MMFF 2012: Thy Womb

THY WOMB (2012)

d. Brillante Mendoza

s. Henry Burgos

dop. Odyssey Flores

mscore. Teresa Barrozo

c. Nora Aunor, Bembol Roco, Lovi Poe, Mercedes Cabral

Pitch: In a Muslim community down south, an infertile wife agrees to find another wife for her husband so they could have a child in the house.

Catch: ‘Yun na ‘yun. Maniwala ka bang the pitch is also the catch? Basa kung bakit!

Kasi ganito ‘yun teh. ‘Yung pelikula, maganda. ‘Yung scenery lalo na. Tahimik lang siyang nilatag, imahe after imahe, na ipinapakita ang buhay ng isang particular na lugar na ito sa Muslim community somewhere in Mindanao. Culture kung culture spectacle teh. May pinakitang kasal ng isang lalaki at babae (si Mercedes Cabral the indie cutie) na kahit parang may pumipilit na suma-subplot na naghahabulang saglit na military vs. rebels chuva, kebs pa rin si ati at may-I-dance siya ng ritual dance ng kinasal, to the tune of that dayang dayang song na sikat ay may rele pala sa kanila doon.

Tahimik ding pinakita ‘yung buhay ng mag-asawang ginampanan ni Kuya Bembol at ni Ate Guy. Na gumagawa sila ng mga special colorful na banig tapos binebenta nila. May moments na ‘yun lang ang pinapakita, na naghahabi lang hibla by hibla si Ate Guy. Tapos si Kuya Bembol nagluluto at nagkukulay ng hibla. Tapos tahimik ding pinakita na minsan, fisherfolk sila. May maliit silang bangka na may motor tapos nangingisda sila sa vast Mindanao waters, na minsan may rebels at nahagingan sila ng baril tapos kinulimbat ‘yung fishes na nahuli nila. Ganun lang.

Tapos tahimik ding nag-usap ang mag-asawa na ‘yun nga, kumuha ng bagong asawa para maanakan ni Kuya Bembol. Nalulungkot kasi sila na walang bata sa bahay kaya naghanap sila ng bagong babaeng may silbi ang bahay-bata. Enter frame si Lovi Poe the mainstream cutie. Pinakita din dito ang struggle ng mag-asawa na mahanap ang perfect yet affordable next wife na afford nilang bayaran ang dowry. Ito interesting for me as a feminist. Mas mahal pala ang gelay kapag titulado at nakapag-kolehiyo. Parang 120,000 pesoses yata siya or something. Tapos may extra pa, mga tinapay saka magarang belo saka reams ng yosi para sa padir at madir ng gelay. Interesting makita ang kalakarang ito.

In fairness, sa kuwento, affordable ang byuti ni Lola Lovi. ‘Yun din pala, tahimik na pinakita kung paano nag-raise ng 80,000 pesoses yata or more ang mag-asawang mananahi ng banig at sometime fisherfolk para afford nilang bayaran ang Lola Lovi dowry. Kelangang ibenta ang motor ng boat at nag-pitch in ang community for fundraising. Pero may request ang lola, na pagkaanak niya, palayasin na daw ni Kuya si Ate sa balur at silang dalawa na lang ang magsasama. Yes, finally, conflict! Na dumating mga makalipas ang isang oras at kalahati ng katahimikang paglalahad ng mga imaheng kultural.

Tapos eto na, nang manganak na nga ang lola mo, si ati ang nagpaanak at pinutol pa ang umbilical cord at tinago for souvenir. Tapos tinitigan lang siya ni kuya at lola and then pagkaputol ng cord, BAM! Pinutol na rin ang pelikula, literal. Credits na. The end.

And I was like, Thy Whut???

