A Pilgrimage to Cinema

Films from the silent period, even if they didn't have the benefit of the aural and verbal sounds, were nevertheless able to elicit a variety of emotional responses from the audience, thanks in large part to the narrative talent of the filmmaker, the performance skills of the actors and actresses, and the harmony of the accompanying musical score. Making a silent film was certainly no small feat, for therein lied the task of telling a story through pure imagery. Such was the kind of experience that we had in the first set of films that we saw at the 8th International Silent Film Festival .  Let's now go through the other set of silent films: • " A Diary of Chuji's Travels " by Daisuke Itō (1927, 105 mins, Japan) Watching this Japanese silent film was a strange experience. First, we didn't really have any idea as to how cohesive and consistent the version of the film that we were seeing was, for it was a very condensed version of a film that was in fact intende...

Without the silent movies, cinema wouldn't have been as we know it today. Indeed, the art of filmmaking has gone a long, long way since the Lumière brothers' factory workers (and other silent shorts), by way of the cinématographe , were first shown to the public in the late 19th century. Most of our classic and contemporary filmmakers owe a great deal of debt to the cinematic outputs of the golden era of the silent cinema. It's quite hard to think of film history without going back to these venerable roots. It's for this reason that the International Silent Film Festival , now on its 8th year, is always something to look forward to. The viewing experience is made all the more unique as each film comes with a live musical accompaniment from performers (band, orchestra or solo act) specializing in certain musical genres. The silent film entries this year come from their respective countries of USA, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Spain and the Philippines. With the excepti...

Though Jun Lana's " Mga Kuwentong Barbero " ( Barber's Tales ) is set at a specific time and place - in a rural province at the time of Martial Law - its theme is undoubtedly of a universal import:a woman's place in society. On the other hand, even if no specific period and locality are explicitly given in Celso Ad. Castillo's " Virgin People " (1984 original version), it can be likewise argued that it is about women's plight. Thus, in a certain sense, both "Mga Kuwentong Barbero" and "Virgin People" are women's films.  In the former film (shown a couple of weeks ago), the women are consigned to domestic duties, or fated to spinsterhood, or regarded as mere childbearers or outlets of sexual pleasure, or locked in an abusive relationship. They are perpetually in the shadows of their men. While in the latter film (also recently shown), the treatment of women is much more myopic and voracious:they are continually at the mercy...

I am viewing " Rurouni Kenshin:Kyoto Inferno " from a different perspective. I am not a manga or animé  aficionado - and most probably will never really become one. As a matter of fact, I've never really followed the manga or animé  series on which Keichi Ohtomo's film was based;I've never even seen the first part (this has been planned as a trilogy). Thus, in a sense, I am really encountering the world of Samurai X for the first time. I am not in a great deal bothered. It's because I entered the moviehouse just expecting to see a good old-fashioned Japanese samurai film on the big screen, this particular genre distinct to the Japanese and perfected by the likes of Akira Kurosawa and Hiroshi Inagaki. And the experience wasn't really a let-down, thankfully. For "Rurouni Kenshin:Kyoto Inferno" is an entertaining enough samurai film. Not at par with a Kurosawa or Inagaki swordplay, but can't be dismissed as inferior either.  I understand that th...

(Disclaimer:For the New Breed section, I was able to see 7 out of the 10 films;for the Director's Showcase, 4 out of the 5 films.) Tonight, on the festival's last day, the Cinemalaya awards ceremonies will be held. The Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor/Actress, Best Screenplay and Audience Choice awards will be given to the deserving film(s) in the separate categories of New Breed and Director's Showcase. For sure, many of us who attended the ten-day festival have our own bets for each of the awards. The jury might be having a difficult task at hand, for there is a fine number of really good, even excellent, entries for this year. For the sake of brevity, I would just pick on the crème de la crème - the Best Picture prize. (This isn't to imply, though, that I'm not excited over the other awards;on the contrary.)  While it wouldn't be much of a big deal for me if the award goes to any other film, I would be particularly glad if Giancarlo Abrahan's ...

For the past six days, this working-class film urchin has just spent a good portion of his earnings on a total of eleven Filipino full-length films at the still-ongoing Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival , now celebrating its tenth year. (As of this writing, the popular and well-received festival has until Sunday, Aug. 10, still before it finally wraps up.) Of the eleven films, seven of these were from the New Breed section (devoted to competing films by up-and-coming feature filmmakers or by those directors who have not made more than five films at the time of the fest) and four from the Director's Showcase section (devoted to films by directors who have done five or more films by the time of the fest). For one reason or another, the films that I wasn't able to see are:" 1st Ko Si 3rd " by Real Florido, " Separados " by GB Sampedro, " K'na, the Dreamweaver " by Ida Anita del Mundo and " Asintado " by Luisito Ignacio (thi...

