A meaty story, but…

The currently-showing sex film Laman is another tale (Oh no! Not again!) of rural folks trying their luck in the big city.

Directed by Maryo J. de los Reyes (whose works I’ve praised before) and written by Wali Ching (who has done some fine teleplays for the small screen), Laman’s story revolves around a young married couple, Yul Servo and Lolita de Leon, who uproot themselves from their native Cebu (although I cannot for the life of me understand why Servo has an accent that is closer to that of a Bulakeño) to live with buddy Albert Martinez in the latter’s home in a congested part of Manila.

Now, Albert is a heel of the first order. To make his life more comfortable, he agrees to be the lover of businesswoman Elizabeth Oropesa who, in turn, is the kept woman of some old but rich Japanese. But since Lolita and Yul live in the same house with him, the call of the flesh also lures him to seduce the young wife and conveniently (at least, from his end) arranges a ménage a trois among them. To make matters even more complicated, Servo also agrees (although very reluctantly) to become the lover of Oropesa – until all their lives get messed up.

Based on the sensibilities of the film’s characters, I won’t be surprised if Laman turns out to be a rehash of some European movie (I must have seen it, except that I can’t place it just right at this moment) – in the same manner that de los Reyes’ Sa Ngalan ng Pag-ibig turned out to have been inspired by Le Femme Infidelle (recently remade in Hollywood as Unfaithful).

My major quarrel with this film, however, doesn’t concern the story – or whether or not it is original. Although the movie takes place practically in just two locations – at home and in Albert and Yul’s place of work (actually a litsunan) – the story of Laman amazingly has a lot of meat in it.

The early part of the movie, in fact, is quite fluid and is done with a lot of consciousness. Some of the dialogues are crisp and witty. Never mind if most of these are obviously intended for shock value.

The performances of the actors aren’t all that bad either, although Lolita de Leon should have been coached some more in the acting department by the director and Yul Servo was really better handled by Lav Diaz in Batang Westside.

Albert Martinez is his usual competent self here in Laman (he really has some good acting moments in the film), except that it’s about time he stopped doing this "heel" role, which he has done many times over in Segurista, Sidhi and more recently, in Ang Galing-galing Mo Babes. He may not yet tire of doing this role, but we – the viewers – certainly are. So enough.

But the film’s one big saving grace is Elizabeth Oropesa. I really salute this woman. (Give her a bad role in a bad film and she’ll still rise above it. The only time she failed was in Balahibong Pusa). In Laman, the movie always comes to life every time she’s in the frame. And this is not necessarily because she gets the best lines, but because she knows how to properly and effectively deliver them.

Unfortunately, some of the film’s technical people do not deliver at all. The movie, for instance, is badly edited in some parts – with some scenes inserted in the wrong places. The cinematography also tries to go "experimental," but ends up looking just plain grainy in a lot of areas. Some of the interior shots are also badly-lit.

The film’s worst aspect, however, is its the over-all handling by the director – especially in the climax. This entire sequence actually takes place in the home of Albert Martinez. In the living room, Servo thanks Oropesa for ironing out everyone’s lives. But in the bedroom just a few meters away, Albert has difficulty severing his relationship with Lolita and voices are raised. For the longest time, Servo and Oropesa are unmindful of the activities in the bedroom and just merrily go along thanking each other – as if they were in another part of the globe. Meanwhile, a skillet of ginataang crabs is simmering in the kitchen.

At this point of the film, the patience of the viewer runs dry, his blood boils and he is tempted to pour the ginataang crabs on all four characters and hit the director on the head with the skillet because this entire sequence is so absurdly handled.

I’m not sure if parts of the film was re-shot – as per orders of the Movie Review Television and Classification Board, which gave the film two X ratings before it was approved for public exhibition. Maybe that part of the film got spoiled in the process – although I have no way of telling. But based on the finished product that I saw, that was one awful, awful moment in Philippine cinema – especially one coming from a major director like De los Reyes.

This is really quite unfortunate because the film’s premise has a lot of promise in it. As I said, the story of Laman has meat. Too bad it’s badly handled and this whole movie recipe eventually rots in the end.