SARI-SARING SINENG PINOY

     Whistleblower (Unitel Productions, Quento Media, 2016) may not be as dramatically coherent or gripping, but its revelations are, if anything, more devastating and far more immediate than the dirty deeds uncovered in most political dramas. For all its high-mindedness, the screenplay by Rody Vera lurches between shrill editorializing and vagueness while sorting through more characters than it can comfortably handle or even readily identify. Nora Aunor, as always is an engaging presence, she excels in socially and politically conscious roles, yet her natural strength is blunted by the script’s numerous weaknesses. As written, Zeny Roblado is hopelessly out of her depth. Cherry Pie Picahe is sensational as Lorna Valera. She holds the ground in a performance of ferocity and feeling. For a movie about victims trapped in an unjust system, Whistleblower is surprisingly vague when it comes to procedural detail. Corruption is everywhere. Unfortunately, director Adolfo Alix, Jr overplays his hand. He fails to maintain a consistent tone. The movie never develops any dramatic momentum or pull. It swings from melodrama to sermonizing, both blunting the human drama that needs to come to the fore. Whistleblower is just a procession of scenarios and discoveries, capped off by a wildly frustrating ending.

     The film is kind of an interesting viewing experience in high definition. There's an almost dowdy aspect (for lack of a better term) to the palette here with an emphasis on browns and grays that keeps things from ever really popping in any meaningful way. Alix and cinematographer Albert Banzon have also toyed with the image at times, offering what often looks at least slightly desaturated (and at times more than merely slightly), as well as adding intentional distressing to the flashback scenes. The presentation here is always beautifully organic, detail levels are routinely high even given the surplus of rather dimly lit interior environments. Whistleblower's PCM track is often surprisingly immersive, given the dialogue heavy emphasis of the film. Jessie Lasaten's pulsing score fills the front channels quite nicely throughout, with a number of well done effects. Several outdoor scenes also offer good placement of ambient environmental effects. Dialogue is always rendered cleanly and clearly on this enjoyable if often quite subtly designed track. Whistleblower could use some narrative tightening, but it avoids most of the usual didactic pitfalls and makes its case while being entertaining and emotionally powerful. The film looks and sounds excellent on high definition, but I'm not so sure it's something you'd want to watch repeatedly.

Sound Design: Alexander Red

Music By: Jessie Lasaten

Edited By: Ike Veneracion, Aleks Castañeda

Director of Photography: Albert Banzon, FCS

Production Designer: Gerry Santos

Written By: Rody Vera

Directed By: Adolfo B. Alix, Jr.

     The difference between Sherwin (Arnold Reyes) and Paolo (Oliver Aquino) form the dramatic backbone of Joselito Altarejos' Kasal (MahusayKolektib, 2014). It is not just that they disagree about gay marriage, or that Paolo is more assertive than Sherwin, who dislikes drawing attention to himself. Their arguments, affectionate but intense reflect contrasting personalities and the friction is what makes them such an interesting couple. Each one, without quite saying so, is grappling with basic questions about love and identity. What can I mean to another person? Whom do I want to be with? Who do I want to be? The longer you spend inside Kasal, the more it seem apparent. Reyes and Aquino are, of course, incredibly attractive people who, despite their characters’ hang-ups and foibles, are approachable and easy to watch. The recitation of physical acts creates both immediacy and distance, it can be more embarrassing to talk about some things than to do them which is part of Paolo’s intention. A less brave, less honest movie would hasten to provide answers, assuming that the lovers require promises and that the audience needs reassurance. Kasal, which is about the risks and pleasures of opening up emotionally in the presence of another, remains true to the unsettled, open-ended nature of the experience it documents. And for exactly this reason because Altarejos avoids the easy payoff of either a happy or a tragic ending, Kasal is one of the most satisfying love stories you are likely to see.

