filipino women on the verge of.....greatness

the year two thousand and thirteen is proving to be a great year for lovers of philippine cinema. after a good harvest at the cinemalaya in late july to early august (please click here to read about some of my cinemalaya reviews),  came the sineng pambansa national film festival all-masters edition (whew!) and the first cinefilipino film festival. the last two festivals, held one week apart in september, also featured films that were beyond the ordinary.

if vilma santos heralded the cinemalaya festival, her erstwhile rival as queen of philippine cinema nora aunor was clearly the biggest come on of the cinefilipino festival. coincidentally (or not!), if ms. santos' entry at the cinemalaya festival, ekstra, was the top grosser in terms of box-office receipts, ms. aunor's ang kwento ni mabuti likewise earned the most among the cinefilipino entries.

so whoever said that both actresses' luster at the box-office had diminished through the years is probably hallucinating.

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anyway, i was able to watch ms. aunor's ang kwento ni mabuti and the guerilla is a poet, about the life of communist party of the philippines (cpp) founder jose maria sison or joma, during the cinefilipino festival. similarly, i caught the screening of cherrie gil's entry to the sineng pambansa festival entitled sonata, directed by the unrivaled peque gallaga and his long-time collaborator lore reyes.

belatedly, i finally saw lovi poe's sana dati, which was screened at the cinemalaya festival, during its commercial run last week. i failed to watch this movie a few months ago because all of its screenings during the weeklong cinemalaya festival were already sold out. but the wait, i tell you, is well worth it.

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all four movies -- ang kwento ni mabuti, sonata, sana dati and the guerilla is a poet -- featured women on the verge of something: a nervous breakdown, a heartbreak, happiness, freedom, exile and in the end, greatness. they also delivered some of the best acting performances if not this year then of the decade, especially that of ms. aunor.

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the faith healer is not a saint.

the superstar of the philippine cinema, ms. aunor, has proven once more why she is the greatest living actress in the country with her latest film.

she played mabuti (which means good in english) dela cruz, a faith healer in far away place in luzon, whose simple, idyllic life in a scenic mountain in nueva vizcaya was suddenly shattered when she was handed a bag full of money (five million pesos) by a stranger that she met in a bus when she decided to go to the city, one of the rare times that she went out of her impoverished barrio, to fix a problem about their land, which was in danger of being foreclosed because of non-payment of a loan.

the stranger, a woman, it turned out, was part of a group that robbed a bank in the city. the woman was killed by the military after she tried to escape. but before she jumped out of the bus to evade the law enforcers, she managed to give the bag to mabuti with a request that the faith healer would please look for her daughter who was living with relatives in a nearby town and to take care of her.

mabuti, of course, had no idea what was inside the bag. she only discovered that there was a lot of money inside when she opened it on the way to her home.

it was at this point that her character was tested and the movie became more interesting. will she return the money? to whom? will she keep it so that she can finally pay for her loan and keep the land, send her granddaughters to school? will she live up to her name?

the film was more than just a modern parable of what was good and bad, of what was right and wrong. mabuti's dilemma became even more meaningful, more poignant given what was happening in our country at present, where legislators were accused of pocketing billions of pesos of taxpayers' money to the detriment of the poor, whose lives should have been better had the money been spent well.

just like most of her brilliant performances in the past, notably himala, bona, tatlong taong walang diyos, bulaklak sa city jail, ms. aunor made use of her powerful eyes to convey a bagful of emotions that her character was feeling and not feeling.

but unlike in her previous performances, where she sometimes had to resort to overacting (raising her voice, crying hysterically), she was more subdued, more confident, more in control here. with minimal dialogues (all in ilocano, by the way, ala meryl streep, and delivered flawlessly as if she is really from the region), ms. aunor conveyed joy, sadness, confusion, bewilderment, melancholy, then finally, freedom, quietly, with very few words. hers was a triumph of underacting, if there is such a thing.

i was surprised why ms. aunor did not win the best actress trophy at the festival's end when this was her best performance to date, even better than her comeback film after a long hiatus, thy womb, which won for her accolades not just in the local film festivals and award giving bodies, but overseas as well.

however, given her stature in the local movie industry, the number of awards that she had won here and abroad, i don't think another trophy still matters to ms. aunor and her fans, who came out in full force to make sure that the movie would be a triumph not only in terms of awards but at the box-office as well.

aside from ms. aunor, the movie also featured notable performances from a cast of mostly unknown actors and actresses, especially the four young girls who played her granddaughters.

mes de guzman, who wrote and directed the movie (and won in both categories), has proven that there is indeed beauty in simplicity, poetry in everyday life, and a reward for every good deed (or conversely, a punishment for a bad deed). the universe, after all, is watching and listening.

