
still a racist society as having dark skin is considered as a punchline in
comedy bars. It is also sad to note that as a whole, David F was another let
down. I never got to be emotionally involved with any of the characters and I
didn’t even care at all for Dave’s search for his father. And Dave’s song in the
end which I think was supposed to be a poignant moment didn’t do anything for
me.
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| Quester Hannah from David F |
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| Mariella Castillo from David F |
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| Rocky Salumbides from David F |
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| Will Devaughn from David F |
Sana Dati
This
film by Jerrold Tarog was another film that relied on a lot of flashbacks and
they actually served to make the story more engaging. Sana Dati tells the story of Andrea (Lovi Poe), a bride whose
wedding jitters is multiplied by the dozen upon the arrival of a mysterious
videographer Dennis (Paulo Avelino) who is tasked to cover her wedding to
Robert (TJ Trinidad). The film starts with Andrea getting engaged with a
different man, Andrew (Benjamin Alves) and this started the ball rolling as to
what happened to him, to them and how Dennis figures in all of this. What
transpires is a cleverly crafted romantic film that I think will appeal to
mainstream audiences. Lovi Poe, Benjamin Alves and Paulo Avelino are still
considered up and coming stars but this film can serve as a major highlight in
their career. Nico Antonio, playing a wedding coordinator delivers the most
memorable performance out of his handful of appearances during this year’s
Cinemalaya.
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| Benjamin Alves from Sana Dati |
Amor y Muerte
I
thought that Amor y Muerte by Ces
Evangelista was an erotic period drama but what I saw was more of an erotic
period comedy. The film came out as surprisingly and enjoyably camp. Althea
Vega, in her first leading role, plays Amor a woman from the 16th
century who still remains uninhibited. This lack of reserve delights her
husband, the Spanish Diego (Markki Stroem) but disturbs the nights of Fray
Santiago (Kuya Manzano). Fray Santiago
then attempts to tame the wild nature of Amor in the name of Christianity and
morality. One of the most hilarious scenes for me was the unexpected turn of
events coming out from a confession by Apitong (Adrian Sebastian). This was
supposed to be a serious development in the story but the hilarity of it had
the whole theater laughing out loud. I don’t know if the director intended it
to be that way but many did like the film because of the unexpected laughs. But
one thing that isn’t a laughing matter is the fact that this film is the last
by Ama Quiambao who passed away just a few weeks before the festival started.
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| Markki Stroem from Amor y Muerte |
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| Adrian Sebastian from Amor y Muerte |
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| Kuya Manzano from Amor y Muerte |
I was glad that Sana Dati
broke the run of underwhelming films and it joined Transit as the best films with only four films in competition left to be
seen. The last blog entry for this Cinemalaya will tell if any of the remaining films matched or even
surpassed these two frontrunners.
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