     Because the film was shot on digital video, some contrast and clarity fluctuations are occasionally present. The majority of the close-ups, however, convey pleasing depth. Most of the outdoor footage is also relatively crisp. Colors are stable, but during the nighttime sequences the blacks and browns look a bit soft. This softness, however, is a source limitation, not a transfer weakness. Overall, compression is better here, but once again I noticed some extremely light banding. Lastly, there are no serious stability issues to report in this review. Considering that Kasal is primarily a dialog-driven feature, the fact that the soundtrack's dynamic range is fairly limited isn't surprising. Only during the party scenes there is some notable dynamic movement, but the film's sound design is indeed very modest. The dialog is clean and stable. What separates Altarejos' Kasal from other similarly themed films is its genuine sincerity. But I think that most viewers will appreciate the fact that the film does not rely on old cliches to deliver its message.

Directed By: Joselito Altarejos

Screenplay: Zig Dulay, Joselito Altarejos

Director of Photography: Mycko David

Production Designer: Harley Alcasid

Music: Richard Gonzales

Sound: Andrew Milallos, Addiss Tabong

Editing: Zig Dulay, Joselito Altarejos

     Lumayo Ka Man sa Akin (Seiko Films, Inc., 1992) plays like a showdown between its style and story. Johnny Delgado is Jaime, a powerful, brutal man surrounded by killers and henchmen who lowers his guard to allow Raul (Richard Gomez) into his inner circle. Raul knows Jaime has an unsavory reputation, but he doesn't plan to get involved in his business. That's before he meets Jaime's young wife, the love of his life, Stella played by Gretchen Barretto. The establishing scenes are effective, the director, Laurice Guillen knows what she's doing and we understand that Jaime has made a deliberate decision to lift his ruthless guard to allow his new friend inside. Then elements of an idiot plot begin to appear. It is absolutely clear to us, but apparently not to Raul and Stella that Jaime and his men know everything that goes on.

     In Lumayo Ka Man sa Akin, Stella is seen as merely a pawn in this contest between the men. She is Jaime's property, Raul comes sniffing around and then she's mauled and thrown aside so that the real story, the showdown between the males can begin. This contest, which leaves not a single blood-soaked possibility of violence unexplored, leads up to a sick sequence in which Jaime asks for an apology and receives one from Raul whom he trusted but offended by sleeping with his wife. No mention of an apology to Stella. It's possible to respond to this material in more than one way. On the one hand, Lumayo Ka Man sa Akin is a well-made movie, directed by Guillen with the eroticism she brought to Init sa Magdamag (1983) and the melodrama of Kung Mahawi Man ang Ulap (1984). It contains Johnny Delgado's best performance in a long while, tough, subtle, convincing. The action scenes are well-handled and we believe the attraction between Gomez and Barretto, two very silly people who think that they can put one over Delgado.

Sound Supervision: Gaudencio Barredo

Production Design: Guillermo Sancha

Edited By; Efren Jarlego

Musical Director: Willy Cruz

Director of Photography: Edurdo F. Jacinto, F.S.C.

Screenplay: Olivia M. Lamasan

Directed By: Laurice Guillen

     Captivating while remaining unvarying in tone and pace, acted with seamless naturalism and attention to detail, elegantly photographed (by Felizardo Bailen), edited (by George Jarlego) and costume design (by Christian Espiritu who enhanced the movie's subtle characterization through costume), Danny L. Zialcita's Nagalit ang Buwan sa Haba ng Gabi (Essex Films, 1983) seems flawless. Which isn’t to say that it doesn’t take risks even within its own set of conventions. Dindo Fernando and Laurice Guillen are superb as Miguel and Delza Almeda, the compromised couple who agree to an arrangement that’s certain to dissatisfy them both, but beats any foreseeable alternative. It is with these characters that we get to the core of the movie. In a world where everyone loses eventually, they are still survivors. They survive by accommodating themselves to life as it must be lived. Nagalit ang Buwan sa Haba ng Gabi is not about the loss of love, but about its absence.

