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?

In My Life (2009, Olivia Lamasan)

Vilma Santos chose this as her comeback film in lieu of Raya Martin's Independencia. The latter film is among the best films released so far this year, while In My Life will soon be forgotten after the media hype whimpers down.

The blurbs boldly scream... Passionate scene of John Lloyd Cruz and Luis Manzano! Acting showdown between Cruz and Vilma!! 16th Anniversary Presentation of Star Cinema!!!

The prolific production company should have selected a better story for the triumvirate of Vilma, Cruz, and Manzano. The movie starts with Noel Villanueva (John Lloyd Cruz) worrying about the impending visit of his lover's mother. Shirley Templo (Vilma Santos) is a cranky librarian and former physical education teacher, who belatedly visits her birth country, the United States of America. She hesitantly goes to New York City to stay with her son, Mark Salvacion (Luis Manzano). She learns soon enough that Mark is living in with Noel.

The film shows New York City as a place where everyone is free to choose his/her lover, regardless of looks, race, and sexual orientation. The non-Filipino actors were surprisingly good. They really seem to be residents. Heck, they probably are city residents. However, I'm bothered with the film's depiction of the city's dark side. It shows an African-American harassing Shirley.

Luis Manzano has a memorable scene with his mom, Vilma. The picnic scene shows Mark with Shirley. They have a one-on-one talk about how Shirley began to distance herself from Mark because of his sexuality. Manzano was so gay-ingly good in this scene. He did not portray Mark as the swishy type but is still convincing as a homosexual. Manzano will figure in another memorable and well-directed scene. Nope, it is not the passionate scene but the one involving him and his preoccupation with his cellphone.

The much-hyped passionate scene is a dud. If you blink, then you will probably miss it. The beautiful shot before the kissing scene is the one that should have been talked about. We see Noel hugging Mark while a tear drop rolls down his cheek. Now, that is a passionate person who is very much in love!

There are directing and script flaws that bother me. The travelogue scenes diminish the impact of the fish-out-of-the-water concept. The initial scenes give the impression that Shirley is very much adapted to the city. Also, Shirley is not a bumbling moron. She is an educated person and a librarian at that. The wacky scenes are completely out of line.

The film seems to be about how a mother comes to grips with her homophobia. Well, it turns out, that she is not only distant to her son but also to her two daughters. She is not homophobic. She is plainly a bad mother. How she ended up being a bad mother was not tackled at all. The film was so caught up with other topics such as marriage for convenience, and gay couples that it forgot the major topic.

Director Olivia Lamasan wasn't able to repeat her magic in Sana Maulit Muli. Her latest film is an acting showcase for Manzano and Cruz. Sadly, it is hampered by a cluttered story. There are better films released out there. Showing at indieSine is Jerrold Tarog's technically-competent Mangatyanan. And, there's the magnificent Independencia, which will have its last screening at the UP Cine Adarna on Saturday (September 19) at 1:00 pm. See the excellent movie that Vilma rejected as her comeback film.

Photo from Star Cinema

Ded Na Si Lolo (2009, Soxie Topacio)

A brainchild of Tony Tuviera and the Directors Guild of the Philippines Inc., Sine Direk is one of the best things to happen to Philippine cinema in 2009. The movie project provided a grant of 2 million pesos each to six directors. It produced five well-made films, and only one clunker, Fuschia.

A top-notch Sine Direk production, Ded Na Si Lolo is one of the best Filipino comedy films I've seen in years. A hybrid of Pamahiin, Jay, and Crying Ladies, this is a film that is truly Filipino. All the drama, all the mystery, and all the superstitions associated with bereavement were given their share of the limelight in this laugh-out-loud film.

I can deeply relate with the movie. For years, I've been wondering about the need to follow countless superstitions such as cutting a rosary into pieces in order to avoid immediate death of another family member. But, how soon is an immediate death? Isn’t it that we all die in the end? All my unspoken thoughts and objections about following superstitions were concretized in hilarious fashion in this film.

