Ang Babae Sa Septic Tank, one of the major winners in the recently concluded Cinemalaya film festival in CCP is currently having its commercial run. (Thanks to Cinemalaya for deciding to show it in regular theaters) Isa ako sa mga nanood nong Saturday (SM Sta Rosa) and I was pleased to see na marami ding Pinoy ang nagka-interes panoorin ang ganoong klase ng pelikula. Kaso lang, hindi lahat ng nanood, na-appreciate yong film. I heard a few people on our way out saying ‘ang pangit naman’ or ‘ano ba yon ganon lang’.
Obviously they didn’t like the film. Or should I say hindi nila nasakyan. Siguro hindi pa masyadong sanay sa mga indie. Or, porke nasa SM cinemas, they were expecting to see the usual mainstream movies na napapanood nila na may iyakan, sampalan, suntukan or anything that follows a formulaic pattern of commercial film making.
Pero sa totoo lang, kumpletos rekados yong pelikula. Sabi nga sa mga nabasa ko, it’s a 5-in-one film. Kaya nandon lahat yong element ng isang commercial film. Iba nga lang ang treatment kasi nga indie.
The main story is about a trio of young film makers who wants to make a film called Walang Wala (natawa ako dito) na ang nasa isip agad ay international film festivals. F**k Cannes, Oscars daw ang gusto nila. Rainier (Kean Cipriano) the director, Bingbong (JM De Guzman) the producer and Jocelyn (Cacai Cortez) prod-asst are so passionate with their film na ang istorya ay tumatalakay sa buhay ni Mila, isang nanay na may pitong anak. Sobrang hirap ni Mila kaya she had to sell one of her kids sa isang pedo para magkapera.
While debating on how to execute the film, lumabas yong apat na iba-ibang versions nong pelikula. There was this reality-show attack na kahit artista ang gaganap na Mila (to be played by Eugene Domingo), gagawin nilang makatotohanan which is mostly the approach ng mga indie film. They also thought of making it a musical where Mila will sing and emote at the same time. Meron ding docu-drama na gritty nga at malakas ang impact pero mahirap gawin. And the melo-dramatic version na gusto namang atake ni Eugene being the ‘collaborative’ lead actress of the film.
For the most part, tumakbo yong istorya sa one day of brainstorming ni Rainier at Bingbong. Among the three, silang dalawa lang talaga ang nagdi-discuss. And for a while I thought Jocelyn was deaf and mute pero importante pala ang role nya dahil sya ang nagpapatakbo nong apat na vesions ng film na gagawin nila. Pag nagdi-discuss si Rainier at Bingbong, pagpikit ng mata ni Jocelyn (na antukin) doon na lalabas yong version na pinag-uusapan nong dalawa.
Bilib ako sa pelikula dahil sa simpleng istorya ng brainstorming, very interesting ang mga ideas na binabato nila sa isa’t isa. It doesn’t only concern their film but the ideas thrown were social comments in itself. Bakit hindi si Cherry Pie ang gawing Mila, bakit si Eugene. Eh kasi si Cherry Pie maputi, si Eugene dugyutin (hagalpakan ang mga tao dito). Eh bakit, may maputi din namang mahirap ah. Or yong pedophile, bakit kailangan laging puti, bakit hindi intsik, pakistani, arabo o pinoy. All of which points to the fact that we are already stuck so deep in our stereotypical way of thinking.
And this one (na alam kong maraming makaka-relate)… napamura si Bingbong dahil may nakalimutan. Akala mo super importante. Yon pala, charger lang ng i-pad nya. O di ba, ang karamihan ngayon parang namatayan na pag na-lo bat ang kanilang mga gadget! Hahaha!
As a whole, I find the film quite interesting. Simpleng istorya pero nagawang interesante. Malaking factor yong script (Chris Martinez who also did Here Comes the Bride and Temptation Island, sabi sa isang nabasa ko) dahil yon ang naging glue para maging coherent at interesting yong buong pelikula. Precise din at walang sabit sa editing. Dahil isipin mo, 5 pelikula yon in one and yet malinaw na malinaw ang mga eksena at walang naligaw na unwanted sequence. The musical score (don sa musical version) was both entertaining and dramatic. Kaya as a director, saludo ako kay Marlon Rivera who delivered a product that is so fresh, unique and highly entertaining.
But in any film alam naman nating ang mga actor ang critical. Kung palpak ang acting, sira ang film. In this case, magaling ang buong cast nong pelikula kahit yong mga extra. Lalo naman ang mga lead. Kean Cipriano, for a neophyte in acting, was spot-on. Given more exposure and roles as important as this one, he can beat the crap out of the many ham actors na kilala natin. JM de Guzman was also credible as a yong rich kid who possesses the combination of a vision in film making as well as the commercial eye na kailangan ng isang producer. Even Cacai was convincing she should be doing her daddy Rez so proud. At syempre si Eugene. Well, she deserved her Cinemalaya Best Actress award. Baka nga humakot pa sya ng awards later on dahil talagang ibang level ang performance nya dito. Kaya yong ibang mga actress kuno dapat mag-isip-isip na coz Eugene is really setting the bar so high most of them will soon find it hard to hopscotch their way to awards.
Isa lang ang major concern ko. Ano ang relevance nong eksena sa septic tank? Kahit i-rewind ko sa utak ko yong film, walang nabanggit na linya that would establish the need to shoot in a septic tank. Bakit, maglilinis ba si Mila ng poso negro just to earn a few pesos? At saka kahit ultra-realistic ang treatment ni direk don sa film, pagdating sa septic tank, hindi lumabas na credible. It was made to look filthy with floating garbage and greasy water. Pero alam ko hindi ganon ang septic tank. It should be murky and foul-smelling na kahit sa screen masusuka kang tingnan. Ewan lang kung nagkakamali ako. Itanong natin kay Malabanan.
Yon lang naman. One point but I think it does a lot to the whole film. Afterall yon ang ginawa nilang title. So dapat may relevance. But other than that, bow ako sa director, scriptwriter, production people, technical staff and everyone involved in ABSST. Bravo guys. I hope to see more of your works in the future. Meantime, gusto kong magkape… I need an expresso! Bwahahaaa! (you’ll laugh with me kung napanood nyo yong film! Hihihi)
1 comment:
Nice Blog Dear!
Cooler Master
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