SARI-SARING SINENG PINOY

Bedspacers

Buong ingat na hinalungkat at itinanghal ni direktor Joey Gosiengfiao ang kolektibong karanasan ng mga estudyante sa unibersidad sa kanyang pelikulang Bedspacers (Regal Films, Inc.). Ang mga huntahan sa pasilyo, kuwentuhan tungkol sa buhay pag-ibig ng kanilang mga kamag-aral at guro, mga eksena ng biruan at tsismisan, pag-eensayo para sa dula, antisipasyon sa nalalapit na pagtatapos at sa pangkalahatan, ang mga agam-agam ng yugtong ito ng mga estudyante ay mahusay na hinabi ng maingat na direksiyon ni Gosiengfiao. Tinahi sa akto ng pagkakaibigan nina Liza (Alma Moreno) at Nanette (Amy Austria) ang kuwento ng mga kapwa estudyante sa kolehiyo. Aminado si Liza na kailangan niyang maghanapbuhay upang matustusan ang pag-aaral. Sa problemang ito nakipagbunuan ang kanyang karakter na nagtawid sa mga pangyayari at magkakalingkis sa buhay ni Nanette at ng pagmamahal nito sa nobyong si Bong (Orestes Ojeda). Kahanga-hanga kung paano ginawan ng pagbubukod tangi ang bawat tauhan sa pelikula nang hindi ito lubusang nauwi lamang sa mga istiryotipo, o representasyon ng mga istiryotipo. Higit pa sa mga nakakahong imahe ng popular na campus heartthrob ang tulad ng mga tauhan nina Rudy (Al Tantay) at Margot (Rio Locsin) o ang trahedya ng masigasig na estudyanteng si Dindo (Mark Gil) at iba pang pamilyar na mga karakter ng unibersidad. Masinsin ang ginawang pag-usisa sa mga tauhan at pagsiwalat sa lahat ng detalye ng kaselanan ng mga ito. Maselan, pagkat nakapanlulupaypay naman talagang harapin at aminin ang mga palpak na diskarte at mga inakalang grandiosong plano para sa sarili man o kamag-aral pero hindi naman pala mapaninindigan. Ang mga iniisip, ginawa at iniisip nating gawin noong nasa kolehiyo, yaong mga gusto na lamang natin ilihim pagkat kahiya-hiya, yaong mga ipinapalagay na nakatago na lamang dapat sa ating gunita ay sensitibo ang pagkakabitbit at pagkakalatag na parang mga bagay na babasagin.

Nakatas din mula sa pelikula ang pamamangka sa pagitan ng mabibilis at maiikling mga eksena at ng masigla at orihinal na musika. Mabisa ang paraan ng pagkakaedit sa mga eksena para umangkop sa kaligiran at temperamento ng unibersidad. Pabugso-bugso, minsan pa-ekis, maraming kurba at paliko-liko samantalang hindi nasakripisyo ang laman at linaw ng naratibo. Sariwa at kaaya-aya ang pagiging natural ng pelikula, mula sa pagtatanghal ng mga artista, pagsambit sa mga diyalogo at palitan ng kuro-kuro sa klase. Ibang-iba sa mga nakakapagod nang palabas sa telebisyon at ilang pelikulang batbat ng artipisyalidad na ang tanging layunin ay itanghal lamang ang pisikal na anyo ng mga artista nito. Dumistansya ang Bedspacers sa tonong nangangaral, lalo na sa pagtalakay ng mga isyu hinggil sa uri at seksuwalidad. Ang birtud ng pelikula ay naging lunsaran ng magaan na teknik ng pagsasalaysay nito para sa nabanggit na paksa. Sa valedictory speech ni Rudy bago matapos ang pelikula, lumulukob pa rin ang pangangailangan ng mga mag-aaral na isangkot ang sarili para sa pagbabago ng lipunan. Sa pag-alay niya ng diploma kay Liza, naipamalas sa eksena ang kabatirang kayhirap pa ring makapa ng indibidwalidad, na alam nating labag sa ating loob ang magpanggap, ngunit laging may pangangailangan para rito. Ikinukubli ang sariling hindi naman pala malaki ang ipinagbago at nakatali pa rin sa mga nakamihasnang salimuot ng pandama at nangangambang sa kabila ng lahat ng pagdanas, kimkim pa rin ang hindi mabitiw-bitiwang alinlangan.