Napaganun na lang ako. parang naglalatag pa lang ang kuwento, naglalatag pa lang ng istorya, parang ang mga pangyayari sa naratibo ay nagsisimula pa lang maging interesante pero malabong tinapos na ito ni Brillante. Kamusta naman. Sige, maganda ang katahimikan ng mga imahe, fine. Magaling ang pag-arte nilang lahat dito impernez, fine. Pero naman teh, asan ang script??? Asan ang laman ng istorya??? Naman eh. Nalurkey akey. Di ko knows kung ano naganap. Kaya ayun, bitin lola mo. Buti na lang at biased ako at naisalba ang mga oras ng katahimikan ng pelikulang ito sa pagtitig sa ganju mode ni Mercedes my crush at ng alindog-in-a-shawl mode ni Lovi my lust. Pramis ‘yun lang tumawid teh. Haynakuh beks di ka na natuto. Di ba ganitich din naman ang reak mo sa ibang pelikula ni koya BM? Oo ‘pag naiimbey ako I talk to myself, di ka kasali dito, beh.

Hay Lovi, why so pretty?

Hay nakuh. Sayang. Andun na sana e. Maganda na sana ‘yung mga katahimikang subtleties na sinusubukang isaksak ni direk sa pelikula. Pero walang direktang story consciousness ang pelikula. In short, wala kang masyadong kakapitan na kuwento. Scenery na lang, fine. Konting filmic nuances (esp. acting, cinematog) fine. Pero kuwento? Wiz! Balik sa workshop ‘yan. Now na.

Saka sana Tinagalog na lang nila ang titulo. Saka lost ako sa choice na “thy” kasi di ba associated itich sa Christian/Catholic writings? “Thy will be done/on earth as it is in heaven.” Um mga followers po ni Allah ang characters. May counterpart ba ang thy chuvaness sa Quran? Just wondering. Parang mali, eh. Maling-mali.

Hayst. Sayang. Wala, ang lola Mercedes at ang lola Lovi ay nasayang lang ditich. Anyway kebs, naka-rampage naman sila sa Venice Filmfest saka sa Cannes din yata. Hm bakit kaya nanalo ito sa Venice? Siguro relate ang judges dahil puro tubig ang nakikita dito sa film. Di ba Venice canals chorva mode? Wala lang, wafung na akiz. Naubusan ng popcorn.

Next!

Unrealistically yours, officially

So much hype on a film that’s supposed to present “taboo” subjects in local cinema. Ang tanong: define taboo. Baka tabo – tumabo ng konseptong di naman talaga bago sa kultura natin pero dahil konserbatibo (read: takot) ang ating media gatekeepers, wow, hype it up yo! Wasup wasup! Lech.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

UNOFFICIALLY YOURS (2012)

d. Cathy Garcia Molina

p. Star Cinema

c. Angel Locsin, John Lloyd Cruz

Pitch: Boy dentist turns lifestyle journalist trains under a former one night stand fling and of course love is renegotiated.

Catch: Aside from Google, my dear creatives, real-life research is your best friend. Just sayin’. At ang chaka ng poster design. 

So of course my main beef with this film is its authenticity in depicting the world of lifestyle-entertainment journalists. And why is that? Because I belong to that beat, is why! Like haller, you don’t go to coverage events to ambush interview like political beat reporters noh. Most coverage work in this beat are pre-arranged or writers and editors are invited to a press event where we don’t have to outscoop each other. We are spoiled like that.

So to have that kind of trainee-reporter-trained-by-veteran-writer blah is truly not not not authentic. Not to mention accepting a newbie writer without the benefit of, er, previous sample writing works??? That he needed to be trained to be a writer??? Hello naman sa non-suspension of disbelief sheesh. Puwede na kong himatayin sa portion na ito teh. Please lang. Lifeline: show me the popcorn.

But of course that’s just for people like me who want to nitpick. (Chos!) The real deal is, of course, the one night stand/fuck buddy storyline, something oooohhh sooooo controversial in Philippine cinema daw. Anubeh. Di ba kayo nanonood ng mga lumang sine? Di pa nga uso ang cougar term, may cougars na tayong karakter sa pelikula (see ’80s BAGETS especially the subplot of JC Bonnin) or any other film during that decade. In short, please do your homework. Bawal ang tamad.

