By Mirandilla Mario Von
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
KINABUKASAN (THE DAY AFTER) Short Film
Cinema One Originals Festival (10th
Edition) will be on November 09 to 18, 2014. Screenings of Adolfo
Borinaga Alix Jr.'s KINABUKASAN,
starring Rosanna Roces, Alden Richards, and Ms. Nora Aunor; under the "Short Film Program"
Philippine Premiere:
Glorietta 4, Cinema 1
November
10 (Monday), 4:50 PM
Other Screenings:
Trinoma Cinema 1
November
11, 4:50 PM
November
14, 2:40 PM
Greenhills Promenade Cinema 6
November
12, 2:30 PM
(Screening
with the Cast)
November
15, 1:40 PM
Fairview Terraces, Cinema 2
November
11, 3:00 PM
November
12, 9:10 PM
Glorietta 4, Cinema 1
November
11, 10:00 PM
November
15, 12:00 noon
November
18, 12:30 PM
KINABUKASAN
(THE DAY AFTER) will have a world premiere at the
Screening will be on November 30 at 4:00 pm at The Salon, National Museum of Singapore.
SYNOPSIS
An
older woman is moving on from a painful loss, when a link to the past shows up.
The young man has questions that she has to help him find answers for.
 |
| Adolfo Borinaga Alix Jr. |
Friday, October 31, 2014
Social ills and personal contradictions
Film Review: HUSTISYA
Aunor’s topnotch acting, Lamangan’s
directing prowess and Lee’s masterly script highlight
By
Rachelle Cruz
With nearly 400
films in the roster, the 39th annual Toronto International Film Festival kicked
off Sept. 4 to 14. This year, three films from the Philippines made the cut:
Lav Diaz’s What is Before, Carlos Siguion-Reyna’s Where I am King, and
celebrated filmmaker Joel Lamangan’s Hustisya.
“It’s an honour to be invited in such a
festival, because it becomes a show window of my film. A show window of the
truth that I would like to be said about the country, and it’s always an open
opportunity to say so, an opportunity given not to everybody,” Lamangan said.
It’s not the first for this veteran Filipino director to have his film premiere
internationally at TIFF. Thirteen years ago,
his film Hubog was one of the Filipino entries.
Aided by top-notch
cast and veteran actress Ms. Nora Aunor and Ricky Lee’s script, the social
realist flick is a harsh commentary on the perpetual corruption, criminality,
and injustices that unfold within the nitty-gritty set of Manila. Nora Aunor
plays a faithful and loyal servant to this outrageously wealthy woman (played
by Rosanna Roces), blindly serving her, while she gets pulled in the dark world
of human trafficking and sex slavery. Many layers of symbolism surfaced
throughout the scenes that underscore the hypocrisy of people, either out of
desperation, or out of greed, or out of poverty, crystallized by the many hands
that exchanged using the white envelope to illustrate how ‘blood money’ or
under the table’ ‘bayad’ can buy you power, buy you a life, or take one.
“Well it’s a
comment on people who do not say anything.
Who just accept anything that they see. Corruption is you know, it’s in
the Philippines. Wherever you go, from
the very, very lowest political strata which is the Barangay to the upper
strata which is the highest form of governance, there’s corruption. And people should be talking, people should
be discussing it, it should not be hidden,” Lamangan said matter-of-factly.
The first ten
minutes of the film already introduces the audience to the world of human
trafficking, of young girls being fooled to think they will be working abroad
to reach a better life, but in turn, the film demonstrates that they are hot
commodities for sex slavery, for the reaping of wealthy elite benefactors who
perpetuate the dangerous and hellish cycle. Biring (Nora Aunor) is caught in
that cycle, first as a passive outsider, then later becoming an active
participant in trafficking. She often catches herself in a personal struggle of
staying loyal to the game and surviving, or breaking out, and potentially
endangering not only her life, but also her loved ones.
Lamangan reunites
with Nora Aunor, but this time, he explained that she doesn’t play the heroine,
“It’s always an experience, it’s always a new experience because through the
years she has aged, and just like an old wine, she has become better and better
as an actress. And in Hustisya this is the first time that she’ll be doing a
role that she has not done in her career.
Here, she’s not a positive character, here, she’s a part of an
underground movement, is a part of a syndicate that’s doing human trafficking,”
Lamangan said.
The general consensus
from audience reactions show that Lamangan’s film was well-directed, and that
main star had an outstanding performance. But the heavy scenes that painted the
suffering and desperation lingering on the streets of Manila, of people living
in abject poverty, of the women behind bars, of crooked lawyers playing within
the confines of a warped justice system, of children starving, juxtaposed to
wealthy priests and churches, of affluent families and endless parties, for
many the film was too much to take.