     While a valuable addition to the high def library of any Zialcita fan, Nagalit ang Buwan sa Haba ng Gabi suffers from many of the same problems that plagued last year's blu-ray release of Lino Brocka's Insiang, namely, a full-frame transfer. The 1.33:1 aspect ratio does not accurately render the film in its original theatrical release, although since the 1.85 ratio in theaters was matted, this is not a pan-and-scan transfer. Black levels fluctuate, ranging from wonderfully deep and dark to sometimes washed-out which flattens the image considerably. Colors are intense, often blurring out and suffering from excessive noise, it only looks marginally better than standard-def. Detail can still be exceptional, especially in close-ups, where faces are briskly clear and well defined, but the overall look too often disintegrates into a sort of mushy blandness, with washed out fuzziness. Likewise, there's very little source material to support the 2-channel mix. This is one of the most resolutely non-immersive tracks in recent memory. Even the opening party scene is weirdly anchored in the front channels. All of that said, dialogue is clear and directional and the score is consistent and well mixed into the proceedings. Fidelity is excellent, with good dynamic range. What resonates in Nagalit ang Buwan sa Haba ng Gabi are the scenes where Zialcita simply focuses on the indignities of the heart, those forces that lead otherwise sane people to veer off into emotional dead ends.

Screenplay: Danny L. Zialcita

Sound Supervision: Rudy Baldovino

Cinematography: Felizardo Bailen, FSC

Music By: Phillip Monserrat

Film Editor: George Jarlego

Directed By : Danny L. Zialcita

     Kung Mangarap Ka't Magising (LVN Pictures, Inc., 1977) comes close to perfection. Inspired casting and performances, exquisite design and photography, a witty and well-crafted screenplay, empathic yet nuanced direction. The film never flags from the opening title sequence to the closing ballad Umaga Na Naman, the music in between, integrated into the narrative rather than imposed upon it, reflects the loving attention to detail that informs the movie throughout. Mike de Leon shows great affinity for the material, a director with a gift for making flawed characters likeable. Everyone in the film, no matter how brief his or her part, comes across fully formed and gets the little things right. Detail and clarity have benefited from the restoration with excellent stabilization improvements. There are minor contrast fluctuations and a few shaky transitions but this is the most stable and balanced presentation of the film that I have seen to date. The high-quality scanning has ensured that grain is evenly distributed throughout the entire film. Many of the outdoor sequences, for instance, look quite beautiful. Unfortunately, there are also traces of light filtering corrections. As a result, image depth isn't as impressive as it should have been. In select areas the filtering corrections have also affected the balance between blacks and grays. Natural fading also contributed in a couple of sequences, but the effect is very different. As a result, existing detail has been lost introducing some flatness to the image. Despite the sporadic unevenness it is difficult not to agree that this is the best Kung Mangarap Ka't Magising has ever looked. However, the film could have been absolutely magnificent on high-def.

     Clarity and depth are good, although there are segments where it immediately becomes clear that time must have irreversibly impacted the native qualities of the surviving elements because some small fluctuations remain. These can range from sporadic thinning of the audio to weaker than usual high-frequencies. On the other hand, it is very possible that some additional work was done to further attenuate hiss and other noticeable age-related imperfections. This new restoration of Mike de Leon's Kung Mangarap Ka't Magising will certainly remain as the definitive presentation of this feel good romance. The technical work is magnificent and there are truly dramatic improvements with some digital adjustments that have been added after the scanning and the repair work, which I think are not entirely appropriate. Nevertheless, this release earns a glowingly high recommendation based on the strength of the film and its accompanying technical presentation.

Screenplay: Rey Santayana, Mike de Leon

Musical Director: Jun Latonio

Cinematography: Francis Escaler, Mike de Leon

Production Design: Mel Chionglo

Sound: Ramon Reyes, Luis Reyes

Editing: Ike Jarlego, Jr.

Direction: Mike de Leon