So the next best thing is to explore instead how fubus or no label relationships are interpreted in this day and age. While the film makes a sexy effort, talagang A for ayfort lang siya teh. For one, the cinematography is so uneven that you tend to think if they want to show an unflattering angle of Angel during sex (read: hindi siya delicious tignan ever, which is so taliwas in real life dahil naglalakad na alindog ang ate mong ito noh), not to mention you wouldn’t believe that Lloydie really had an orgasm in some shots (read: beks pretend na hindi nala-lock ang patotoy this time. Kung totoo man ‘yun). I mean man, ganyan ba mukha ng isang naligayahan sa kama? Porn acting looks more believable than that, man. Geez. Just saying. And it doesn’t help that the camera seems to be more biased towards showing Lloydie as prettier than Angel. Success iyon actually. But not that palatable. O baka sa akin lang iyon bilang iba ang bias ko sa larangang iyan. Chos.

And then there’s the issue of past emotional baggage getting in the way of present love prospects. Mukhang ito lang ang success sa pelikulang ito bilang ito lang ang swak na nadebelop sa brainstorming. Sure, it’s very relatable and that’s a good thing. I just wish it wasn’t treated in a teleserye way. The film also suffered that way, like the first half of the film was so cinematically tight in concepts-visuals-pacing but the rest is melodramatically loose na. You’d actually think that there were two different directors who helmed this pramis. Sobrang nag-iba ang timpla. Labo.

Oh well. And another thing is, I just wish they didn’t fall into the trap of stereotyping women again, na dahil lang nasaktan sa pag-ibig chever ay “loose morals” na ang dating kaya parang pakawalang pukengkeng na lang siya. Hello creatives, read mga magazines naman like Cosmo, Preview, mga ganun, all those women-centric glossies, to see na hey, may mga single women naman na empowered enough to fubu because they prefer it, without so much emotional baggage. May underlying panghuhusga kasing bumabalot sa pelikula kaya parang mas kakaawaan mo ‘yung character ni Lloydie because he’s the stupid dork who seriously wants a relationship with his fubu and yet he’s being dismissed. Hello damsel-in-distress plot device isdatchu? Hm.

Sayang. I really had high hopes for this film but okay I have to commend it for at least trying. I hope next time, they try harder. We audiences would love to see more storylines like these, veer away from the usual kilig rom-coms and actually depict Pinoys as sexually active beings — because we are. Kasi naman, look at how our society is so scared of talking about sex, much more regulating things connected to it (read: pass the RH bill! Now na!) and of course because of conservative Catholicism, we have been so culturally sex-negative for so long. It’s time to change that. And damn well film it!

Next!

Cinemalaya 2011: Bahay Bata

I was able to watch a bunch of Cinemalaya films this year so here’s what I think of some of them. I’m starting with this one since this is the last I watched in the U.P. run and I think it’s somehow my favorite. SPOILER ALERT! moments abound here so don’t read if you don’t want the plot to be uncovered.

BAHAY BATA (Baby Factory)

d. Eduardo Roy Jr.

s. Jerome Zamora, Eduardo Roy Jr.

e. Bebs Gohetia

sc. Toni Munoz

c. Diana Zubiri

Pitch: Days before Christmas and we see a day in the life of a nurse working in the free ward of a public hospital where new mothers just gave birth to babies. The nurse’s life weaves with the patients’ and fellow nurses’ lives around her, making her reflect on the things she sees around her in connection with her own personal inner struggles.

Catch: Needs another script doctor’s eye to polish some contrived dialogues, but minimal.

This film should have the subtitle “And this is why the Philippines needs the RH bill now!”

The story is very, very simple yet in its simplicity, it truly works. It’s just a day in the life of a nurse as she works. We see Sarah the nurse, played emphatically by Diana Zubiri, go around in her usual nurse routine during her day shift, and then she gets extended to the night shift as well. But the difference here is, we also see the people and the area around this routine, perhaps something we don’t get to see often in cinema.