“Yeah I enjoyed
it, but I cannot swallow it, for what is you know, going on in the Philippines.
But I know it’s true. I know that’s what’s going on, I know it’s true
especially the politicians,” Percie Inacay said.
“I did like the
film, it’s a riveting movie and Nora Aunor’s performance as usual is fantastic.
You know it makes me sad to know that this kind of thing is still happening in
the Philippines,” Evelyn Pagkalinawan added.
“Bakit ganun?
Hindi magagandang lugar ang pinakikita. At saka, it’s too much. You know like,
it’s mostly negative things about the Philippines, there’s nothing positive
about it but anyway it was really well-directed and the actress was really
great,” Susan Llanera, another film-goer, expressed in frustration.
The film is
eligible for the Grolsch People’s Choice Award.
But like it or not, Lamangan’s film wants to make a point.
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Nora Aunor gets Best Actress nod at 8th Asia Pacific Screen Awards
By
Aries Joseph Hegina
MANILA,
Philippines — Veteran Nora Aunor was nominated anew for the Best Performance of
an Actress award in the 8th Asia Pacific Screen Awards for her role as a human
trafficker in Joel Lamangan’s political-drama film, “Hustisya”.
Aunor’s nomination
was announced Tuesday in a ceremony at the Treasury Casino and Hotel in
Brisbane, Australia.
This is Aunor’s
second nomination accorded to her by the Asia Pacific Screen Academy after she
was nominated and won the Best Actress award for her performance in Brillante
Mendoza’s “Thy Womb” in 2012.
Aunor will be
competing with Ronnit Elkabetz from Israel, Lü Zhong from China, Tang Wei from
China and Merila Zareie from Iran.
Aside from Aunor,
Giancarlo Abrahan was also nominated for the Best Screenplay award for his film
“Dagitab” (Sparks).
“Hustisya” and
“Dagitab” were both screened during the 10th Cinemalaya Independent Film
Festival last August.
The Asia Pacific
Screen Awards is touted the “Oscars of the Pacific” where it recognizes
cinematic excellence in the “world’s fastest growing film region”.
The winners will
be announced in an Awards Night in Australia on December 11.
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Sources:
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Thursday, October 16, 2014
Dementia: Into the dark, racking realm of paranoia
Film Review: DEMENTIA
By
Arvin Mendoza
INQUIRER.ne
““Dementia” is heart-wrenching poetry in
picture. Its visual verses beguile the senses to absorb the character’s prosaic
state, rhymed with its aural rhythms lulling the terror that looms ahead.”
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Source: http://entertainment.inquirer.net/153717/dementia-into-the-dark-racking-realm-of-paranoia
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MANILA,
Philippines—Filmed in ethereal color and yet imbued with a spine-chilling atmosphere,
Percival Intalan’s “Dementia” successfully thrusts the viewers into the dark,
racking realm of paranoia.
As Intalan’s
directorial debut, it spares no one—the moment they step out the theater—from
wondering about the malefic prospects if such cognitive impairment hits them
over time.
The movie evidently
swerves from old-hat, cut-and-dried storylines that many scary movies offer. It
is apparent Intalan wants to evade this usual drawback by creating a grisly
dramatic tableau painting the life of Mara Fabre (Nora Aunor), a semi-retired
teacher that has been struggling with dementia.
The attempt to remedy
her mental decay becomes the narrative dawn, the point that leads to the
restitution of her weeping past.
And Batanes couldn’t
be a better place of gloom.
A sad poetry
The unadulterated and
breath-taking landscape of the province welcomes Mara as she returns to her old
house, with the help of her cousin, Elaine (Bing Loyzaga).
Elaine, together with
her husband Rommel (Yul Servo) and daughter Rachel (Jasmine Curtis-Smith),
takes the responsibility of attending to the needs of Mara, whose mind has
become warped by a troubling infirmity.
“Dementia” is
heart-wrenching poetry in picture. Its visual verses beguile the senses to
absorb the character’s prosaic state, rhymed with its aural rhythms lulling the
terror that looms ahead.
One might say that the
film revolves much around Mara’s history, and that the other characters’
personal backgrounds are not explored. But it seems to be Intalan’s pure
intention.
Mara’s homecoming
triggers the unspooling of her dreadful memories. She starts to hallucinate,
ecstatically following a miscreant little girl every time she sees the latter.
At this point, she turns the delusion into reality; the apparition, unbeknownst
to her, banefully portends an imminent danger.
