Rome & Juliet (2006, Connie Macatuno)

If you are itching to watch a film from the QueerLoveFest event at indieSine, then please consider Rome & Juliet. It is still one of the best products of the Cinema One Originals competition.

I remember watching this unusual romantic film on Valentine’s Day in 2007. The indieSine theater at Robinsons Movieworld Galleria was chock-full of lesbian couples of all sizes and types. The audience was generally quiet during the screening, but there were a few comments about the English subtitles. There was a smattering of applause at the end of the movie. The happy faces of exiting moviegoers say a lot about their approval of the debut film of Connie Macatuno.

The movie's premise is that love knows no gender. Juliet Flores (Andrea del Rosario) is a preschool teacher waiting and praying for the one who will be her life partner. She asks for a sign from God. To her surprise, her politician boyfriend Marc Villanueva (Rafael Rosell) asks her to marry him. She accepts his proposal.

There are problems, though. Juliet still has not iron out her differences with Marc. She hates tying up her hair in order to please him. She is not yet ready to have a baby. And, florist Rome Miranda (Mylene Dizon) enters the world of Juliet.

The seed of love between Rome and Juliet is nurtured slowly. The two friends get to discover and accept each other, warts and all, from the very start. They have similar interest in cooking and poetry. They share secrets and important feelings. They connect on all levels.

The baring of secrets and baring of one's soul are the best parts of the award-winning script of Macatuno. The film shows how difficult and awkward it is to bare one's heart. Juliet is ostracized by her mother and co-workers because of her love for Rome. But, she never gives up on that love. She backs out from her wedding with Marc.

The direction by Macatuno was a good one. There may have been a few problems with crowd control but her handling of the actors was almost perfect. Mylene Dizon and Andrea del Rosario gave wonderful, sizzling hot performances. Their mere glances were smoldering. It helps that they were given full characters to portray. Rosell won an acting award from the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino.

I’m wondering though why Macatuno hasn’t come up with her second film. It’s been four years since the Cinema One Originals screening of her debut film. Will she be destined to be a one-hit wonder?

Alon (2008, Byron Bryant)

I’ve just seen Paano Na Kaya?, the latest generic love story churned out by the Star Cinema factory, and Iliw, a bland touristy offering from Vigan-based producers. The two films retread stories that have been done in earlier, better films. The disappointing Star Cinema film is so full of contrived situations that I’ve decided to lay off romance films from that prolific production outfit for a while. Yes, even future films of Anne Curtis.

As long as film scripts are shaped and mangled by a handful of so-called creative consultants, Star Cinema romance films will always be the same old dish served cold. I'll just wait for the few outstanding ones on cable television and DVDs. The precious pesos saved will be used for film marathons at Cinemalaya, Cinemanila, and Cinema One festivals.

Where to get some romance fix, then? There is another romance film on limited run at UP Film Institute. Alon was the least known and least heralded among all the local films slated this month at UP Film Institute. It was a big surprise then to find out that it is definitely worth a view. I had a good time watching the beautifully-lensed film.

Alon has an ace in the person of award-winning actress Charee Pineda. She portrays a nursing student named Maria Vanessa Cristina Onofre. While on vacation in her hometown, she meets Fiel (Mark Gil), a friendly middle-aged guy. She gets free cooking lessons from the brooding fellow. One night, a tipsy Vanni asks Fiel if he likes her. He answers back that it does not matter whether he likes her or not. Just when Vanni has deeply fallen in love with Fiel, she learns the truth behind his non-affection.

The early scenes are a hoot. With the tongue firmly in cheek, the repartee between Fiel and Vanni is sexy and hilarious. The delicious dialogues seem to be cut from the same mold as those from Temptation Island. There are also lots of teasing and seduction here just like in the comedy classic.

There is a scene in which a skimpy clad Vanni searches for a lost necklace at the beach during nighttime. It is a dumb thing to do but then it may have been part of the 17-year-old’s plan to seduce the middle-aged guy. The suspense gets intense as the seduction gets hotter. In the end, Vanni learns not only about cooking but also the different facets of love.

Indie romance films such as Alon serve as refreshing alternative to trite formulaic Star Cinema love stories. Several magnificent indie films do not always end happily but the characters are memorable and the performances superb. Here are a few recommended romance films: Jade Castro’s Endo, Mike Sandejas’ Dinig Sana Kita, and Connie Macatuno’s Rome & Juliet.

Huling Balyan ng Buhi (2006, Sherad Anthony Sanchez)

The southern Philippine island of Mindanao is getting lots of bad press these days. The entire nation still have not recovered from the shocking massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao, and days later, we also have to deal with the hostage-taking of 75 people in Agusan del Sur and the escape of 31 inmates in Basilan.

Violence in Mindanao is also getting ample screen time with several feature films and Cinemalaya short films such as Angan-Angan and Latus dealing with the topic. The award-winning Engkwentro, filmed in Metro Manila, alludes to the death squad of Davao City. Another film on desaparecidos and extra-judicial killings in the city is Sherad Anthony Sanchez’s experimental film Imburnal.