Here, we see an in-depth look of what a free ward inside a public hospital looks like: hospital beds with two persons/patients occupying one bed. Yes, you read that right: they share beds. As Sarah and the other characters walk around, the camera follows them and in its full wide angle lens glory, we see these beds lined one after the other, claustrophobic in its proximity to one another, yet the women who occupy them don’t seem to mind. In fact, some of the women — especially the young girls — forge bonds as they exchange their love stories as they sat in one bed.

And this is why I love this film: the visuals speak for the messages the film tries to subtly convey. No unnecessary histrionics emanating from “over-workshopped acting actors” or didactic expository dialogues. Aside from discovering the look inside such hospital wards, we also get to know how they run things there. Of course there’s the usual issue of not being able to check out the mother and the baby if one hasn’t settled their bills, but that wasn’t presented melodramatically. There was that particular storyline about a mother who just had her 13th baby — yes, 13th, again a “typical” issue in the country — and she ran out of breast milk. Her husband tried to bring her powdered milk but he was banned from entering the hospital because it is a strictly “breastfeeding only zone” hospital. I never knew that and through this film, now I know that such rules exist. Interesting. Plus another interesting issue for me is having someone else breastfeed another’s baby. That is what happened to that mother of 13 kids, as a young mother aged 17 — yes, 17 years old, yet another “typical issue” in our society — was brought to her to breastfeed her baby. And speaking of age, there was also this scene of young girls exchanging stories of how they got pregnant and all, and one of them was 13 years old. No judgment by the others, as the 17 year-old casually commented “Ay, ang bata mo pa, nabuntis ka na” saying “How young of you to get pregnant.” without any tone of condemnation, just plain commentary, like it’s just “typical” an occurrence. Sadly, it is typical, indeed.

The way such issues and concerns crop out of the film in bits and pieces, sporadically sprinkled here and there, and presented nonchalantly is why I think this film is so powerful. Quiet, unassuming, but carrying loads and loads of things for audiences to think about, without being so rah-rah about such issues.

We also get to see interpersonal relationships of people who work in these spaces as we also discover facets of their lives familiar to us. We see very old nurses get treated shabbily by arrogant doctors younger than them. We see some nurses filling out application forms for job openings in Canada. We see how nurses form and forge friendships in these spaces. Very interestingly executed as well, as we see very realistic portrayals we forget that this is a fiction film sometimes.

I also like the way it subtly comments on the hypocrisy that is abortion in this country. Sarah’s character gets devastated near the end as she gets dumped by the man that impregnated her, leaving her a day before Christmas Eve dinner happens, because his affair with the nurse was found out by his wife. Even this moment was executed well: no melodramatic histrionics as we see the man and the nurse in the middle of their conversation, just staring at each other, obviously the man having just delivered the bad news and Sarah’s eyes were already welling up as she tries to find the  words to say. After, she wanders with a preoccupied mind, running an errand of picking up medicines from the pharmacy and walks back to her ward, but in the middle passing the post-abortion ward section of the hospital, which at first was defocused and unseen, and as she passes and exits the film frame, we see the sign and the entrance to the post-abortion ward focus and the camera lingers in this image — a foreshadowing of things to come. (But even the foreshadowing wasn’t presented that forcefully, just hinted at. Then the result of the foreshadowing was also presented sparingly, not blatantly, in that scene where she faced the mirror and started quietly taking some pills. Powerful!) I mean, the very existence of such a ward in a public hospital really reflects realities that should be faced by lawmakers and if they really want to help women, that should be acknowledged and addressed humanely, not condescendingly (and certainly out of the domain of the Catholic church), to really be pro-women and all that.

I like this film. It really works for me. I do hope people who get to see this get the message. It’s about time some sectors did. Paging CBCP?

Kudos to the team who did this. A special mention to my friend who made the musical score of this. Congrats for your first full-length, Toni! More to come!

Plus P.S. it’s interesting how the title has this word-play going on, like its English title is baby factory but in Filipino, bahay bata literally means a woman’s womb, or specifically that thingie inside the womb that “houses” a fetus. Interesting. Wala lang, pansin ko lang. Anyway, try to catch this if it shows somewhere.

