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Cinemalaya 2013: See the Shorts; Watch the Features at Your Own Risk
Cinemalaya is proving to be an eye opener. Call it full-on
deception or marketing (or both), but NEVER EVER watch the movie because of a
good trailer. All the initial money is spent on key frames that establish the
plot line. Those 1min30 are then sent to Thailand or Vietnam for color grading,
and you think that the whole movie is going to be that way.
The Diplomat Hotel is the prime example of this. Literally excellent
production for the first 6 minutes (including the trailer run time) and a slow
descent into garbage. I remember Tiktik: The Aswang Chronicles from last year.
Exact same bullshit. The first 10 minutes, shot in a soundstage, were
well-paced and fancily art directed. I was so excited. However, as the plot
thinned, it took about 55 minutes for the aswangs to enter the house. I would
have ended the movie in 40.
So, here are the seven films that I saw since Sunday the 28th
of July, 2013 and a 100-word description of each:
FEATURES
1. Transit: Trying to be everywhere at once.
No plotline, just a bleeding heart depiction of OFWs in
Israel and a light-handed approach to the Jewish State’s crackdown on
undocumented foreign children.
It wasn’t terrible, but done with too much ambition and
commercial tricks instead of a plot. “Chapters” and vignettes for each
character doesn’t make them important. Writing plot points in their scenes
does.
The editor did his job. The cinematography was OK and so
was the sound. But this wasn’t to be a technical masterpiece. It was a movie
about empathy—mom and daughter with the cliche cultural gap; Jewish employers
helping out their Filipino caregivers; OFW pleading with immigration to let his
son stay. But evoking empathy means writing in good characters, and minimizing
others.
This would have been way more effective as a docu-style
movie.
[JUMP TO CINEMALAYA 2013 SCREENING SCHEDULE IN THE CCP]
[Greenbelt, Makati] [Alabang Town Center] [Trinoma, QC]
2. The Diplomat Hotel: What the hell did I just see?
A psychological thriller that makes you ask the ultimate
question: why did I just pay P150 to see this movie?
If I had funded this movie, I would demand a full audit,
because while the first scene and trailer were good enough to keep me on the
edge of my seat, the movie degraded as the movie wore on. (Movies aren’t shot
in sequence, but it managed to steadily degrade until you were left with a
flatline of a film.)
Looking for an allegory? Sure you can come up with one about
religion and abandonment and delusionary ideas about the state of the Church
today. But who cares?
You would have been distracted by bad acting, bad lines, actors out of focus, inconsistent sound, hilariously bad translation into
subtitles, out of place scenes and editing, and horrible scoring and mixing,
especially in the final scene.
Like a stab of heroin in the heart, the first six minutes of
this movie gets you on a high and then leaves you with a terrible crash. Check
out after the first scene and you’ll be left with the impression that you were
about to see a good movie thriller.
[JUMP TO CINEMALAYA 2013 SCREENING SCHEDULE IN THE CCP]
[Greenbelt, Makati] [Alabang Town Center] [Trinoma, QC]
SHORTS A –
3. Bakaw: Going for the little fish.
A story of two kids who scrounge and steal in the Navotas Fish
Port to put food on the table. It’s A fast-paced barefooted run-around with
great blocking and directing by Ron
Segismundo, great use of ambient lighting.
The movie is detached from the chaos and pressure these kids
endure. A simple twist in the end delivers the movie with an ambiguity: have
these children grown tired of fighting for their lives? And is their constant,
daily struggle more of a game in Mr Segismundo’s eyes?
[JUMP TO CINEMALAYA 2013 SCREENING SCHEDULE IN THE CCP]
[Greenbelt, Makati] [Alabang Town Center] [Trinoma, QC]
4. Missing: A movie about never forgetting.
Violence starts this short film off, and the pain of a ghost
is felt as he longs for the simple life to which turned his back. The world he
left behind is left to grasp the strands of his life as the people closest to
him continue to keep his memory alive, and the search for answers haunts them.
A simple story well-told, with a minimalist approach
interspersed with true-to-life scenes of clashes between militants and police.
This movie by Zig Madamba Dulay reminds us of the desaparecidos—the missing—with a quiet passion.
[JUMP TO CINEMALAYA 2013 SCREENING SCHEDULE IN THE CCP]
[Greenbelt, Makati] [Alabang Town Center] [Trinoma, QC]
5. Para Kay Ama (For Grandmother): It’s all about the timing.
Terrific casting and acting and a believable script, this
movie is clearly a technical winner owing to the tight narrative, superb
timing, and solid camera work. Director Relyn Tan shows off her production
skills with a “oner” or a “long take.” Basically there are no cuts, no edits
except for intro and outro. Like the star of a ballet, the viewer finds the
perfect angle each time and is in the thick of the dialogue.
Outstanding is the casting (no caster in the FB credits)
with mother and daughter working in harmony (look at their eyebrows) and the
family friend doing an almost perfect job of playing the foil in this
bittersweet struggle with loss, decency, and humility.
[JUMP TO CINEMALAYA 2013 SCREENING SCHEDULE IN THE CCP]
[Greenbelt, Makati] [Alabang Town Center] [Trinoma, QC]
6. Taya (“You’re It”): The sense of wonder.
A child moves into a new house in QC, surrounded by a
squatter community. His new friends introduce him to games that form the social
vocabulary. The directing by Adi
Bontuyan and Francis Beltejar takes
us through the world of play where things are not as they seem, and shows this
duality by throwing us off with some surprising cuts and visual effects that
flow beautifully, with polished scenes and elegant editing.
Which way are we heading in this 8-minute film? What are we
being prepared for? The beauty of this film is the preservation of the
innocence of children. Without moralizing a very complicated situation of
illegal squatting and questionable police tactics, it is refreshing, amusing,
and ultimately, sad.
[JUMP TO CINEMALAYA 2013 SCREENING SCHEDULE IN THE CCP]
[Greenbelt, Makati] [Alabang Town Center] [Trinoma, QC]
7. Tutob (Head covering): Helping you out with the moral, in case you missed it.
Unfortunately, this had to be the last of the SHORTS A
series. Heavy-handed is the only word applicable for this movie, as it takes us
in the middle of a motorcycle-riding Maranao man in Mindanao. It uses tension,
suspense, and your racially motivated mind to mislead and create a story, and
then promptly tells you in a voice over at the end what the moral of the story
was.
This movie apparently won some awards, so director Kissza
Mari Campano can be happy, but had better not rest on her laurels.
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