Davao-born director Sanchez came to prominence with his debut film Huling Balyan ng Buhi (Woven Stories of the Other). He utilized an unconventional way of essaying the effects of violence on the people of Mindanao. Two narratives converge but one narrative seems to be an allegory. This extraordinary film specifically deals with the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-led rebellion. It tells the intertwining stories of people wounded by the armed conflict.

An elderly babaylan wakes up to find stigmata in her arms. She struggles to find her place in a world transformed by modernization and wrecked by rebellion. The likes of her is no longer given the honor and respect accorded to them in the old days. Long before the coming of the Spaniards in the Philippines, a babaylan is a well-respected priestess and healer. Spanish colonialism marginalized the female babaylans. The latter-day surviving babaylan gets no respect as she tries to fend off a horny teenager who eyes her as a sex object. The soldiers make fun of her singing.

A young girl and her brother scour the forest for their parents. They probably symbolize the children orphaned by the rebellion in Mindanao. The verdant scenes in the forest highlight the excellent cinematography.

A member of the New People’s Army (NPA) accidentally kills a comrade. He hastily leaves their camp and crosses over to the camp of the government soldiers. He is not treated as an enemy. He later jams with the soldiers on a couple of videoke songs. Music as a unifying element was folk group Asin’s suggestion on bridging the gap between opposing armed forces.

In the film, a comrade teaches her colleagues that the NPA does not treat a government soldier as an enemy. There are three enemies of the group: imperialism, bureaucrat-capitalism, and feudalism. The female comrade then mentions two of the nation’s abhorrent feudal oligarchs, the Aboitizes and the Lopezes.

Lopezes?!? Aren’t they connected with the Cinema One channel? Isn’t Cinema One the group which gave seed money for independent filmmakers? Isn’t filmmaker Sanchez one of those given seed money? Yes, Sanchez was, and still is, a beneficiary of the despised feudal lords, the Lopezes. Last year, he was a winning finalist for the poetic film Imburnal. This year, he was the main creative consultant to finalists of the Cinema One Originals Digital Movie Festival 2009.

Sanchez is one of the more courageous independent filmmakers out there. I’m eagerly awaiting his third film. It will probably tackle once more issue/s in Mindanao. Meanwhile, if you’re brave enough to try out unconventional films, then watch his feature films Huling Balyan sa Buhi and Imburnal. Check out the first film and if you sort of like it, then try out the more experimental Imburnal. Graphic images of poverty and hopelessness from the latter film will leave you scarred for life.

Yanggaw (2008, Richard Somes)

Early editions of Cinema One Originals brought us two exemplary horror films. Topel Lee’s black-and-white film Dilim is about a male vampire who fights criminals and evil beings. It is sort of a Filipino Batman movie. The second film, Altar, was directed by Rico Ilarde. It is an excellent chiller dealing with a former boxer destined to keep an evil spirit from wrecking havoc. Both directors went on to do horror films for major studios. However, none of their well-budgeted films matched the chills of their earlier films.

Last year’s horror treat from Cinema One Originals is a fairly good movie. Yanggaw nabbed most of the awards, including the Best Director award and the Audience Choice award, at the 2008 competition. The two leads, Ronnie Lazaro and Tetchie Agbayani, grabbed the top acting plums.

Yanggaw is a Hiligaynon word meaning infected. A doctor advises Amor Villacin (Aleera Montalla) to go home to recuperate from her illness. When her bouts with sudden weakness worsen, her mother seeks help from faith healer Lazarus (Erik Matti). He tells the family members that Amor is infected by a poison of an evil spirit. Amor slowly transforms into an aswang, a monster feasting on flesh and blood.

Junior (Ronnie Lazaro) had a hard time accepting his daughter is a monster. He chains her to a bed for days but eventually frees her out of pity and paternal love. Amor starts to feed on stray animals. Soon, human corpses start to appear in the village. Junior makes a special request for Amor not to prey on her family but to kill only their neighbors and strangers.

Director and scriptwriter Somes wanted audiences to realize the repercussions of extreme loyalty to family members and kin. The excellent script deftly tackled the terrifying tendency of some Filipinos to cover up crimes of their family members. Junior and his son kept quiet about their involvement in the death of a stranger. The whole Villacin family was soon infected by this negative trait. The family members allowed Amor to quench her thirst for blood. In the end, they paid a huge price for their misdeeds.

The direction is superb although a bit stagy with the interior scenes. The director’s handling of the actors is excellent. The acting by the whole ensemble is one of the film’s best assets. I also remember the amazing special effects and sound effects. The part showing Lazarus’ attempt to expel the evil spirit is a memorable scene. It makes your blood curdle while at the same time feeling sorry for the family members.

Yanggaw may not be at par with the magnificent Altar but I liked it better than the latest horror blockbusters such as Lee’s Sundo, Ilarde’s Villa Estrella, and Chito Roño’s T2. There is no horror entry in the Cinema One Originals competition this year, so if you want to sample a Cinema One horror film, then catch Yanggaw while it is still showing at indieSine.

Imburnal (2008, Sherad Anthony Sanchez)

Cebu, Boracay, and Davao City are the top tourist destinations in the Philippines. In the case of Davao City, visitors must have felt safe and secure with the city’s almost crime-free tag. Davaoeño filmmaker Sherad Anthony Sanchez shatters the city’s image with his latest courageous film.

