SARI-SARING SINENG PINOY

Nang Umapoy Ang Karagatan

Lasting two long, interminable hours, Nang Umapoy Ang Karagatan (Showbiz Incorporated) eventually numbs your very sensibility. To take this trite picture to task, the plot has loose ends aplenty, the acting is uninspired, the editing,  occasionally discontinuous and the cinematography, generally impassive. But of course, director Efren C. Pinon, the so called "master of action" whose uncalled for machine gun infested sorties or those wounded gunmen ridiculously contorting every visible muscle before hitting dirt and those limp bodies falling from cliffs into calm waters shot in slow motion, then by all means grant him the dubious title. The centerpiece of Karagatan's three-way hostility, set in pre-Martial Law days is a stolen government cargo of firearms and ammunition. At one end is a band of the most wholesome cutthroats led by sisters Odessa (Elizabeth Oropesa) and Oliva (Lorna Tolentino). In their possession are the crates containing guns which they constantly bury underground against opposing outlaws. Artem (Paquito Diaz), the band's first mate wants to sell the loot to Barako (Max Alvarado), a crony on the outside for a juicy sum, but Odessa rejects the offer. Artem then defects from the band, forming his own private army in order to abduct the armament from Odessa. Eman (Philip Salvador) is an undercover agent caught in the crossfire of the warring tribes and as expected becomes the object of desire and dispute between the sisters, in any case Eman's mission is to prevent a terrorist group from laying their hands on the cargo. The movie ends with Odessa giving way to Oliva's infatuation, the arms being blown up and everyone but Eman and Oliva being killed.

The lone survivors then burn down the sea bandits' coastal commune. Though the plot runs its course, the screenplay's contrivances ultimately prevail, abetted by the mediocrity of the players. Yet inspite of the cast's lackluster efforts, the director imposes varied dramatic charges all of which comes off flat. The fact about Karagatan that's hardest to swallow however, is its demented filmic and moral sensibility which has no aesthetic or moral justification to speak of. The pre-Martial Law setting is neither intrinsic nor consequential to the conditions set forth in the story and thus serves merely as an unsubstantial excuse for the excessive bloodshed. One may also point out that the good guy, Eman in this case, triumphs thereby constituting an upright ending yet, even though on the right side of the law, Eman proves midway through the movie to be a cad and continues to be so even as he plays lapdog top both Odessa and Oliva. Karagatan's most grievous fault then is the very essence of its violence for violence's sake outlook, as well as its total irrelevance to a public it purports to entertain.

Directed By: Efren C. Pinon
Screenplay: Mauro Gia Samonte
Director Of Photography: Ricardo Hererra
Music: Ernani Cuenco
Film Editor: Augusto Salvador
Produced By: Showbiz Incorporated
Release Date: August 24, 1979