It has been a very satisfying viewing experience at the current Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival  so far. And for what could probably be my concluding day at the fest, I saw another New Breed entry. Let's find out how it went. • " Dagitab " by Giancarlo Abrahan (120 mins)  It looks like the best films of the festival are the quiet ones - " Bwaya ", " Kasal ", " Mariquina ", " Ronda " and now, "Dagitab". After Nick Olanka's slow-burn neo-noir "Ronda", this film by Giancarlo Abrahan is another of my favorites. I would even go so far to say that this should win the Best Picture prize in the New Breed category (not that the other six films that I saw in this category are bad;in fact, they are not ). Channelling the vibes of an Ingmar Bergman psycho-drama, a Woody Allen intelligent comedy and those French romantic yarns, "Dagitab" is a subtle and savvy exploration of a marital crisis, infi...

Even if this film urchin has already seen eight films thus far in the ongoing Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival , it's still premature to tell which among these will be honored the Best Picture prize in the separate categories of New Breed and Director's Showcase. Let's now check out another entry in the former category.  • " Ronda " by Nick Olanka (80 mins) I have yet to see two more films in the festival, but I think this one is going to be my favorite. Anyone of us who has a good grasp of European cinema, in particular the Romanian New Wave, will immediately recognize that "Ronda" bears traces of it. Of all the entries that I have seen so far (nine altogether), this was the only one where there was no immediate applause from the audience. I don't want to conclude that such a response necessarily means that they didn't like the film. It could only be that the film just left them puzzled. In any case, from this, we can probably say...

Thus far, the ongoing Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival has offered a number of really good, even excellent, Filipino feature films. Let's find out if the good streak will continue in my third day at the fest.  • " Children's Show " by Roderick Cabrido (90 mins) If " Dayang Asu " (by Bor Ocampo) did push through, "Children's Show" wouldn't be made and shown at Cinemalaya at all. It was one of the films on the "waiting list" in case any one of the original chosen entries for the New Breed section backed out. Perhaps, the film was really meant to be seen by us. "Children's Show" is the most powerful work I've seen in the festival so far. Based on actual events, it presents a particular form of child labor that many of us probably haven't heard about - a secretly-held wrestling match. Here, syndicates put those young and fragile bodies at a violent and bloody clash with one another for some hefty a...

To tell the truth, except for one, I have some misgivings with the other films that I'm scheduled to see on my second day at Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival . Let's see if these reservations are really founded.  • " Hari ng Tondo " by Carlos Siguion-Reyna (90 mins) This is Carlos Siguion-Reyna's comeback film after a very long period of absence from filmmaking. I can't even remember what was the last film of his that I saw - was it " Azucena " or " Kahapon May Dalawang Bata "? I wasn't exactly sold to the idea of seeing "Hari ng Tondo". It hasn't so much to do with the filmmaker's skill having already "waned" through all these years of absence as with the film itself not sounding that interesting. Going back to one's birthplace or hometown? It's nothing new in the cinema. But as it turns out, "Hari ng Tondo" is an immensely entertaining dramedy - and it's sort of a musica...

Last year's Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival fielded a number of really good entries - Alvin Yapan's " Debosyon ", Jason Paul Laxamana's " Babagwa ", Hannah Espia's " Transit ", Eduardo Roy Jr's " Quick Change ", Adolf Alix Jr's " Porno ", Jerrold Tarog's " Sana Dati " and Jeffrey Jeturian's " Ekstra ". Only time can tell if some of these would be eventually considered a classic. Now on its 10th year, for the next 9 days, we are once again in "search" for that particular film that will stand out among the rest. If all of the film entries (10 New Breed and 5 Director's Showcase) will actually stand out, then much better for us avid cineastes.  • " Bwaya " by Francis Xavier Pasion (98 mins) The film is said to be based on a true incident (it doesn't hide this fact, as it interviews the grieving parents), but it has this preternatural and enigmat...

Who are the " Guardians of the Galaxy "? That question may be asked in a literal sense. It's because prior to the film's release, who among us (unless of course you're a hardcore superhero comic-book reader which, unfortunately, I am not) really knows these guys? With the mere mention of the names of Star-Lord, Gamora, Rocket, Groot and Drax the Destroyer and of such villains as Ronan, Yondu, Thanos and The Collector, who among us can really claim to even an inkling of familiarity with them? (It's probably an inside joke that at the start of the film, when Star-Lord mentions his name to an enemy, the latter simply utters "Who?".) Thus, in that sense, Marvel Studios was actually making a gamble with the film - engaging in a risky business, so to speak. Honestly speaking, I think the guys over there did well. For the film is one heck of a fun and awesome watch. You really want to have a fun time at the movies? Then go for this one - without necessarily...