Imburnal is the best local film I’ve seen in 2008. A brutal and unflinching statement against the death squad of Davao City, the movie portrays a city plagued by extra-judicial killings and forced disappearances. In a ruthless bid to cleanse the city of crime, vigilantes exterminate juvenile delinquents and suspected criminals as if they were mere cockroaches.

The rancid lives of the poor kids and teenagers were fleshed out in gory details. They shoplift clothes. They freely narrate their experiences in bed. They indulge in group sex inside the filthy sewer pipes. They roam the well-lighted streets of the city in the middle of the night.

The sewers of Punta Dumalag in Barangay Matina Aplaya end up as favorite hangout spot of two boys (Brian Monterola and Allen Lumanog). The pair spends countless hours in the sewers. They sleep there. They play with cockroaches. They swim in the murky waters. The sewerage system is the place where they witness loveless sex and lifeless bodies of teenagers. Childhood laughter gave way to fear and apathy after corpses started to sprout like mushrooms.

In March 2009, three months after the release of the film, the Commission on Human Rights initiated a much-delayed probe into the unexplained killings of 814 people in Davao City since 1998. Most of the vigilante-style killings have been attributed to a shadowy group called the Davao Death Squad (DDS). City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte denied that the government was behind the DDS. He said the killings were the result of gang wars, drug trade rivalries, and personal grudges.

Imburnal compares Davao City to a well-maintained, white-painted tomb. On the surface, it is so peaceful, clean, and nice to look at, but inside, it stinks and is full of rotten things. A memorable scene from the film shows a trio of juveniles traversing the city’s expansive cemetery. It is so big that they eventually got tired trekking the place.

The 210-minute film contained other highly memorable scenes. The initial scene surprised me because I never knew that a kid was lying on the concrete sewer pipe. The kid blended so well with his environment that he became invisible. A similar scene showed another marginalized young denizen sleeping on a pathway along the river. He became visible only when the camera started to zoom in on him.

The fantastic last sequence showed the playful two boys aping Tarzan atop a tree along the river. I had a hearty laugh after hearing and seeing a tree branch break. I was laughing so hard that when another branch broke I was caught unaware. I gasped and it took me some time to gain back my wits.

If you’re game for a different kind of viewing experience, then try to see the director’s cut of the film. Just prepare, really prepare, to get in the flow of Sanchez’s hellish and pitch black vision of Davao City.

The film won the Best Digital Lokal Picture Award at the 10th Cinemanila Film Festival and the Best Picture Award at the Cinema One Originals 2008. It also nabbed two major awards at the 10th Jeonju International Film Festival in South Korea.

UPCAT (Roman Carlo Olivarez, 2008)

The film can best be described as Pisay-lite. Like the Auraeus Solito film, UPCAT is a well-made, entertaining film dealing with high school students on the verge of maturity. There are similar themes between the two films such as first love, cut-throat competition, scholars serving the people, and pursuit of one’s dream. There are similar scenes like the tête-à-têtes on rooftops. Both films also featured indie favorite Arnold Reyes. The main differences between the two films are Pisay is better directed and it captured perfectly the essence of the featured school.

UPCAT is not about student life in the University of the Philippines. It deals with students wishing to enter the country’s sole National University. It examines how those UPCAT dreams make or break the success of students in the future. The choices they make during their school years will determine their career paths.

The start of the film showing the future selves of students was a bit confusing. Eventually, the film found its rhythm. The story and the characters were well-drawn. But, I don’t agree with Avelino and Baby Olivarez’s reason for dissuading Lucas (Felix Roco) from taking the exam. I believe that life’s lessons, no matter how traumatic, should be imparted to the youth so that they may learn from them.

Students need to choose wisely their answers to life’s problems and questions. The masters of the Alpha Kappa Omega fraternity featured in Batch ‘81 are probably batch mates of an important character in the film. Ben’s choice of school organization had an impact on his life. A lead character in the film chooses BA Political Science as his course. This decision leads him to his one true love.

There are several valuable tips for test takers. The film suggests takers to practice shading circles the right way. The film also advises students to seek help for problems they cannot solve on their own. Lucas hesitates to take the UPCAT. He thinks he is not brainy enough to pass the exam. However, he is afraid of losing Jane Concepcion (Hiyasmin Neri) if he doesn’t make it to UP. He decides to take a review course offered by Michael Mendoza (Richard Quan). And, coupled with a more positive attitude, he passes the test.

There’s a minor production design booboo I’d noticed. Jane Concepcion was looking at her siblings’ college diplomas. One of the diplomas had ‘Conception’ as surname. This mistake is not noticeable in televisions but in a theater screen it is easily detected.

UPCAT ended up as the most popular film of Cinema One Originals 2008. A large part of the film’s success was due to the wonderful bunch of refreshing, young, and talented actors. Felix Roco and Yas Neri were able to hold their own against veteran actors Bembol Roco and Mark Gil in most scenes. However, it was the smart-aleck turned tibak (Joseph Roble) who was the film’s acting revelation.