MAMMA MIA! (movie musical)

[FROM MY OLD MULTIPLY SITE]

MAMMA MIA!
c. meryl streep
s. from the stage musical based on ABBA’s songs

who doesn’t love abba? buang kayo if you don’t. they’re just one of the greatest pop acts to appear on this planet, so there better be some abba-worship of sorts in your life.

was in the middle of my working out mode at the gym when my mum texted if i wanna go with her and pop to watch mamma mia at the nearby mall. of course i said yes, and now you know where my priorities lie. pag sinabing sine, sine! dedma sa pagpapapayat at healthy lifestyle! bakit bah.

dapat lang sigurong family affair ang panonood ng pelikulang ito. my family loves music and each of my parents have their own set of favorites which i all got to hear–sometimes against my wishes–at home when i was growing up. abba was of course part of that collection, mostly my mum’s, pero my pop, because he is a musikero (meron siyang “combo” dati dude! combo! hanep sa term!) appreciates the geniuses behind abba’s timeless and iconic music. of course, namana ko ito, although a bit later. kasi i still have that teenager napahiya-sa-kamag-anak memory of me with my post-college age titas jumping and screaming at heartbeat mega disco in the late 80s when they heard “dancing queen” play, at iniwan kaming mga teens na china-chaperone nila para magsayaw ng kantang blast from their past sa dance floor. hm. but when i hit college, abba hit me, too, so okay na ko by then.

but abba is more than a blast from the past, kasi nga timeless siya, so kahit sa future, may importance siya. at nakakatuwang nakita ito ng tatlong babaeng lumikha ng original MAMMA MIA! THE MUSICAL sa uk in the late 90s. i have the original cast recording na at naghihintay lang na dalhin ito sa pinas, pero no such luck. i was actually planning to buy tickets for this and treat my parents to it, because i know they’ll love it, especially my mum.

so of course, we all love the film. grabeh! dapat ang subtitle nito ay MAMMA MIA: MERYL STREEP WALANG KUPAS. grabeh lang ang lola mo dito! naakatuwa siya. dancing and prancing and hitting the notes right, plus plus plus giving a dose of that meryl academy award-winning acting, emoting and such! panalo lang yung eksena ng “the winner takes it all” while she was using the song to emotionally confront and withdraw from the ghost of her past romance with pierce brosnan’s character. ang hirap nun a! i remember an exercise in acting class where we were made to emote or something pero using words that didn’t make any sense, basta dapat ang emotion ang mas importanteng lumabas. parang ganun yung eksenang ito. emote galore sila sa side ng isang greek isle habang hine-helicopter shot ang song number. AWARD!!!! walang kupas si meryl. syempre nakatulong dito ang music ng abba. unang linya pa lang niya ng “i don’t wanna talk…” potah parang pinana ang puso ko at KAPOW! sapok sa tama ang song sa emotion ng scene at sa meaning and all that. potah. only women who have love and lost and know the importance of both could think of trawling through tons of abba’s songs and use that to tell a narrative that is also as timeless and as universal as the songs themselves. winner!!!

panalo rin ang pacing ng pelikula. minsan kasi, depende sa materyal, kung may sarili na itong buhay o wala, sometimes it takes a stupid ingot to mess it up on film. such was the case of RENT when handled by chris columbus. hay, but that’s another review. oo magtutuos tayo chris columbus, humanda ka!

ito kasing mamma mia, klaro na musical siya. musical na klarong may montage of shots, may artistic lighting effect (another subtitle could be MAMMA MIA: THE VERY BACKLIT MOVIE kasi halos lahat ng eksena may backlight lalo na sa hair), may cool choreography at may emotions na dine-deliver ang mga eksena sa tulong ng kanta. YAN ANG MUSICAL, CHRIS COLUMBUS! hmp.

i liked it that the “dancing queen” portion became a sort of feminist woman-power song number, when donna and the dynamos walked along the villa and every woman trapped in their daily domestic roles suddenly got empowered to join the trail until they all made a parade of sorts and ended up near the shores, tapos talon sa tubig ang tatlong bida at some of the women, too. para bang at the end, the women had some self-cleansing done and all. i liked that symbolism. panalo sha.

