Exciting cinema vs bad taste in 39th MMFF’s choices

MANILA, Philippines - It is one’s luck that the first films one watched during the holidays happened before the filmfest awards night.

Kimmy Dora: Ang Kiyemeng Prequel by Chris Martinez is hilarious and it is proof enough that comedy in this country has gone beyond slapstick and has reached the high-tech age. That awards night spoof in the last part of the film is providential and reflective of the typical assorted background of filmfest jury. That the film predicted the outcome of the awards night makes that spoof not only comedic but true-to-life as well.

Frasco Mortiz’s Pagpag: Siyam Na Buhay is a well-made horror film with fine cinematography by David Diaz-Abaya. It more than lived up to its genre because audiences were screaming in fright from beginning to end. It is the best that a young generation of filmmakers can come up with and with a subject touching on superstitions from the old generation.

On the other hand, there is no doubt that the filmfest’s best is Chito Roño’s Boy Golden which was inspired by the life of Arturo Porcuna who was the king of Manila’s underworld in the ’60s.

The film not only defined its main protagonist but the long-forgotten decade as well. The excellent production design took note of the tell-tale trademarks of that decade: The jukebox and the rock-and-roll hits of Elvis Presley, the low-waist pants that probably gave way to the Low Waist Gang, the Cortal and Purico and Coca-Cola ads, among others.

That was also one decade where the illustrados were hooked on operas and piano recitals. The son of the Manila Mafioso played by John Estrada figures in a piano recital interrupted by the pianist’s walk-out and spiting his audiences. There is a tense moment of Eddie Garcia being summoned by the Mafioso and you hear an ominous aria in the background.

But the film’s outstanding attraction is an excellent ensemble of actors who are probably the filmfest’s best, namely Tonton Gutierrez, Leo Martinez,  Jhong Hilario, Baron Geisler, Joem Bascon, Roi Vinzon, John Lapus, Mon Confiado and Dick Israel, among others.

Garcia playing the role of a lawyer with connections from both the military and the gangland world delivers a solid performance worthy of his stature. Even more stunning was the role delineated by Gloria Sevilla who plays Garcia’s love interest but who is doubling as Mata-Hari and gangland collector. A bigger revelation was KC Concepcion who is Porcuna’s love interest. She is a beauty but she invested the part playing the delicate role of someone quietly bitter and with scores to settle with Porcuna’s common foe. There is no trace of the sheltered daughter in her part and it gave the film a beauteous icon without losing the inherent vengeful nature of the character.

As for ER Ejercito in the title role, he definitely projects a more solid character without the clichés of the typical gangland figure found in his early appearance in Asiong Salonga. The characterization is more taut and revealing of the macho figures of the ’60s.

On the whole, this is one film that excites the cineaste’s senses and it showcases what filmmaker Roño is capable of. He found a way to portray the ’60s with more insight and imagination and making them look digestible and exciting to the present generation.

One was not surprised to find an audience applauding after the screening.

The post-filmfest awards night revelation saw one watching the jury’s choice which was Joyce Bernal’s 10,000 Hours.

To be sure, it is a fairly well-crafted and well-acted film. Robin Padilla showed more action savvy than internal grasp of the role. Pen Medina deserved the Best Supporting Actor trophy the way he gave the part a far more engrossing attribute than it deserves. But the way the film counted hours to chronicle the subject’s restless months as fugitive of the law left an audience equally restless and aiming for quick relief outside the theater.

If it is largely based on Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s life, the film looked like it was trying hard to give the subject a heroic profile than he deserved in real life. It was like watching Iginuhit Ng Tadhana of the ’60s where the actors did well but your instinct tell you the film is about making the subject more sellable to a coming election. In the case of 10,000 Hours, it was like watching a first-rate action film weighed down by a less pronounced but quite obvious hidden agenda. Was the film intended to make the subject more acceptable as Pinoy’s rehabilitation czar?

Why Boy Golden, Pagpag and Kimmy Dora eluded the jury’s attention and pronounced 10,000 Hours, Girl Boy Bakla Tomboy and My Little Bossings as the filmfest’s three Best Pictures are indeed an enigma.

It means the festival has ignored the most imaginative and creative directors in the festival to recognize two big moneymakers and a sleeper.

One cannot imagine Maricel Soriano’s role eclipsing Concepcion and Sevilla’s parts in Boy Golden. In the same vein, one cannot fathom how Soriano can beat Eugene Domingo’s part in Kimmy Dora.

That Boy Golden was only given Best Float citation while Domingo got Star of the Night award means the festival got its artistic and box-office priorities all mixed up.

How can Boy Golden rated A by the Cinema Evaluation Board lose to an artistic disaster but big moneymaker like My Little Bossings?

By all means, let’s cheer the moneymakers for what they are. We all need the income to help our calamity-stricken country.

But is it fair to reward them with artistic citations they don’t deserve?

It’s true the festival has to earn good income but it should learn to differentiate films that shamelessly endorse products from films that illumine art and life.