Direksiyon: Joey Gosiengfiao
Dulang Pampelikula: Butch Macaro, Joe Mari Lee, Freddie Cleto At Marita Almoradie
Sinematograpiya: Ricardo Jacinto
Musika: Jun Latonio
Editing: Rogelio Salvador
Disenyo: Dez Bautista
Produksiyon: Regal Films, Inc.
Release Date: November 30, 1979

Magkaribal

Elwood Perez's Magkaribal (Regal Films) tackles a complex range of human relations but problematizes it quite rigorously. Ensuing from the competing affections of best friends Lily (Vilma Santos) and Cristy (Alma Moreno) over Erick Guererro (Christopher de Leon), a man who exploits their varying degrees of vulnerability and aspiration to upward mobility, the film seeks to understand what it is that women want and why they want it under circumstances both within and beyond the control of their limited reckoning. How the women in this film choose to make their lives difficult and at times miserable by staking their right to love a man in spite of the circumscriptions of traditional heterosexist norms, engenders a creative tension that enables women to appropriate the power to break the culture of silence and expresses sexuality in specific terms within specific situations. One woman has to inevitably give up the fight, but only after she has achieved a realization that strikes at the core of practical realities. It assumes strong feminist position and transforms female annoyance and obnoxiousness into virtues and codes for contemporary survival. Magkaribal tears asunder from within the patriarchal principle that informs the gender discourse of popular filmography. As the two women who previously clawed at each other over a man decide to leave the bone of contention behind, one senses feminine triumph.

Christopher de Leon embodies the physicality and psyche of a sexy beast whose complexity is at par with that of a De Niro or Pacino. De Leon, here in his prime epitomizes the dramatic range and animal magnetism akin to Marlon Brando's Stanley Kowalski. Alma Moreno's portrayal of a woman who desires a new life in the face of a very uncertain future is competent. The acting method employed here is able to twist the logic of cliché and reconstitutes the drama of yearning with passion and grace. Vilma Santos shows that the strength of women need not come from the repudiation of "feminine" traits and roles. Neither should they come from brute, shrewish adamance as exemplified by the stereotype, nor from machismo as embodied by her husband. Santos demonstrates that the concept of the beautiful, dainty, feminine and strong are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Rather, these form a character that is finally textured, complex and potentially oppositionist. Magkaribal is commendable for staging clever and well-thought out situations partaking of actual tension and punctuated by defamiliarizing comical scenarios and melodramatic circumventions. A certain style of filmmaking based on genre or other considerations is taken as any distinct mode of creating form in film and is made possible only against a background of options that makes a particular choice significant, meaningful and therefore recognizable stylistically. Film artists work within these possibilities in the process of making art, but are never limited to custom and habit. As an erudite art historian puts it, “The style forbids certain moves and recommends others as effective, but the degree of latitude left to the individual within this system varies at least as much as it does in games.” We can glean in Magkaribal  traces of both rule and risk in the realm of style. Perez, with a degree of compassion for the material approximates this level of filmic grace and craftsmanship with effective and efficient execution which perfectly coheres with directorial design and genre expectations.

Directed By: Elwood Perez
Screenplay: Toto Belano
Cinematography: Johnny Araojo
Musical Director: Ernani Cuenco
Film Editor: Rogelio Salvador
Production Design: Dez Bautista
Produced By: Regal Films
Release Date: August 17, 1979

Batingaw

Batingaw (Roda Films) is a resounding piece of social drama. The film is unprecedented in its attempt to dramatize a nagging social dilemma, that of uncontrolled population growth in commercially acceptable forms and norms. It is aimed at redirecting our sense of identity and reality, educating the populace on the fringe benefits offered by family planning. Its appeal comes from straightforward familiarity with the problem and the people's idiom. The plot concerns not just a church bell but more significantly, the church bell as a symbol to the people, home, community and the inter-relationships at work in a small fishing village used as microcosm of Philippine rural community. On a sociological level, Batingaw is the story of a Filipino family whose archetypes are faithfully delineated through their economic, social and political positions. The town of San Jose is a place of large families. The fathers are fishermen, the mothers, plagued by a teeming brood are harassed by economic insecurity while the children are neglected by their elders. It is a community where the men make procreation a pastime with wives who are wittingly or unwittingly exploited, who at childbirth curse their husbands who keep themselves busy by drinking.