iba talaga pag mga babaeng nakakaintindi ng mga babae ang kumakana ng ganitong kuwento, no? hindi exploitative, unapologetic (we see the characters as really human) and real. it also helps na they understand the potential of the visual language that cinema could offer, freeing them of the restrictions of the four walls of the stage. in fact, i couldn’t even imagine this being staged! curious.

gusto ko rin yung character twist nung character ni colin firth hehe. happy. wala lang, nakahanap lang ako ng kakampi hehe.

my only beef with this movie is pierce brosnan. as dapper as he is, man, he should leave the singing and, uh, movement, to others. or gumawa siya ng support group ng “hollywood hunks who shouldn’t touch the musical genre,” with richard gere as their president. hindi keri, mga kuya, pramis.

nakakatawa lang when julie walters began singing “take a chance” hehehe. not only once did i use this song to woo some women. may hit, may miss, at may nag-regret na di niya pinatos hahaha. chozzzzzzzzzzzz.

see, abba not only is timeless but really useful din sa daily life. try it! di ba nga, sabi nila…

…without the song and dance, what are we? / so i say thank you for the music / for giving it to me…

now you know what will be on heavy rotation in my mp3 player this week.

THE BRAVE ONE

[FROM MY OLD MULTIPLY SITE]

originally posted at leaflens.blogspot.com

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dahil hindi na ko makapaghintay…

…chichichiryahin ko na itong bagong pelikula ni jodie foster my love.

yes, my love, dahil ang tagal ko nang itinakwil ang debosyon ko sa kanya mula nang mapag-trip-an niyang maging mas action star-ish (FLIGHT PLAN, PANIC ROOM) o kaya’y dekorasyon sa mga pelikulang kelangan ng pag-aayos ng kwento (THE INSIDE MAN, DANGEROUS LIVES OF ALTAR BOYS). pero mula pa noong bagu-bago pa lang ang internet sa buhay ko e nauna na ang debosyon ko kay jodie nang masilayan ko sa sinehan ang kagalingan niya bilang aktor (THE ACCUSED, SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, NELL, CONTACT) at minsan din ay direktor (LITTLE MAN TATE, HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS) kahit sa sige na nga, magaling siyang umarteng hetero kahit ang ka-akting niya ay banban (SOMMERSBY) o sobrang bilib sa sarili (MAVERICK) pero alam naman naming lahat na ang tawag niya sa co-parent ng kanyang mga anak ay partner at matagal nang inaabangan ng sangkalesbyanahan ang kanyang pag-amin na siya ang aming numero unong diyosa.

but i digress. let’s go to this film.

THE BRAVE ONE
d. neil jordan
dop. philippe rousselot
c. jodie foster

it’s been a while since i’ve seen a neil jordan film. i like the way he directs because he knows how to visualize a well-written material. he knows how to communicate with his production people, his dop most especially, and the actors of course, that’s why he could get the most out of all of them and make one great concoction that is so meaty, refreshing, satisfying, and thought-provoking. similar examples are THE CRYING GAME and INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE.

hm, is it strange or is there a lot of homoeroticism going on in the characters of these two films? so it might not be a wonder if jodie herself appears so freakingly dykey butchy here in the film, which made me — and i’m sure a host of other jodie-devoted dykes out there — fall in love with her anew.

and fall is right. because finally, after years of hibernation, jodie emerges with a film that befits her stature as a great thespian. finally, good material for jodie! at eto na nga yun.

