Cinema One Originals 2013:End of the Journey

Thus ends my journey (6 days altogether) through this year's edition of Cinema One Originals. Let me say first that I was only able to see 9 (out of the 15) film entries in the festival. The films that I didn't catch (for one reason or another) were:"Iskalawags", "Blue Bustamante", "Woman of the Ruins", "Philippino Story", "Ang Pagbabalat ng Ahas" and "Shift". I just felt bad not being able to see these films. Hope to encounter them one of these days. 

Now, getting back to those films that this film junkie did see. What was so good about the festival was that all the films were really noteworthy, that there was none that could be called as absolute trash. Even those works that could be considered as the weakest had something still going on for them. Examples of the latter are Mes de Guzman's "Sitio" and Kristian Cordero's "Angustia". De Guzman's home-invasion thriller may be faulted for its characters' seemingly illogical pattern of behavior. The supposed-to-be victims react as if their situation is not a matter of life and death;while the aggressors, though arguably pesky and menacing, do not manipulate the besieged family in a believably harmful way. Still, the film is able to invoke a palpable sense of dread and it features a number of commendable performances. Yet, for all of its irrational characterization, "Sitio" still won the Best Screenplay prize at the festival's award-giving ceremony (my bet was "Riddles of My Homecoming"). On the other hand, the weakness of Cordero's Bicol-set period piece also lies in its screenplay, particularly in how the main character (played by Alex Medina) was written. His shift of behavior from a good-natured and pensive friar to a murderous and carnal green-eyed monster is vaguely motivated;it lacks a deep psychological and emotional basis. What could have been a complex character turns out to be a preposterous one instead. As I mentioned before, if you have a gaping hole in your major character, then your movie goes downhill. Another major setback of "Angustia" is an utterly lackluster second half, something that could have been a different movie altogether. Still, the director manages to pull off some religiously unsettling images and motifs (the reason why the film had an initial brush with the MTRCB). But "Angustia" is definitely no "Debosyon". Needless to say, the film went home empty-handed from the awards ceremony. 

The annual film event also boasted of a number of strong and riveting performances. The actor's craft on display was raw, visceral, even lethal. In Ralston Jover's social-realist drama "Bendor", Vivian Velez as the title character, a mother torn between a glum domestic life and a self-liberating individuality, is simply a force of nature. In the process, she becomes both an anti-hero and a sympathetic character. The film may not be that cohesive (as it turns out that it is not simply about abortion), but Ms. Velez' portrayal still manages to hold it together. Meanwhile, in Ian Loreno's neo-noir "Saturday Night Chills", we have 3 young actors (Joseph Marco, Rayver Cruz and Matteo Guidicelli) who appear to have been given free rein to make a badass of themselves. The aimless and freewheeling life, with all of its profanity and vices, is lived by these 3 youths with such gusto and guts that it just rings so true. As in "Alagwa", the director displays here once again his gift in bringing out a nerve-wracking performance from his actors. And then, in Borgy Torre's crime tale "Kabisera", we have Joel Torre whose performance as a fisherman-turned-drug dealer is something that grabs you by the throat or, even more painful, punches you in the stomach. His eventual descent into a life of crime, in the name of bringing the best to his family, nearly achieves the level of a Shakespeare tragedy. Not to be ignored as well are the performances of Art Acuna and Bernard Palanca who, as the family man's friends and associates (his "partners-in-crime", so to speak), are equally scary. Of all the films I saw at the festival, this one has a high chance of being released commercially, ala-"OTJ" (also starred in by Joel Torre). Suffice it to say that all the lead performers in the aforementioned films won the festival's top acting prizes. 

As for the cream of the crop, it seemed to be that it was the festival's more experimental entries that stood out. Namely, Arnel Mardoquio's ''Riddles of My Homecoming'', a silent poem on violence-torn Mindanao, the director's land of birth;Jet Leyco's ''Bukas Na Lang Sapagkat Gabi Na'', a fever-of-a-dream probe into the psyche of a nation under dictatorship;Whammy Alcazaren's ''Islands'', a gorgeous ode to loneliness, longing and isolation;and Adolf Alix, Jr.'s ''Alamat ni China Doll'', a time-juggling crime drama-cum-character study. Not all of these are perfect works of art, though. ''Riddles'' has some imagery that are simply beyond comprehension, images that tend to confound rather than provoke (not sure though if this is a bad thing in the film's case);''Islands'' is nearly marred by an over-extended and expository last part, something that appears to be patterned after a Lav Diaz set-piece;while ''China Doll'' has a title character that veers more toward being an abstract persona, a riddle to be deciphered, someone who becomes more obtuse as the film goes deep into its jagged timeframe;thankfully, Angelica Panganiban's vulnerable portrayal makes the character still somewhat grounded in reality (and she won a Best Actress prize for it). And ''Bukas Na Lang Sapagkat Gabi Na'' - ah, I think I have to qualify what I previously said that not all of the best of the fest are perfect. For this one is...near-perfect! A modern masterwork, it is something that has to be seen to be believed. We know too well that we have already encountered films of such mood and texture before, but the filmmaker achieves the feat of making it something like we are seeing such kind of work for the first time. This one is this film junkie's favorite. 

Altogether, this year's Cinema One Originals offered works that gave one a unique and varied film-viewing experience - bewildering, confusing, enriching. It managed to stay true to its tagline:Anything can happen in a Cinema One Originals movie. This makes me look forward to the next year's edition of the fest.

Jet Leyco's ''Bukas Na Lang Sapagkat Gabi Na'':A unique film-viewing experience