Cinemalaya 2012

Oros, Paul Sta. Ana

Oros feels old and tired. It doesn't offer anything new or fresh in terms of its plot and filmmaking techniques. It feels like a rehash of anything and everything done in the last couple of years from Kubrador (Jeffrey Jeturian, 2006) to Ataul for Rent (Neal Buboy Tan, 2007). It even suggests a plot point of Joey Reyes's Live Show done in 2000.


Oros is a story of two brothers doing gambling business during wakes of dead people which unclaimed bodies they have bought themselves from funeral parlors. It isn't really a bad film. It isn't a waste of time though its plant-and-pay-off (writing technique) is quite obvious that one could easily determine what is about to happen next.


Bwakaw, Jun Lana

I have always enjoyed reading Jun Lana's blog when he used to write anecdotes about himself. It is always funny and touching at the same time. That is why I wondered why his writings (and directing perhaps) don't translate well onscreen. They are too melodramatic and contrived (and sometimes too stupid to be realistic).

However, he redeems himself in Bwakaw, a story of an old, closeted gay man waiting and preparing for his inevitable death. Bwakaw, an adopted dog that he considers his best friend, dies. He then starts living his life rather than waiting for his death, realizing that no one is too old to be who they are and what they want to be.

It is a feel-good movie that is always a hit among viewers. So it isn't a wonder why it won the Audience Choice award.


Apararisyon, Vincent Sandoval

Aparisyon is not a horror film, yet it terrificly employs a horrific situation to its characters, trapping them into the four corners of their supposedly safe environment. Violence is the last thing one could ever imagine happening to them when you live inside a convent with nuns who could already passed as saints. However, they are just human beings, and humans are very capable of doing the unimaginable to each other even within the confines of a "blessed" place.

Aparisyon is an acting piece for its four leads. Each one of them has character highlights and together they provide a great ensemble! Walang nananapaw at walang nasasapawan. It is probably because each character's arc is given enough attention to flourish and is well-detailed. Every breaking down moment is heart-wrenching. Every falling tear has a reason. And every tear withheld has a cause.

If the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress trophies were given to the four women of Mga Mumunting Lihim (Joey Reyes) under the Director's Showcase, then the New Breed trophies should be given to Fides Cuyugan-Asensio, Mylene Dizon, Jodi Sta. Maria, and Raquel Villavicencio, as well! No doubt that Anita Linda (Sta. Niña, Emmanuel Quindo Palo) is a great actress, but Aparisyon's four women have given much excellent performances for their characters. 'Yung breakdown scene lang in Jodi (as Sr. Lourdes) has transformed from anger to pain and from high to low in a matter of seconds!

Though set in a convent, the film is never preachy or religious. It seeks answers to questions of faith and fate; of trust to a higher-being and self-reliance; of hatred and forgiveness of one's self. This film is affecting!


Mga Dayo (Julius Sotomayor Cena)

Mga Dayo is an unromanticized look at how it is like being acquired citizens in a foreign country. Life abroad is not always a bed of roses for some. Despite living a life of wanted prosperity comes a life of sadness and alienation. Subtitled Resident Aliens, it is very fitting to what the characters are going through.

Ella (Olga Natividad) feels alienation from work. Though dedicated, she detaches herself from the work she does. She goes through it as something she needed to do to get by, but it isn't her. It isn't what she is about. Miriam (Janela Buhain) just got her green card. But at what cost? She feels empty and alone despite being surrounded by people. Alex (Sue Prado) dreams of staying in Guam, and she is about to do something that doesn't feel right by her own standards.

Based on the stories of people he knows, writer-director Cena relates that he himself suffers from alienation. Despite being a citizen, you are tagged as alien in a country that will always feel distant to you and cold.

This is a picture of people living abroad that is seldom seen in Philippines movies.

The Animals (Gino M. Santos)

How does one answer the question, "Did you like The Animals?"

The Animals undoubtedly has the most beautiful cast, yet it portrays an ugly picture worst than what the recent Pinoy Big Brother Teen Edition had shown. It is bleak, dark, and disturbing to the core. It is the Philippine version of Larry Clark's Kids (which, according to the director, was one of his inspirations for the film). It shouldn't be taken lightly or be looked at as just a film if indeed it portrays what some of these kids from that wealthy part of town really are. It is a downer and a shocking revelation about what Rizal considered as "pag-asa ng bayan." Tunay ngang matagal nang nabigkas ni Rizal ang mga salitang iyon at kung sakaling nabubuhay siya ngayon at napanood niya ito, maaaring napanganga rin siya sa pagtatapos ng pelikulang ito. If one was not shaken with the picture that the film paints, then he just doesn't seem to care about what it is trying to say.

Still, to answer the question, I'd say that I like it for being bold and daring! There hasn't been this kind of film in the Philippines that dared shed light on the lifestyles of affluent children. This is "high society porn" at its best (or worst)! Do I like it for its ugliness, definitely not! But this is one of the harsh realities of life--opposites pulling each other out in extremes: the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly, the best and the worst.

This is the kind of film that lingers on one's mind even after the credits are done. While most are concerned about the kids committing crimes to other people (because of poverty), here are kids hurting each other just because they feel like doing so or bored out of their wits! Mabuhay ang pag-asa ng bayan!

(While I was waiting for a taxi ride, I heard a girl talking on the phone saying that she's afraid to ride the taxi just because of what she had seen in The Animals! Congrats, Gino, for scaring the hell out of these kids!)