the story is good. she plays erica, a talk radio host who ruminates on the essence of new york city and its streets chever. she even records sounds of the city. at ang ganda kasi it’s been ages din since i saw a film focus on sounds as life ek. at okay ito. tapos maganda rin ang discussion na “why don’t my hands shake” chever na na-feel niya when she makes killings with her 9mm automatic gun. boy, would i want to do that din, no? kaya i’m sure daming babaeng relate dito kaya nga sabi niya regarding the many outraged women out there e marami kami out there. at tama siya doon. hundreds, if not thousands of women are harassed, abused or downright killed just because they/we are seen as weaker than men. kaya when she makes killings vigilante style, men, sarap lang ng feeling kahit visceral lang. as in. well, not really. kasi ako i also target shoot as a hobby before (rifle, not pistol) , pero not anymore, since i got my glasses. at saka wala akong tinamaan na tao. although i really wish… some people…

natatawa lang ako kasi iba talaga ang nakikita ko sa pelikulang ito. o masyado bang purple-colored ang lenses ko? pero kasi naman ati, sobrang dykey lang talaga ng hitsura ng lola jodie dito eh. from the simple colored shirts to the straight cut jeans and the fitting jackets, especially the leather ones! ang simple pero ang cool! and ang lesbian! hahahahaha. and the way she walks din. postura baga. sometimes she’s so andro, sometimes she’s so butchy, soft butchy nga lang, the kind i’ll make patol to hahaha and the kind i have been accused/labeled from time to time. hahahaha. hay…

nakakaaliw lang din isipin na ang galing niyang i-shake off ang kanyang clarice sterling fbi agent training of holding a gun at kaya niyang palabasin ang first time gun holder chever dito. winner!

winner din ang support cast, from mary steenburgen to that detective dude. okay rin yung interracial ek na ang fiance niya ay isang indian national. cool.

saka hindi mo iintindihin ang haba ng film. 2 hours lang siya pero hindi siya mahaba. maganda kasi ang storytelling pace, plus i also like to look at how rousselot, one of my favorite dops of all time, lights the scene. siya rin ang nag-ilaw sa INTERVIEW and other films i also visually love like CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, LA REINE MARGOT (with another of my loves, isabelle adjani), CONSTANTINE and HENRY AND JUNE.

gusto ko rin yung discussion na you become someone else when something tragic or traumatic happens to you. tama siya doon. kaya maganda yung characterization because it’s real and it’s honest. and most important of all, it’s valid. kasi tama, you never go back to who you are after you experience something traumatic, lalo na sa mga babae, be it as “simple” as being mugged or maholdap ka sa fx, ma-harass ng isang manyak, as emotionally complicated as experiencing the death of a loved one (relative, parent, friend, sibling) or having your heart broken for the first, second or nth time, or worse, being molested or raped. no, my dears, you never go back to who you once were. tama yung film, you become someone else, and most often, that someone is indeed a stranger. like how many of you out there feel that you don’t know yourselves anymore after such a traumatic experience? think about it.

that’s what i like about this film. kahit simple lang kung titignan ang string of events, marami siyang insights na papag-isipin ka deep down. kaya keri ko siya.

o bilis, nood na! dapat big screen. sayang dop ni rousselot kapag sa dvd lang pinanood ito!

BRIDGET JONES 2: EDGE OF REASON

[FROM MY OLD MULTIPLY SITE]

originally posted at leaflens.blogspot.com

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BRIDGET JONES 2: EDGE OF REASON
c. renee zellweger

may isang salita na dati ko pang ginagamit noong kabataan ko dahil may tunay siyang meaning na narinig kong muli na ginamit ngayong matanda na ako ng konti sa isang konteksto na nakakaaliw at nakakatuwa, di taliwas sa orihinal niyang konteksto pero may pagkakaiba ng kaunti. iyon ay ang salitang TUMBLING. ang daming kaibigan sa lgbt community na gumagamit nito na ngayon e naririnig ko na rin kahit sa labas ng komunidad. like pag nagdi-discuss ng strategies ng anti-discrimination bill sa congress, sasabihin ng mga lobbyists na “magta-tumbling ako sa kongreso bukas” or something like that. kaya tuwing maririnig ko ang salitang tumbling e natutuwa ako…at oo, magaling akong mag-tumbling nung bata ako. na ang proper term pala, i learned when i grew up, was cartwheel.