It is the children, whom parents think are investments for old age and reduced to being household props, cause the hostilities but finally bridges the gap between their class differences. The affluent fishing magnate Mr. Franco (Nello Nayo) and the lowly driver Mang Indo (Van de Leon) represent the feuding families. Mr. Franco's son Rudy (Zaldy Zshornack), a vacationing medical intern and daughter Baby (Djhoanna Garcia) are determined to make it out with Mang Indo's children, Lydia (Boots Anson-Roa) and Eddie (Walter Navarro) respectively, in spite of their father's protestations and attitude. One of the most powerful scenes in the movie is Padre Castro's (Vic Silayan) call for responsible parenthood in his Sunday homily where he criticizes the town's mothers and fathers for their lack of moral responsibility. Lack of logical continuity from scene to scene is evident, the cinematography, hazy at times and the direction tends to be too stationary. What makes up for these impurities is the dialogue. The lines never fail to elicit favorable reaction. The performances are also commendable, especially those of Van de Leon and Boots Anson-Roa for they provide a dramatic tour de force and a sense of tragedy to the film. The pacing is just right, the locales, well photographed and the idiosyncrasies of rural life interpreted vividly by a company of people who take Filipino cinema seriously. The meticulous research and the filmmakers' good intentions is enough to make the bells toll loud and long for these people's courage to turn the tide.

Directed By: Pablo Santiago
Screenplay: Ding M. de Jesus And Tommy C. David
Director Of Photography: Jose Batac, Jr.
Music: Restie Umali
Film Editor: Augusto Salvador
Production Design: Buboy Bautista
Produced By: Roda Films
Release Date: March 8, 1974

Summer Love

Every love story that could be told has been told countless times, with an ending that's happy, sad or open-ended. There are the staple accoutrements of the genre, popular songs for the movie's soundtrack and the perfunctory celebratory scene in the end complete with raindrops falling on the protagonists' heads. The challenge facing every storyteller and filmmaker is how to make the plot fresh and interesting, as though it is being told for the first time. In Elwood Perez's Summer Love (Regal Films, Inc.), the director with help from screenwriter Iskho Lopez, lists down romantic situations, including trite ones and weaves them together seamlessly. This one opens up rather slowly, with the exposition and introduction of characters taking up some time. But the final result is richly satisfying. It is a movie that appeals to all age groups from starstruck teens to the geriatric set. The filmic device that binds the characters together is the intelligent interaction with their environment. It is not a watertight device but it makes the viewers feel that Cupid is present and shooting his arrows in different directions. At the center of these lovestruck characters is Carol (Snooky), the pretty girl-next-door who turns out to be a huge fan of movie idol Jimi Melendez. She keeps her feelings a secret, her closet status threatened until a dashing young man is drawn close to her. Like most couples, the story of Carol and her admirer Elvis (Gabby Concepcion) is predictable but audience interest is sustained as they gradually warm up to each other and get to know each other better. They seem incompatible at first, they have a few important things in common allowing their friendship and romance to blossom. Diana (Maricel Soriano) and Apollo (William Martinez) on the other hand, literally bump into each other often enough that they eventually find a common interest. Will this pair end up together and in trouble?

Working within the confines of the romance genre, Summer Love triumphs in the characterization of the four leads. They are typical teenagers with teenage concerns and sensibilities. Perez has chosen a good cast, the acrobatics of Soriano simply amaze with the way she defies gravity aside from the fact that she has excellent comedic timing. Snooky is an absolute gem, mixing pilya with kalog. She punctuates every scene with a flashy smile that absolutely floors you. The same innocence is reflected in Elvis, played with quiet confidence and country boy naiveté by Gabby Concepcion in contrast with Martinez's highly animated verve and city boy spunk, their resultant energy mirrors the near-perfect face and phase of middle-class youth culture. Then there's the ticklish scene of the girls stealing glances at the boys in their swim trunks, vis-à-vis the stereotypical male gaze on women as sex objects. Summer Love serves up generous ingredients of sweet nothings and titillating gender-bending, ritualistic summer romp. Inasmuch as the screenplay is attentive to the details of emergence, the landscape flourishes in the course of the viewing experience. The movie is full of tiny observations about life and Perez is arguably the most astute and perceptive of Filipino directors when it comes to young love and family. He builds up his story with plenty of humor and insight. Summer Love ends with what most of us yearn in life, a happy ending. Deliberately frivolous, the film achieves a level of introspection. The young is more hardened, tough and worldly. Loyalty, moral values and philosophical outlook are all in place in this film that celebrates and satirizes the foibles of youth.

Directed By: Elwood Perez
Screenplay: Iskho Lopez
Cinematography: Johnny Araojo
Musical Director: Lutgardo Labad
Film Editor: Rogelio Salvador
Production Design: Benjie de Guzman
Produced By: Regal Films, Inc.
Release Date: September 25, 1981

SUMMER LOVE Tagalog review.