Good buzz for 2 more RP films in Cannes

Inquirer Entertainment / Entertainment

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Good buzz for 2 more RP films in Cannes

By Bayani San Diego Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Posted date: May 22, 2009


MANILA, Philippines—After the “mixed” reviews for Brillante Mendoza’s “Kinatay,” two other Philippine movies in the Official Selection of the 62nd Cannes International Film Festival have received encouraging notices.
At the Debussy Theater on Monday, Raya Martin’s “Independencia” premiered in the Un Certain Regard section which “celebrates young talent, innovative and audacious works.”

Martin and Adolfo Alix Jr.’s “Manila,” in the Special Screenings section, premiered at the Buñuel Theater the following day.

Howard Feinstein of ScreenDaily.com noted that Martin, “only 24 (years old)... is heavily, and admirably, committed to... the appropriation of indigenous Filipino history after... colonization; and the laying bare of cinematic illusion.”

“Independencia” is about Filipinos who flee to the jungle during the American Occupation.

Feinstein noted that the film “borrowed its aesthetics from early studio talkies [with its] black-and-white footage, patently false backdrops, overacting performers...” However, he acknowledged that “this is hardly the stuff of the marketplace, but should find eager viewers in festivals and cinema studies classes.”

’Folkloric quality’

Tom Carson of GQ wrote in his blog: “The evocativeness is all in Martin’s decision to shoot it in the style of a pre-Griffith silent movie . . . If that didn’t make it clear we’re watching a fable of the Philippines’ past, the final image wouldn’t be nearly as wrenching — or as pointed.”

Carson liked it so much, he vowed, “I’ll be at Martin’s next [film] with bells on.”

British indie magazine Little White Lies critic Matt Bochenski pointed out the film’s “folkloric quality,” adding that it is “deliberately theatrical and old-fashioned.”

The mag’s site described “Independencia” as “a richly metaphorical, allusive collision of history, mythology and cultural memory.”

It said that it’s “full of long takes and stylized close-ups, but sizzling beneath with raw-knuckled sexuality... occasionally hard work, but hugely rewarding.”

Tribute movie

Alissa Simon of Variety posted a review of “Manila,” a twin-bill tribute to Lino Brocka’s “Jaguar” and Ishmael Bernal’s “Manila By Night” co-produced and top-billed by actor Piolo Pascual, who attended the Cannes film fest.

Simon called it an “experimental two-parter from leading indie helmers that makes one yearn to see the originals.”

She commented that the “evocatively shot” film has “youthful energy aplenty and a great jazz-pop soundtrack.”

She conceded, however, that the film “won’t find many prospects offshore apart from festivals and specialty situations.”

There’s good news even for Mendoza’s “Kinatay” which received a drubbing from Pulitzer-winning critic Roger Ebert.

Xan Brooks of the Guardian reported that the “latest odds have Marco Bellochio’s ‘Vincere’ as favorite to win the coveted Palme D’Or... closely followed by Ang Lee’s ‘Taking Woodstock,’ Brillante Mendoza’s ‘Kinatay’ and Michael Haneke’s ‘The White Ribbon.’”

‘Dark horse’

Victoria Lindrea of BBC News quoted Screen International’s Fionnuala Halligan, who also singled out “Kinatay,” the Philippines’ lone entry in the Main Competition, as a “dark horse.”

Halligan told Lindrea that “jury president Isabelle Huppert may be looking for something darker still,” adding that “Huppert’s taste would tend towards something like ‘Kinatay’ — a hard-hitting crime drama about the brutal murder of a Manila prostitute.”

Halligan described “Kinatay” as “the kind of confrontational cinema that Cannes likes.”

Awarding of the Palme D’Or, the Cannes fest’s highest prize, is on Sunday.

E-mail: bayanisandiego@hotmail.com