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Sunday, January 1, 2017
Movie Review: Kabisera
Image courtesy of Facebook: Kabisera Film - MMFF 2016
Movie Review by Atty. Ferdinand Topacio
KABISERA (Silver Story Entertainment and Fire Starters Productions, 2016)
Nora Aunor, Ricky Davao, JC De Vera, Jason Abalos, Victor Neri, Ces Quesada, RJ Agustin, Perla Bautista, Ronwaldo Martin, Kiko Matos, Alex San Agustin, Menggie Cobarrubias, Karl Medina, Coleen Perez, Rhen Escano
Directed by Arturo San Agustin and Real Florido
I have been a Noranian since grade school, which is the 70’s. And I strongly believe that Ms. Nora Aunor is a national treasure whose body of work is non pareil in local cinema. So imagine my bewilderment as to why she is in a trainwreck of a movie like Kabisera.
The movie has lofty aspirations, to be sure. It is supposed to be a domestic drama which deals with a mother’s strength of character in keeping her family together after the death of the patriarch, and coetaneously a film that will incite rage against extrajudicial killings and serve as an indictment of the country’s flawed justice system. But the operative phrase here is “supposed to be” since, on all counts, the movie is an abject failure.
La Aunor plays Mercedes de Dios (Mercy of God, get it?) opposite Ricky Davao’s Tonying, a too-good-to-be-true, always smiling barangay captain who is available to his constituents 24/7 and does not take a peso from public officials for political favors. A typical middle class family in a small town, they have several children of various ages and stages of schooling. The first act of the movie painstakingly – and excruciatingly slowly – illustrates how the married couple are bringing up their children upon strict middle class values, which emphasize the importance of education, honesty, good manners and respect for the family and the elders.
For all his saintliness, someone wants Tonying dead. The first attempt – a grenade hurled at his car – results in nothing more than a few scratches. The second – an out-and-out ambush with automatic weapons – leaves him with some bullet wounds, but his cheerful nature remains unaffected. Undaunted, his killers engineer a home invasion by three heavily-armed men who shoot him in the neck, this time succeeding. Why anyone wants to kill him remains unresolved until the end of the film.
The De Dios family is shocked since, while they feel that they are the victims, media soon reports that Tonying and his eldest son Andy (JC De Vera) are prime suspects in a bloody bank heist. As Andy goes into hiding and Tonying is buried, the province’s cigar-chomping Vice-Governor (Tonying’s political godfather) pledges on his grave that he will help Mercy find justice. This help takes the form of a sash-wearing Chairman of a human rights commission named Natalia (sounds familiar?) played by Ces Quesada and a human rights lawyer (Victor Neri). They investigate the crime scene weeks after the killing and belaboring the obvious, conclude that Tonying’s killing was a rub-out.
And so it goes that, in succession, Andy is persuaded to surrender; a court trial ensues wherein Andy is defended from charges of robbery with multiple homicide; and suit is filed against the policemen who killed Tonying.
But, oh, this film is supposed to have a political commentary, so the following is demonstrated, also in succession: trials in the Philippines take too long; the truth can get mired in technicalities; it is futile to sue powerful people; and it is easy to find false witnesses.
Which is all well and good, except that a 45-minute episode of Atty. Sison’s Ipaglalaban Ko does a much better job in one-third of the time. This movie, clocking in at a little less than two hours, plods under the weight of its own length. It would have been acceptable if the movie were fast-paced, but it moves at a snail’s pace, so much so that even the supposedly tense scenes come out flat.
The acting is nothing to write home about, either. Aside from Aunor, who is her usual excellent self, the rest of the young cast turn in performances that may charitably be described as “serviceable”, except for old hands Perla Bautista and Menggie Cobarrubias, of course, who are expectedly very good. Neri’s emotionless face in playing a lawyer could get him disbarred if he were a real one, while Quesada – quite the opposite – is a ham (no allusion intended on her girth). Note, however, must be made of De Vera’s reading of the emotionally tortured firstborn: his take on the complex emotions of being saddled with the responsibility of being the putative family patriarch yet unable to help much because he, too, is accused of a grave crime, very deft. Rhen Escano, as Andy’s jowabels Ella, also acted well, aside from being positively scrumptious. Yet their joint efforts are not enough to salvage this confused work. I am certain that the script tried to set up the cast for some significant ensemble acting, but regrettably, the abilities of the rest of the cast were not up to it.
Aside from these, the plot has holes big enough to allow a ten-seater dinner table to go through. Aside from the motive for Tonying’s murder remaining unexplained, informed moviegoers will wonder why a multiple murder suspect like Andy is allowed to stay at home when no bail was shown to have been granted; why a state witness is let alone to wander around town so he can be accosted by the mother of the accused; and why a defense counsel appears in court in attire which in real life will get him cited for contempt.
In sum, Kabisera is a throwback to 80’s moviemaking, with lackadaisical pacing, stilted dialogue and a lack of focus, banking instead on melodrama to win its audience over. In a festival that aims to elevate the level of local filmmaking, it sticks out like a sore thumb. It is hoped that it does not singlehandedly “extrajudically” kill the enthusiasm for the reforms started in this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival.