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the diva is a nut.

cherrie gil is probably one of the most underrated actresses in the country.

while she has mastered the art of being the classy villainess in movies that pitted her with the then slim and young megastar sharon cuneta (who can forget her scene stealing catty remark to sharon in bituing walang ningning: "you're nothing but a second rate, trying hard, copy cat!" then she threw a glass of water to sharon's face. until now, that's one of my favourite bitchy moments in local cinema alongside the cat fights in temptation island, the original), ms. gil proved in sonata that she can also very well carry a film.

the movie reminded us that indeed before she was typecast as a villainess, she was one of the most promising young actresses of her generation with acclaimed performances in such movies as oro, plata, mata; and especially in city after dark (one of the best films by the great ishmael bernal), where she played a drug-addicted lesbian in love with a blind prostitute, played by another underrated but very talented actress, rio locsin.

so it was such a joy to finally see ms. gil headlining a movie once again where she was able to showcase her mettle as a thespian in the tradition of hilda koronel, chanda romero, glamourous women who know what they want and who would eventually fight once the going gets too rough.

in sonata, ms. gil is regina cadena, a famous opera singer in europe who was forced to come home and hibernate in her family's hacienda in negros occidental to hide from everyone out of shame after she lost her voice and therefore could no longer perform on stage.

as a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown (with apologies to pedro almodovar),  who spent her days inside her room drinking, sometimes begging her married lover to be with her, and then later on recovering her self esteem with the help of  a young boy (her secretary's son), ms. gil's delivery was seamless. effortless. flawless. she is indeed a diva!

while the story was not without any fault (the death of the boy was a bit too melodramatic) and some scenes were staged awkwardly (the opening scene showing her performing in rome (?) and being booed by the audience was poorly executed though she was still marvelous in that one), ms. gil's elegant performance made watching the film really worthwhile.

obviously, this isn't oro, plata, mata; virgin forest; or scorpio nights, peque gallaga's masterpieces. but despite its flaws, sonata is a well-made movie that is far better than what the country's biggest studios, star cinema and regal films, are feeding us helpless moviegoers from time to time. i mean every time.

the picturisque hacienda also added a sense of melancholy to the film, transporting the audience into a more innocent time, when everything was serene and calm, perhaps another reason why regina decided to come home to recapture those days.

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the woman is torn between three gorgeous lovers.

dusky beauty lovi poe is indeed one of the young actresses to watch alongside alessandra de rosi and bea alonzo. that is, if only bea is as brave as lovi and alessandra in her choice of movie roles. but that's the disadvantage of being beholden to a movie production company; because no matter how much bea wants to experiment on the variety of roles that she can portray on the big and small screens, she is limited by what star cinema chooses for her to do. too bad. because bea is not only one of the loveliest faces working today, she is also one of the most talented as far as acting is concerned.

going back to lovi. well she carried herself with aplomb in her latest indie (for independent film) undertaking, the bitter-sweet love drama story sana dati.

lovi essayed the role of andrea, who on her wedding day met a handsome stranger played to perfection by heartthrob paulo avelino. the young man, hired to videotape the wedding, reminded her so much of her previous boyfriend (the greenhorn benjamin alves) whom she still obviously loves.

i won't give you the details of the story so as not to spoil your viewing pleasure, but suffice it to say that despite its simplicity (it's a love story and a family drama in one, ok?), it was delivered in such a thoughtful manner that every gesture, every detail (a cigarette thrown out of a window, a wedding vow that was flown by the wind, a blue shoe box, a book of poetry, a box of letters, a pair of flat shoes), every scene led to a revelation of sorts that would keep you glued to your seats.

the cinematography was gorgeous, adding more depth to the story.

acting wise, lovi alongside paulo, newcomer benjamin alves, and tj trinidad, the man andrea was about to marry (she eventually did), all gave memorable performances.

benjamin, in particular, was a stand out considering that this was only his second or third movie to date. as a photographer who could recite a love poem instantly to her girlfriend, benjamin was endearing, sexy, disarmingly handsome, in other words, a perfect boyfriend that any girl would love to introduce to her mother, except in andrea's case, her ambitious mother was already eyeing the rich, powerful and debonair tj trinidad for her husband.

benjamin's eyes, just like his uncle, the gorgeous actor piolo pascual, are expressive, and his lean, mocha skin complements his filipino good looks. did i mention his smile? it's disarming, to say the least.