bakit ko dini-discuss ito? dahil sa nag-tumbling ang byuti ko nang pinapanood ko ito. it’s bad enough that i get reminded of how sad single life is via bridget’s ramblings blah blah na kung titignan naman talaga e single life’s not so bad. pero she makes it sound so bad, kaya naiinis din ako dahil nakakadagdag ito sa undue pressure sa mga taong single diyan, lalo na’t babae ka, at pilipina ka, at hetero ka. grabe lang sa pressure. i have tons of friends and relatives who could vouch for that. you might be one, too. well, of course hindi rin exclusive ang singlehood discourse sa hets only. even lesbian women feel the pressure. read my article on that and you’ll know, especially the section appropriately titled “keeping up with the bridget joneses.” (http://www.isiswomen.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=259&Itemid=144)

yung unang film, okay lang. may humor. pero itong isang ito e hindi ko alam pero parang naging pathetic loser shit si bridget, na lagi siyang nagmumuni-muni at nagsususpetsa sa jowa niya. makes me think how the author of the book looks at single women, na kapag matagal kang single tapos nagka-jowa ka, you become some pathetic person who holds on to the relationship and flaunts it pa sa lahat or something like that. basta! nakakairita.

mas lalong nakakairita ang pinaka-reason kung bakit ako nag-tumbling: the lesbian angle. all along, yung pinagdududahan niyang mistress ng jowa niya e sa kanya pala may gusto, at hinalikan pa siya! tangina talagang tumambling ang byuti ko sa plot twist na itich! kainis! kaasar! para saan yun??? walang silbi. wala na sigurong maisip yung author. helen fielding ba? whatever. hindi nakaka-engganyong basahin tuloy ang libro. nyetah. buset.

*toingk!* (sound of me tumbling)

SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS

[FROM MY OLD MULTIPLY SITE]

originally posted at leaflens.blogspot.com

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SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS
s. from the novel by ann brasshares

since there’s a dvd of this lying around somewhere here, i decided to watch it when i saw that the young adult literature (YAL) novel na pinagbasehan nito ay kasama sa “teens read too” 20-book challenge chuva ng adarna house, sponsor ng barlaya YAL workshop na sinalihan ko. dahil sa YAL at amerikano at mga teeny girlies, parang alam ko na ang mangyayari sa pelikula, at sa libro na rin siyempre.

okay ang naratibo niya, not too exciting yet not too boring either. maganda yung concept na isang pantalon sinusuot ng apat na iba’t ibang personalidad na kababaihan at sa pagsuot nila nito e may nadidiskubre sila sa sarili nila eklavu. siyempre hindi positive lahat, dahil mukhang yan ang thrust ng YAL lately na napapansin ko, na bridge siya sa pagpapaintindi sa mga hindi na gaanong bata sa mga isyu ng mundo na kinakaharap ng mga matatanda at paghahanda ito sa kanila bilang malapit nang maging matanda. something like that. like two of the characters dealt with issues of death here, yung isa, si punk rocker filmmaker nagpapaka-goth outcast e nakakilala ng isang feeling close na bata na may leukemia pala, na nadeds. tapos yung blondinang soccer player na promiscuous e namatayan ng ina. tapos yung dalawa, dilemma ng pamilya at/o pag-ibig, tulad ng karakter ni america ferrer ba yun, herrera something, basta yung si UGLY BETTY, na may race issue dahil puerto rican siya at puti tatay niya na biglang nagkaroon ng ibang pamilyang sobrang WAC ang dating. tapos yung isa e greek naman at napaibig sa isang kaaway ng pamilya niya sa greece a la romeo and juliet na plot pattern.

so mga complex na pinagdaraanan o pagdaraanan ng mga teenager ang kinaharap nila. maganda naman nga ang paglalahad. epektibo siya bilang pelikula rin kasi nakita ko ang ganda ng greece. ang sarap talagang bisitahin ang lugar na iyon. i swear isang araw, i will be there and worship at the palace of my goddess athena hehe.

medyo naging interesante ako sa libro nang napanood ko ito. makes me want to see how the narrative unfolded through the pages. sige basahin ko.