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Movie Review: Saving Sally
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SAVING SALLY (Rocketsheep Studios, 2016)
Starring: Rhian Ramos, Enzo Marcos, TJ Trinidad
Directed by: Avid Liongoren
Movie Review by: Atty. Ferdinand Topacio
These are among the many unsolved mysteries in the world. And after seeing “Saving Sally”, I must add another one: why isn’t Rhian Ramos as celebrated an actress and star as, say, Bea Alonzo and Sarah Geronimo?
In this utterly charming mixed media (live action cum animation) by young director Avid Liongoren, Ramos, as the title character, proves not only that she can dish out the acting chops as well as the rest of the A-listers, but that she, too, can light up the screen and dominate it. In fact, any red-blooded male who watches this movie and fails to fall in love with Rhian is either brain dead or in a state of catatonia.
The story is simple, if a bit skewed: bullied boy meets girl who comes to his defense; they become friends; he falls for her but she has “friendzoned” him; she falls for a much older man who is not serious with her; after she splits up with her erstwhile beau, he belatedly tells her his feelings, and – so as not to give any spoilers – they let time tell the tale for them. It is the way the tale is told, though, that makes Saving Sally such a refreshing and enchanting cinematic experience.
Ramos is, of course, Sally; Enzo Marcos is Marty. They are high school classmates who share a passion for the visual arts. After Sally avenges Marty against the school bully, they become fast friends. The novelty in the movie lies in the characterizations: Sally is a genius with mechanical gizmos: automatic flat irons, handheld power dishwashers, personal drone assistants, with the added quirk that in the midst of all that scientific virtuosity, her world is decidedly old-school: no mobile phones or computers or internet. Marty is a wiz kid in illustration, who self-publishes his comic books containing science fiction stories. Timid by nature, he expresses his affections for Sally and his view of the outside through drawings: one wall in his room is filled with drawings of Sally in various settings, which he quickly hides by overlaying it with other drawings whenever she comes to visit.
As if that weren’t unconventional enough, they inhabit a dimly-lit, surreally cartoonish, chromatically-altered world populated by animated “monsters” of grotesque proportions.
And so it is against the backdrop of this computer-generated realm that the live-action story is played out, and how!
Ramos is exceptional both in beauty and acting ability. Although not a heavy drama vehicle by any stretch, she tackles her role with aplomb, acting naturally but with great nuance and, when called for, depth and prudent use of affective memory. She is not only intelligent but has a cerebral approach to acting that trumps many of her contemporaries. She also delivers her lines well, obviously comfortable with English, wherein ninety percent of the dialogue is written. Her subtle nonchalance, with a deeply-rooted melancholy showing in her eyes during close shots (of which the movie is replete) -- the reason for which is hinted at several times during the movie – propels the film all throughout, leaving no doubt as to who the star is.
Marcos also acquits himself well, but his tendency to mumble and garble some of his English lines is a distraction. Nonetheless, the chemistry between him and Ramos is undeniable, and makes the love story seething just below the surface plausible and believable. His attack on the jealous/regretful unrequited lover role as he meets Sally’s boyfriend (Trinidad), which leads up to his shuttling love letters between the two, is a real acting gem, poignantly amusing yet absolutely convincing.
I read somewhere that the animation in the movie was made on a shoestring using off-the-shelf equipment If true, then the animators deserve a standing ovation! The CGI was outstanding. It painted in big and bold relief an alternate Expressionist universe of sharp angles and outlandish magnitudes reminiscent of the jarring visuals in Robert Wiene’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, a cinematic classic. This is nowhere more evident than in placing the house of Sally on top of an exaggeratedly high and pointed hill, symbolizing the fact that being with Sally is a forbidding prospect. All of these imageries provide the perfect environment for the narrative to unfold, conveying or enhancing what cannot be said through conventional filmmaking.
Special mention must be made of the abundant clever play on words. The protagonists meet at a place called Tuk Mall; they wait for their rides in front of Ka Wawa’s Store and Beh Botica; the “location” of the principal action is made inside Sandara Park. Indeed, due to the rich visuals, the abundance of symbolism, and the aforementioned puns, it will take more than one watching to fully appreciate the effort that has gone into the making of the film.
Lurking just behind the fa̤ade of such lighthearted fare is the serious issue of child abuse and battered children which, as mentioned, was hinted at continuously, and aptly Рif abbreviatedly Рresolved near the end of the movie.
In all, I am happy to say that not only is Saving Sally a welcome change from the “same old same old” that has caused our movie industry to stay immobile in the quagmire of mediocrity for decades, but it has broken new ground in Philippine cinema. It is also hoped that it breaks new ground for Ms. Ramos as well. It would be good for our moviemakers to look beyond the “usual suspects”, so to speak, and cast equally capable actresses like Ramos in future projects.
Watch and enjoy Saving Sally then, knowing that it is a film worthy of a festival, and that the current festival may well be the start of another renaissance of our moribund movie industry.
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