SARI-SARING SINENG PINOY

     In the first episode of Beerhouse (Regal Films, Inc., 1977), director Elwood Perez takes us inside a bustling tenement and lets us watch Carol (Vivian Velez) and Lilian (Trixia Gomez). What we see is funny, insightful, banal, sad, tedious, informational, infuriating, everything but erotic. There is businesslike sex, upstairs in the bedroom between Carol and her clients and one after another sexual situation, but it would be difficult to find anything remotely sexy in those exchanges. That's exactly Perez's point and the grinding out of loveless love would be even more depressing if its purveyors weren't as lively as sharply funny and as interesting as they all are. Carol's place is also airlessly claustrophobic, a quality that grows on us as pervasively as it does on Lilian, it's only one of Perez's devices to give us a feeling of what her work is really like. Perez spins out the details of these women's lives cannily, but his real forte is his work with his actors. With Trixia Gomez's increasingly put-upon Lilian as the central force of his film and Vivian Velez's feisty and utterly irreverent Carol as its great set-piece, Perez has two performances that are unmatched in their simplicity, straightforwardness and strength. And the men? They're good and a few of them very good. Jordan Crisostomo is touching as the girl-shy Nonoy, so smitten by Carol he brings her the shirt off his back. Ernie Garcia appears as Nanding, the man who breaks Lilian's heart.

     The next segment has Jenny (Chanda Romero) and Tito (Freddie Quizon) making the transitional leap from their own paths in life, trying not to focus too much on the pressure that comes with it. Hanging precariously over them, however, is the weight of an unplanned pregnancy and a family that threaten to shatter their feelings for each other. While the narrative itself couldn’t be more timely, it’s the way in which the carousel of relationships that exist around the lives of Tito and Jenny connect as a whole that lends an air of noble honesty to the episode. It’s a rare treat to watch characters so nakedly unvarnished interact and play out a story that is identifiable and genuine while dealing with the emotional impact of such weighty issues as abortion and depression. At the heart of the movie are Tito and Jenny and the film simply wouldn’t work without the natural chemistry between them. There’s a tender naiveté to the way their feelings develop, an innocence and charm about how they view life and the potential it holds. This is an affectionate low-key drama that touches all the right notes without ever resorting to over sentimentality. Don’t be put off by the mournful subject matter as the story that it’s built around is an altogether more sensitive affair.

     From the final segment’s opening scene, Perez pulls us into the seedy and repugnant life of Rosario (Charito Solis), completely devoid of morals, chastity and self-respect. Despite the subject matter, Perez's sophisticated hand gives us the ability to see Rosario with a motherly concern rather than immaterial disgust. We see the world through her eyes as Perez holds the camera on her face, allowing us to completely take in her thoughts and emotions. What will become of Rosario who has seen and done such things? Jomari (Eddie Gutierrez) slowly becomes the hero we hope can eventually end the madness. Jomari convinces us that he can save Rosario from despair. Solis, as Rosario is seamless and flawless. She gives a very textured performance of a mother torn between the love for her daughter, the struggle to succeed and the need for caring and support. Her role consists of several multi-faceted characteristics, mother, hooker and businesswoman, yet she convinces us in each one. The task asked of Cherie Gil is a mighty one, Corazon is tragically suspended somewhere between pre-pubescence and adulthood yet Perez capitalizes on Gil's screen presence and beautifully innocent charm. I was constantly expecting a tragic event to go down until I finally realized that the tragedy was the situation itself. Perez carefully served up the tale of a mother in a lifestyle we don't want to know exists. They feed us with just enough information to finish out Rosario's life according to our own hopes, desires and emotions.