"Boses" gives voice to abused children

Music and its power to heal broken lives is the engine that drives Boses, an indie film that was shown at the Cinemalaya film festival last July. Last week, the Cinema Evaluation Board gave its stamp of approval to the movie, unanimously rating it an A.

Boses explores the realm of child abuse and the physical and emotional scars it leaves on the victim. But it does so without getting melodramatic or preachy. Director-producer Ellen Ongkeko-Marfil avoided these pitfalls and succeeded in crafting a work that is both entertaining and relevant.

Because music is a key element of Boses, Ongkiko-Marfil chose real musicians to play the main characters. Coke Bolipata, one of the country’s foremost violinists, is cast as Ariel, while a child prodigy, Julian Duque, is Onyok, a seven-year-old so traumatized by the beatings inflicted by his father (Ricky Davao) that he has lost the ability to speak.

Their paths cross in a child shelter run by Cherie Pie Picache, who plays the sister of Ariel.

Ariel is trying to run away from the memories of a tragic love affair that left him emotionally shattered. He isolates himself in a hut inside the shelter, finding solace only by playing the violin with the passion of a madman.

Onyok is drawn to the music and Ariel recognizes the talent in the boy. He introduces the usually withdrawn to the violin. A relationship slowly forms between teacher and student. Onyok proves to be quick learner and Ariel is soon obsessed with teaching him.

Their musical reverie is interrupted when the father, after serving time in jail, returns to reclaim Onyok. The boy is still deathly afraid of his father, but Ariel assures him, “I will protect you.”

Screenwriters Froi Medina and Rody Vera successfully steer the story through a thicket of issues regarding child abuse. The film ends on a hopeful note, with Ariel and Onyok giving a stirring violin concert for the children of the shelter before the boy returns to the father, who himself is moved by Onyok’s talent.

Bolipata is a revelation. He is comfortable with the role of a violin virtuoso. (Boses was filmed in Casa San Miguel in Zambales, which Bolipata built after his music studies abroad.) Julian Duque enthralls without saying a single word.

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He’s 80 and has shown no signs of slowing down.

Comedy king Dolphy says he’s happy with the success of his movie with Vic Sotto, Dobol Trobol, a sequel is in the works.

Dobol Trobol was Dolphy’s first movie in three years and he thanked his fans for making it a box-office hit.

He also wishes the country’s cinema industry would bounce back from the doldrums. “I wish it would recover so that it could open up more jobs.”

His fans will see Dolphy on the small screen soon, in ABS-CBN’s drama-fantasy series Utoy, where he will be working with child star Makisig Morales.

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Cuyo Island in Palawan will always have a special place in Judy Ann Santos’ heart. It’s where Ploning, the movie she produced and starred in, was filmed. Ploning could also catapult Juday to worldwide fame. It has been entered in the Best Foreign Language Film category of the Academy Awards. That’s no small feat.

Ploning is the story of a Cuyo lass who spent a lifetime waiting for her sweetheart to return. Instead of being a simple barrio girl, Ploning is an enigma to the villagers. She takes care of a young boy as if he was her own.

According to reports, Juday returned to Cuyo in time for the island’s fiesta. She was surprised when the islanders officially adopted her as one of their own. She was so moved she promised to hold a medical mission in the island soon.