Local film industry’s answer to films of Tarantino and company

There was delicious irony in his eyes as Unitel’s head honcho Tony Gloria related how teenagers and twenty-somethings would rush up to him, and gush how finally there was a film out there that was really tailor-made for them. Along with director Peque Gallaga, Tony has hit the 60-year-old mark, and Lore Reyes, who line produced and co-wrote Pinoy Blonde with Peque, is no spring chicken either. And yet, in some manic, madcap manner, they’ve crafted a film that speaks directly to the youth market that feels insulted by the formulaic drivel that most major studios expectorate, and tag as "youth-oriented".

Funny, footloose, and smartly made to look spontaneous, Pinoy Blonde is our film industry’s answer to the Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez and Guy Ritchie films that have captured the global market’s imagination. Dark and murky, with shafts of diffused light that young (finally!) cinematographer Richard Padernal faithfully renders, the shifts from live action to animation and CGI-sequences were lustily whooped at by the audience who were watching with me. With this audience, Peque and Lore were demi-gods; and the main characters that Epi and Boy2 Quizon portrayed were mirror-images of every disaffected, alienated, fantasy-driven, intelligent Filipino twenty-something.

The storyline is simple: a dying uncle gives two nephews–cousins Conrad (Epi) and Andrew (Boy2) –a package to bring to a deserted hotel. There, an exchange will be made. What is in the package, to whom it will be brought, is all kept from us and the two cousins. What ensues is what drives the film; and in this regard, plot is merely incidental. It’s the mood, the reality-steeped dialogue and interaction between the two protagonists to each other, and the situations that crop up, that propel the film forward. Central to this hilarious dialogue is the recurring debate as to who is the better Filipino director, Brocka or Bernal. And as the two cousins are either film students or cinema addicts, they constantly inject quotes from their favorite movies into their conversation. Star Wars, Terminator (and whether 1 or 2 becomes a point of hilarious dispute), the Matrix, the Mummy, Kill Bill –they’re all cultural reference points for these two anti-heroes.

Credited as cast members are Iza Calzado (Conrad’s girlfriend), Jaime Fabregas and Ricky Davao (the heavies). They have substantial, major roles to play, and they perform impeccably; but it’s the cameos that abound that lend to the almost surreal quality of the film. While their screen time may be minimal, that all these cameos are done with an over-the-top quality, and come at us fast and furious, all give the film a very unique twist that’s gleefully enjoyed by the audience. Eddie Garcia, Joey Marquez, Ara Mina, Richard Gomez, Tessie Tomas, Noel Trinidad, Ian Veneracion, Tonton and Richard Gutierrez, Manilyn Reynes and Aljon Jimenez, G Tongi and the list goes on and on to our delight, forming an essential element to the suspension of disbelief that the film generates.

The soundtrack/music forms another key element to this film’s peculiar quality. As befits protagonists who still are part of the MTV generation, several of the action sequences are propulsed by music, music that forms an integral part of the filmmakers’ vision and exposition. And rather than depend (as so many Hollywood and local films do) on retro or nostalgic music, Peque and Lore readily employ the Pinoy music of today to maintain a very contemporary feel to the movie. And there are visual jokes that punctuate the film–witness the door that Andrew will go through when no wall surrounding the door exists, and Conrad nonchalantly walking beside Andrew, without passing the door.

To put Pinoy Blonde in relief against the opus of films we associate Peque with would be missing the point. From what I understood in conversation with Tony Gloria, the point was to make a film that would specifically cater to that 13 to 30 demographic; to give them a film that while escapist and fun, would not insult their intelligence; and prove that local film-makers could come up with the goods, producing a film that would radiate with its own "cool" quotient.

For Peque, Lore and Tony, there is no doubt. That if ever in true Beatles-fashion, they have to ask, "Will you still love me, Will you still need me, When I’m sixty-four?" the answer from college students, young film-makers and movie addicts, musicians and artists will be a resounding "Yes!... Astig!"