the story was told in flashbacks. so you really have to pay attention to what's going on on the big screen, otherwise, you would be lost. not that you would have a hard time concentrating because every scene, every revelation, every dialogue, unfolds seamlessly, like pieces of a puzzle that will come together to a very satisfying ending.

just like sonata, and unlike ang kwento ni mabuti, the story was not without any flaw. for instance, why would benjamin forget to bring his medicines when he decided to follow lovi in the city? why didn't lovi insisted on having benjamin checked-up by doctors considering how serious his medical condition was. also, why did lovi, who was supposed to be an independent, even rebellious, young woman, still wanted to marry tj even if she knew that deep inside her, she was still in love with her dead boyfriend (benjamin) and was even infatuated with the mysterious young photographer (paulo) whom she just met on her wedding day?

but these were very minor lapses. if you could even call them that.

in fact, i watched this movie twice, and i really fell in love with the story, the music, the cinematography, the scenic pangasinan, its minor flaws notwithstanding.

tj trinidad, benjamin alves and paulo avelino were also lovable in this film. in fact, like lovi, you would also find it difficult to decide who among them you would marry.

(my choice? the brave but childish benjamin!)

the last scene at the cemetery, when andrea finally said goodbye to her dead boyfriend, and then she was surprised by her husband who was waiting for her at the gate, was truly heartbreaking.

kodus to director jerrold tarug for his masterful story telling.

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the rebel's wife is a guerilla too.

while the focus of the guerilla is a poet was jose maria sison's journey from a young rebel who founded the communist party of the philippines (cpp) to his eventual capture and imprisonment during the dark days of martial law, it was also the story of his wife, julie, played magnificently by indie actress angeli bayani, who keeps on getting better every time i see her on the big screen.

before this, i watched her in purok siyete, one of the entries to the cinemalaya festival, and she was really good as a caring, well-meaning step mother of two young children. now i am waiting eagerly for her latest, ilo-ilo, singapore's entry to the oscar best foreign language film category.

julie was also on the verge of something great, as a woman who bravely stood by her husband for better or for worse. when joma decided to go to the mountains and led an armed struggle to fight the dictatorship and his merciless military, julie was with him.

when joma was finally captured and jailed, she also went to jail. it was a test of a woman's endurance, dedication to her husband, and love for her country, and julie, happily, passed with flying colors even if she risked her life countless times in the process.

the movie, part documentary because it also featured interviews with the real joma, julie (both exiled in netherlands) and bernabe buscayno (or kumander dante, who co-founded the new people's army with joma), and part re-enactment of their younger days as they struggled to topple the dictator president marcos, was well-crafted, well-made and shot very beautifully. the scenes in the mountain were simply breathtaking.

aside from ms. bayani's flawless performance, newcomer karl medina, who played the young joma, also delivered a powerful portrayal that was deserving of his best actor award, quite a feat for someone who had no acting experience prior to this film.

while mr medina (who comes from a family of actors. his father is, of course, the famous pen medina) did not really resemble joma physically, he was able to capture the nuances (as well as the essence) of an idealistic young rebel who had an artistic bent, a solitary air, and who was also willing to die for his ideals and beliefs.

the actor who played the young kumander dante was also very good. sorry, i forgot his name.

what spoiled the movie slash documentary though was the casting of willie nepomuceno as president marcos. while mr. nepumoceno had impersonated marcos and other famous personalities perfectly both on stage and on the small screen, this time, he failed, sadly to transform himself into the dictator. this was evident because the real marcos was shown on old film clips in some scenes in the movie, particularly when he declared the infamous martial rule in september nineteen seventy two.

in fact, nepumoceno's scenes with another actor who played marcos' right hand general fabian ver were comical. i laughed at those scenes. i don't know if the brilliant directors behind this film intended them to be funny. or as my friend quipped, to be ironic.

also, jao mapa as the young ninoy aquino was miscast. while jao is a good actor, he simply lacked the intensity, the passion, the eloquence of the young ninoy. mr. aquino and joma were both opposed to the plans of marcos and his cohorts to rule the country with an iron fist, rob both the treasury dry and the people of their freedom for as long as they wanted.

but overall, the directors sari and kari delena succeeded in giving us a glimpse into the past -- the horrible dark days of our country's history -- and in shedding some light on the young men and women who bravely fought the dictator and sacrificed their lives.

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now, if only i could catch transit (the country's submission to the oscar's foreign language category, whose choice was hounded by controversy), puti, ang huling chacha ni anita and mga ala-ala ng tag-ulan, then my cinema viewing for two thousand and thirteen would now be complete.

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can't get enough of benjamin alves. more sexy photos of the young man, who, i hope, would soon follow tom rodriguez as the hottest actor to watch at gma seven.