A Pilgrimage to Cinema

After getting nothing but mediocre works for the past couple of months, I finally have my first best Filipino film for the year: Lawrence Fajardo's " Imbisibol ", an entry in Sinag Maynila , a brainchild of Solar Entertainment head Wilson Tieng and Cannes-winning director Brillante Ma. Mendoza, held from March 18 to 24 at SM Cinemas. This isn't to say though that all the other four entries (" Swap ", " Ninja Party ", " Bambanti " and " Balut Country ") are just average works;they are undeniably well-done as well. But if we're to pick one that stands out from the rest, then it's undoubtedly "Imbisibol". The craftsmanship and artistry involved in the film are just beyond fault. This is something that Star Cinema can only dream of. "Imbisibol" (adapted by Herlyn Gail Alegre, John Bedia and Fajardo from the former's Virgin Labfest play of the same title, which is a "Tagalized" spelling ...

Here's another quick look at some of the films being shown at the still-ongoing Sinag Maynila  (March 18-24, SM Cinemas), a festival of five Filipino independent films, a pet project of Solar Entertainment head Wilson Tieng and acclaimed filmmaker Brillante Ma. Mendoza. • " Bambanti ", dir.: Zig Dulay, written by Dulay, 90 mins. This film (whose title literally translates to "scarecrow" in English) works on a seemingly simple premise: an expensive gold wristwatch gets stolen and all fingers point to a poor mother and child (played by Alessandra de Rossi and Micko Laurente), who do some household chores for a relative (played by Shamaine Buencamino), whose daughter owns the item in question. It's the kind of simple storyline that's teeming with richness and subtlety that's often found in the films of such master Iranian filmmakers as Majidi, Panahi and Kiarostami. This one is in fact a depressing tale, moving at such a patient pace, with De R...

Film festivals, whether homegrown or international, are always welcome by us avid cineastes here in the country. Making its debut this year is Sinag Maynila , a festival of five independent Filipino films, spearheaded by Solar Entertainment top honcho Wilson Tieng and Cannes-winning film director Brillante Ma. Mendoza, in cooperation with SM Cinemas, the exclusive venue of the event. Let's take a quick look at each of the entries.  • " Swap ", dir.: Remton Siega Zuasola, written by Zuasola, 96 mins.  The third film of Cebu-based director Remton Siega Zuasola has the single-take narrative of Sokurov's " Russian Ark " and Iñarritu's " Birdman " and the theatre-based aesthetics of Fassbinder's " The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant " and Von Trier's " Dogville ". "Swap" tells the story of a poor young couple (played by Matt Daclan and Dionne Monsanto) whose child has been kidnapped. The kidnapper is willing to r...

Perhaps, one of the most difficult feats to achieve in cinema is to make a robot act. And when I say act, it means conveying a wealth of emotions like human actors do. As early as Fritz Lang's groundbreaking and influential sci-fi classic " Metropolis ", we have already seen a robot acting onscreen in the form of Maria. And just recently, Gabe Ibañez's underrated " Automata " featured a number of robots baring out their "souls" to the viewers. Now comes " Chappie " (2015, USA), the newest sci-fi film from " District 9 " director Neill Blomkamp. Here, the title character (voiced by Blomkamp regular Sharlto Copley) is a life-size android that's programmed to act, think and speak like a human. The film is set in a dystopian future where the enforcement of law and order is practically done by a robotic police force (managed by a company known as Tetravaal), which is much more vigorous and agile than their human counterparts (wh...

For its inaugural presentation, SineAsia, a joint project of Viva Films and SM Cinemas that aims to bring to our country the latest in Southeast Asian cinema in Filipino-dubbed version, featured " Gangnam Blues " (2014), a South Korean gangster film written and directed by Yoo Ha. It tells the story of two orphaned childhood friends, Jong-dae and Yong-ki (played by Lee Min-ho and Kim Rae-won, respectively), who get caught up in the messy and bloody land-grabbing schemes which involve rival politicians and gangsters in the Gangnam district of Seoul during the 1970s. It's an elaborately-told epic, which hints at some Shakespearean and biblical themes (brother against brother, paternal clash, conspiracies, betrayals, shifting loyalties, territorial feuds). And as what has become a strong staple of Korean cinema, it's brutal and violent, never holding back in its depiction of bloodbath and mayhem. Though given the R16 version of the film in the country (which means that ...

Two days after Eddie Redmayne won the Oscar for Best Actor for the " The Theory of Everything " (2014, UK), the film made its premiere in the country. Honestly, I was really expecting Redmayne to be too showy and self-conscious in his role, the kind of portrayal that usually grabs the attention of the Academy. The "nature" of his character is the type that gave the likes of Jon Voight (" Coming Home "), Daniel Day-Lewis (" My Left Foot "), Geoffrey Rush (" Shine ") and Tom Hanks (" Forrest Gump " and " Philadelphia ") their own Best Actor Oscars. However, I was pleasantly surprised by what I found out.  In his portrayal of the famed English physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking, who becomes afflicted with a disease that severely paralyzed his motor, respiratory and speech functionalities (medically known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease) as he struggles through defending his complex theories about time and...