The
third and final day of the 7th International Silent Film Festival Experience at the Shang Cineplex had three
screenings. And with Razorback being one of the music acts performing, the day
was expected to be quite exhausting and possibly nerve wracking. Thankfully, my
experience with Cinemalaya 2013, especially having to watch four screenings in
one day, has prepared me very well for any possible scenario that could happen
for this day.
The Phantom of the Opera
The
film The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
alone would’ve drawn the crowds for sure. But add to that the legendary band
Razorback providing live music and it didn’t matter if the screening for this
film happened right after lunch time as people showed up and lined up in droves.
This film directed by Rupert Julian and starring Lon Chaney, is the most
faithful adaptation of Gaston Leroux’s novel. But I bet that Leroux didn’t imagine
that his work would be set to current rock music courtesy of Razorback. I was
blown away by the ballet scene at the beginning since I was extremely curious
to find out how the band would score that scene. And it was an awesome scene to
see the whole ballet company dancing to Razorback music. It automatically made
me wonder if a collaboration with Razroback and classical ballet companies like
Ballet Philippines ,
Philippine Ballet Theatre or Ballet Manila is remotely possible. While The Phantom of the Opera is already very
famous, I couldn’t help that the film was overshadowed by having Razorback.
Fans of the band probably didn’t mind since they were treated to what could be
a preview for their upcoming album. Kevin Roy sang some lyrics relating to the
film but I doubt that they would keep those words for the album. I asked the
band’s manager Patrick Pulumbarit when their next album is due, he responded
hopefully by next year. The Phantom of
the Opera was presented by the Embassy of the United States of America with the Ambassador Harry
K. Thomas himself attending and delivering the welcome remarks prior to the
showing of the film.
El Abuelo
The
Spanish film El Abuelo (1925) was
the most serious film that I’ve seen in the entire festival this year. Directed
by José Buchs and adapted from the novel El
Abuelo by Benito Pérez Galdós, the film told the story of Count Albrit, who
has an indestructible mountain for his pride, trying to figure out who among
his two granddaughters is the legitimate one. I never imagined such cruelty to
exist back in the day since he even contemplated on killing the illegitimate
granddaughter to retain the honor of his family. This film was scored by Earthmover,
one of the younger bands participating in the festival. Composed of Dru Ubaldo
(percussions and samples), Daniel Garcia (guitars) and Gerald Guerrero (bass),
the band showed that they could really play and create music that could work
well at a live gig. But they felt short in scoring a silent film. The
seriousness, melodrama, the confusion and cruelty shown in the film didn’t
reflect on the music that I was able to hear. This film was presented by
Instituto Cervantes, Manila .
Kamera Obskura
The Philippines
has no surviving copy from the silent film era so the Film Development Council of the Philippines
chose a fairly recent film to be screened for this year, Raymond Red’s Kamera
Obskura. This film was part of Cinemalaya 2012 and it was among the bunch from
that year that I failed to see. So it was a treat for me to have the chance to
finally see the film. It was also a treat for those who managed to see the film
on this night for several stars of the film were there like Nanding Josef, Abe Pagtama,
Suzette Ranillo and Flor Salanga. The music was provided by super band SPY
composed of Sammy Asuncion (guitar), Louie Talan (bass) and Reli de Vera
(drums). And this band provided the music highlight of the entire festival for
me. The blues music that they played was already enjoyable on its own and
still, they managed to cleverly match the riffs with the scenes, mood and even
the lines in the film. I wanted to ask Nanding Josef his reaction to the film
with the new music but he admitted that this was actually the first time he was
able to see it. Flor Salanga, on the other hand, had seen the film prior to
this one and she said that having the live music along with the screening was a
new experience for her. She was surprised though since she had no idea what the
7th International Silent Film Festival was all about in the first
place. What surprised me about the film was how political and timely the story
is in the midst of the current scandal several lawmakers find themselves in.
 |
| Capping the night at Brotzeit |
As
expected, the organizers along with some of the musicians headed once again to
Brotzeit to celebrate the success of the festival and also to discuss a bit how
to improve things in order to avoid disgruntled audience members. I also
expressed my opinion that in the festival’s upcoming editions, the music acts,
especially the young ones, should be able to step up, go beyond their usual repertoire,
and be able create new material that would suit the film a lot better.
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