Matthew, Mark, Luke & John is a very Filipino movie

Foreigners may not understand it. Or won’t even believe it. Imagine "public sinners" like toro (live-sex performer), masseur providing sexual services, DI (dance instructor living off the generosity of a rich matron) and macho dancer praying intently to God (Sto. Niño, Crucified Christ) and the Blessed Mother (Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Baclaran’s Redemptorist church). The four men plead for forgiveness, blessing and understanding.

Such is the underlying theme of the digital movie Matthew, Mark, Luke & John, an entry to the ongoing CineManila International Film Festival. That despite the sordid lives of the four men just mentioned may Diyos pa rin sila sa katawan. That they have a special devotion to the Blessed Mother, going to Baclaran every Wednesday for their weekly novena.

A similar devotion is seen every Friday at the Quiapo church, where thousands pray to the Santo Entierro, lovingly wiping Christ’s feet with handkerchiefs and towelettes. And come January, hundreds of thousands of men – young and old, pious and toughies, the high and lowly – join the procession around Quiapo. A mind-boggling sight. The belief is one’s sins – be they big or small – are washed away when one joins the procession whose object of veneration is the Black Nazarene.

Such religious piety, be it at Baclaran or Quiapo, is very Filipino. Which, as earlier noted, foreigners may find hard to understand or believe.

Matthew, Mark, Luke & John follows the stories of four men in one night, an eventful night which ends at the Baclaran church, where they find solace and refuge along with other devotees. The image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help hovers over them, as if saying the Virgin is their caring and understanding mother.

Playing the title roles in the digital movie are Justin de Leon (Matthew, masahista), Paolo Serrano (Mark, macho dancer), Richard Quan (Luke, DI) and Neil Ryan Sese (John, toro). It is produced by September Films and Teamwork Productions and directed by Gil Portes based on the script by Senedy Que, Adolf Alix and Portes.

Neil Ryan and Richard are "old hands" on stage, television and the movies and their experience shows. The two actors handled their roles with confidence, depth and range. Neil Ryan’s toro role is particularly difficult as he and Ynez Veneracion (playing his sickly wife) had to perform live sex before an all-male audience… without a stitch on. Richard’s dancing partner (read: sugar mommy) is former Bb. Pilipinas Maria Isabel Lopez, while his wife is another beauty queen, former Mutya Liza Diño.

Special mention must be given to Ynez who, from a singing engagement in Dubai, reported to the set of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John. When direk Gil sounded out Ynez for the part, she said, "Hintayin ako. Gagawin ko." A few years back, Gil directed Ynez in Gatas: Sa Dibdib ng Kaaway.

The toro scene with Ynez and Neil Ryan is most touching, heart-rending and not at all titillating. Imagine husband and wife doing it for sheer survival, laban sa kanilang damdamin. They need the P20,000 for her medication and hospitalization. Agony is etched on the faces of Ynez and Neil Ryan while doing the sexual act.

Paolo and Justin are the daring and baring Viva Hot Men. They are new in acting and, as expected, not as confident as Neil Ryan and Richard. But what Justin and Neil Ryan lack in experience the two boys more than made up with their enthusiasm in portraying masseur and macho dancer, respectively.

Justin has some dramatic scenes with his wife (played by Hannah Evangelista), who is clueless as to his work. He passes himself as a call center employee, graveyard shift. Justin comes out well in those scenes, just as he is believable while giving a massage-parlor client the works.

Paolo as the cunning and hustling macho dancer is a delight to watch. He is especially effective in scenes where he asks signs from Papa Jesus and Mama Mary whether or not he’ll get the role he auditioned for in a sexploitative play.

Paolo’s long legs and lean but muscled physique make him an ideal macho dancer. And he can really dance, such a graceful and seductive dancer.

Matthew, Mark, Luke & John may be sinners, but then who really can judge them? He who has no sin cast the first stone, our Lord told the mob out to lynch Mary Magdalene.

Let’s not judge the male Magdalenes in the digital movie as they pray before God and the Blessed Mother. They are only being very Filipino.

(E-mail reactions at [email protected])