Filmmaker Manuel Conde remarked that the best comedy films contain scenes that mirror the behavior of real people. The goal is to make viewers see themselves in the movie and laugh at their own behavior. Maybe, just maybe, the viewers will change their laughable behavior.

Roderick Paulate, playing a gay impersonator, leads a cast of veteran actors such as Gina Alajar and Elizabeth Oropesa. They had so much fun working as a team that it rubbed off on the movie. The spontaneous interactions and ad-libs of the actors gave the film a carefree and vivacious feel to it.

Director Soxie Topacio was so sure of the film's blockbuster and critical appeal that he included a teaser for a possible sequel at the film's end credits. Sure enough, Ded Na Si Lolo became a hit, though not on the same level as the mega-millions of You Changed My Life. But, if we consider a week-long theatrical run for an indie film as a mild success, then the month-long run of Ded Na Si Lolo at SM Megamall is truly phenomenal. It serves notice to producers that people do patronize excellent movies. I hope Sine Direk returns for a second installment in 2010.

Macho Dancer (Lino Brocka, 1988)

During the heady moments of the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution, a film critic asked director Lino Brocka if he would be happier to see President Ferdinand Marcos kicked out of office. The feisty director said, "No, because I wouldn't have any one to fight against anymore."

It wasn't long before Brocka found another enemy to fight: the incompetent administration of President Corazon 'Cory' Aquino. The latter half of the 1980s saw Brocka with two excellent films, Macho Dancer and OraProNobis. The films denounced the dehumanizing poverty, widespread corruption, and rampant human rights abuses under the Aquino administration. Both films feature lead characters taking the gun as a last resort to rectify social injustices. Who knows what else Brocka would have recommended if he didn't die on May 21, 1991?

Macho Dancer is the first Filipino gay film to gain recognition around the world. However, it is more than a mere gay film. It is a scathing indictment of the Aquino administration. Graffiti in the male rest room reads 'We are for Cory.' Yes, the Filipino people sided with President Aquino. But, what had she done for the people and the country after two years in power?

Brocka showed that not much had changed since the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution. Corruption is still rampant as seen in the scope of police officer Kid's illegal activities. Poverty continues to drive poor people to take squalid jobs such as call boys, macho dancers, prostitutes, and porn stars.

The movie is an eye-opener to the world of macho dancers and call boys. They are portrayed as fashionable and well-groomed men living in decrepit apartment rooms and doing despicable acts. In the first reel alone, the audience gets a glimpse of what happens inside a gay bar. A new recruit named Pol (Alan Paule) is being interviewed by the owner. The latter then asks Pol to take off his clothes and show his penis.

After the interview, Pol goes downstairs and sees the main show of the gay bar. Seven nude men are seated on stage. All of them are busy playing with themselves while horny foreigners in the audience ogle at them. A new acquaintance, Noel (Daniel Fernando), persuades Pol to transfer to another gay bar that has a 'cleaner' and 'less degrading' main act. It is 'cleaner' because two nude men take a shower together on stage at Mama Charlie's Bar.

Alan Paule and other actors playing macho dancers were trained by a real macho dancer for three months. Paule, in his debut film, did an excellent job portraying a naive-looking macho dancer. He was able to play a courteous character slowly getting jaded by the things he saw in Manila. Jacklyn Jose was effective during her character Bambi's breakdown scene. It was heartbreaking to hear her narrate how at a young age she was abused by her own father.

Daniel Fernando won a well-deserved Gawad Urian Best Actor award for his stunning performance. He was a natural during the carinderia scene. He was a lusty performer during his macho dancing/shower scenes. I doubt any actors today can do what he did so well in the film.

After a mammoth retrospective of Brocka movies at mag:net Katipunan in May 2009, another Brocka retro is being cooked up for Cinemalaya Cinco in July 2009. The late director deserves all the tributes and retrospectives he is getting these days. Macho Dancer is one of top films of Brocka that should be seen by moviegoers.