Perhaps due to the
time constraints, the focus on Mara is what the film only needs throughout its
entire duration.
While “Dementia” gets
short of narrative layers among its main characters, the revelation surrounding
Mara’s past compensated for anything that lacks. The effectual brunt of her
haunting memories is enough to rip the bones with crippling strength.
Gritty performances
Servo’s confrontation
with Aunor is short, and unnecessary. It surely tips off a bitter history
between the two, but such isn’t completely explained. It just leaves the
viewers in the doldrums, curious about a certain conflict that happened before.
The film could have
developed more an additional speck of drama with that storyline. But still,
Servo’s portrayal of an agitated, cranky father is quite convincing.
Loyzaga’s natural
flair also adds up to the ominous thrill of the movie. Her calculated role
spices up the heavy tension among the family, bolstering the main predicament up
to the climax.
Despite her insipid
lines and bored attitude on the early parts of the film, Jasmine Curtis-Smith
as Rachel proves herself worthy as she becomes entangled in the maelstrom of
events.
Curtis-Smith is able
to make much of her nuanced act just in time when her character fully commits
in the story.
Of course, the
sterling performance of Nora Aunor never disappoints. Her personal tragedy
serves as the leverage in which the diabolical mood of the film lies.
Even with only few
dialogues, her deep visage projects the whole tapestry of her dim, fragile
mind. At many instances, she effortlessly gesticulates Mara’s leanings and
dispositions. Her abysmal eyes boldly shout her soul’s remorse, solitude, fear
and throes altogether, especially on one particular scene at the cemetery.
Looking glass
Much can be said from
Intalan’s exploit of Batanes’ sprawling terra firma, where steep boulders and
cliffs provide a powerful dismal ambience for the film. Every earthy element
was greatly captured—the swash of the billowing waves, the whoosh of the
mournful wind, the hum of creatures hovering over the firmament.
With a baffling twist
at the end, the film inadvertently posits itself as a subtle looking glass,
where one can look through a person’s troubled brain.
“Dementia” may not be
as solidly horrifying as it can be, but it does disturb the deep recesses of
the psyche more than anything else.
‘Dementia’ packs a solid emotional wallop
Film Frview: DEMENTIA
By
Eric T. Cabahug
“Dementia is that rare Filipino horror
drama that packs a solid emotional wallop. You won’t forget it soon after
leaving the theater. A lot of it has to do with debuting filmmaker Perci
Intalan’s mostly firm grip on his material and his relatively sophisticated
approach in presenting it.”
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“Dementia” is that
rare Filipino horror drama that packs a solid emotional wallop. You won’t
forget it soon after leaving the theater.
A lot of it has to do
with debuting filmmaker Perci Intalan’s mostly firm grip on his material and
his relatively sophisticated approach in presenting it. The former TV5
executive does not reinvent the horror wheel by any means. Rather he spins it
very deftly and very efficiently all around.
So that when the
all-too familiar scares, or scare tactics, come, and there are plenty (candles
blowing out by themselves, doors shutting on their own, ghosts appearing from
behind, ghosts coming at people very deliberately, menacingly), each serves its
purpose of providing genuine jolts.
But jolts alone do not
an effective horror movie make. Environment and atmosphere are the real keys.
And here is where Intalan’s bigger achievement lies.
With excellent work by
his cinematographer, production designer, and musical scorer, he was able to
provide the kind of space of building mystery and escalating dread that the
tale his writers gave him required.
This is fully captured
in the main friction that drives and ignites the movie — its vision of Batanes,
where the story is set, as a place of terrifying wintry beauty and the fiery
psychological wounds that consume the heart and mind of the story’s central
character.
That would be Mara, an
elderly woman grappling with an early onset of dementia that leaves her unable
to remember much. But when a (literal and figurative) ghost from her traumatic
distant past comes to haunt her and the only living family she has, the
memories come crashing violently like strong waves hitting the jagged rocks
along Batanes’ seaside cliffs.
Nora Aunor totally
matches the swirling forces of nature on display throughout the movie with a
dervish of a performance that involves very little spoken dialogue.
It’s mostly
ferociously internal until the devastating climax where, still wordless, her
face erupts into a panorama of heartbreak, anguish, sorrow, guilt, regret,
terror, and, finally, resignation and surrender. It’s unforgettable.
The movie is far from
perfect and the epilogue, which either affirms the story’s vision or turns it
on its head, may be too ambiguous for its own good. No matter. “Dementia,”
anchored by another genius turn from Aunor under Intalan’s surefooted,
confident direction, will stay with you.
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