2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten (Petersen Vargas, Cinema One Originals 2016 Best Picture)

Kapampangan films are on a roll. Ari won the best indie film at the Metro Manila Film Festival 2015. Mercury Is Mine nabbed the Special Jury Prize at Cinemalaya 2016. 2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten was selected as grand winner at the Cinema One Originals 2016.

A major force behind the awakening of the Kapampangan cinema movement is filmmaker/scriptwriter Jason Paul Laxamana. He was creative consultant for the drama film Ari. He directed and scripted the dark comedy Mercury Is Mine. He wrote the screenplay for the film 2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten. All three films advocate the perpetuation of the Kapampangan language despite its weaknesses and quirkness.

Laxamana also organizes the CineKabalen: Kapampangan Film Festival, which features works done by local filmmakers in Pampanga. Petersen Vargas is just one of the filmmakers supported, and probably mentored, by Laxamana.

2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten, Vargas’ debut feature-length film, takes a look at a romantic newbie in Pampanga. An intelligent high school boy sees his bland school routine come to life with the arrival of two Filipino-American brothers. The older new kid, Magnus, becomes his classmate. He gets close to the two brothers after Magnus asks him to be his tutor in Mathematics and other subjects.

The boy becomes a regular fixture at Magnus’ house. He meets the boys’ mother. He sleeps over on some days. Everything seems to be going fine until the boy begins to fall in love.

2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten is the latest in the growing list of LGBT films shown in the Philippines.  What makes the film stand out is the boy could have been a girl character and the story will still flow with a few bumps. The boy just happens to fall in love with someone of the same gender.

The film tackles issues besetting residents of Pampanga. Vestiges of colonialism continue to put a vise-like grip on the people. Students are forced to speak in English. The siblings prefer to live with their absentee American father rather than stay with their prostitute mother. The boy is enamored with a white-skin guy.

Pampanga officials try to deodorize the legacy of prostitution by building tourist spots. However, the putrid stench of the past is difficult to ignore. Notable recent films dealing with prostitution in Pampanga are the Cinemalaya film I America and Louie Ignacio’s Area. The latter film deals with the fate of two major places of prostitution. The Fields used to be the place horny American Marines go to. Young, pretty girls serviced legions of American soldiers. On the other hand, the Area is the place where mature and has-been prostitutes linger. These days, a dozen casas still stand to cater to Filipino clients in Area.

The prostitute mother in 2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten used to be from the Fields. She is lucky to get monthly allowance from her American lover. Her two sons, awash with money, are bored with school and lack the drive to excel.

A memorable scene shows the prostitute mother chancing upon a former colleague. The latter is smartly dressed and adorned with jewelry. However, the colleague is sporting a black eye. Her Caucasian husband appears and bossily breaks up the short meeting between the ladies. This is like the situation of the Philippines with colonial and neocolonial powers. These powerful countries exploit, abuse, and encroach on our land and resources. Past local officials, though, put up with such abuses. They focus instead on the financial and economic benefits of such relationships with major powers.

2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten has similarities with Vargas’ short film Lisyun Qng Geografia. Both films deal with a gay high school student.  The varied landscapes of Pampanga bear witness to the joys and hurts of these young gays. I love an idea from the short film that suggests we leave a bit of our hearts in places where we loved. Every time we go back to those special places, the pieces of hearts exude warmth from wonderful memories of love. Pampanga, as seen from these notable films, is peppered with places teeming with pieces of hearts.

Miss Bulalacao (Ara Chawdhury, Cinema One Originals 2015)

I was elated to see the list of films slated to be screened for free at the Cinema One Originals campus tour in UP Diliman. I’ve been waiting for months to see the critically-acclaimed films, Miss Bulalacao and Hamog. Alas, the organizers scrapped the two films from the slate.

I finally caught up with the two films at the Cinema One Originals 2016 screenings at Cinematheque Centre Manila. The admission price is an affordable one hundred pesos per film. Droves of students came over to watch the Cinema One Originals films. I applaud Cinematheque Manila for fully supporting the quest of master director Lino Brocka in forming the Great Filipino Audience.

Miss Bulalacao is a well-directed, highly restraint comedy film about a teenaged drag queen who gets pregnant. How the residents of a coastal community treated the expectant gay gets most of the screen time. His stepmother lovingly protects him from nasty neighbors. His woman employer, initially repulsed by the idea of a pregnant male person, makes a 180-degree turn and becomes a firm believer of a miraculous conception.

My favorite scene starts with the woman employer convincing the pregnant Dodong to stay with them. A nosy maid listens carefully to the telephone conversation. Sensing the conversation to be going nowhere, the maid scampers away and calls upon a fellow maid to go inside the home. They eagerly wait for the final stand of the boy before going on with their errands. Their nosy behavior is done in good faith. They make sure that the things they will buy will be utilized by their expected guest. The roles of maids may be small but they were infused with truthfulness.

The observant eye of the filmmaker coupled with an ear for believable relationship dialogues make the film grounded in reality despite the fantastical tale of a pregnant male. I also loved the fact that the filmmaker did not go the slapstick route in presenting the pregnancy woes of the ostracized boy. The tears shed by the grieving boy at the end are consistent with the film’s light and serious approach to the issue of motherhood.

The climax of the film book ends the early scene of an alien visit. It clears up any lingering doubts on the veracity of the pregnancy. The film, aside from being an entertaining piece, leaves several questions that audience can ponder. These are not typical beauty contest questions but more of the X-Files type of questions: Do extra-terrestrial beings fall under the familiar gender binary of male and female? How do they exactly reproduce? Is Jesus Christ an alien?

Miss Bulalacao is indeed a winner. On the other hand, Hamog is too dark and hazy for my taste.

Ang Huling Cha-Cha ni Anita (Sigrid Andrea Bernardo, CineFilipino 2013 Best Picture)

Do you remember the time you met someone, and firmly believed that the two of you are meant for one another? If you do, then this film might interest you.

A pre-teen girl named Anita (Teri Malvar) sees a new face in her village. Right then and there, she proudly proclaims that the newcomer is the one she'll marry.

Ang Huling Cha-Cha ni Anita takes a sunny look at first love. Several times, we see a giddy Anita imagining her love dancing in front of her. The beloved is happy, cheerful, and full of zest like a passionate horse. Even in a crowded place, the beloved's eyes are fixed only on her. The charming smiles are meant only for her. These scenes perfectly capture the romantic longings of a girl deeply in love.

It doesn't matter that the beloved's name is Pilar. It might be Mariel or Robin. It might be Marian or DingDong. It doesn't matter that Anita is in love with another girl. What matters is, of all the people she meets in the world, the beloved is the only one who makes her truly alive.

The alluring Pilar (Angel Aquino) is not new to the village. It is just that Anita was too small to remember her. Rumors fly over Pilar's hasty return from Dubai, where she worked as a physical therapist. Issues are raised over her non-appearance during the wake of her father. One villager who is happy to see her is her ex-boyfriend.

The fragrance of blossoming love pervades through the whole village. The scent is so strong you'll probably smell it while watching the film. I smell aroma from summertime flowers. I smell a freshly-bathed person. I smell intoxicating love.

Love is like a long sought after baby. It might take awhile. It might take a long, long time. For some, they need to endure countless dances, processions, and novenas. It may still not be bestowed despite litany of prayers. But once given, nurture it with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your soul.

Ang Huling Cha-Cha ni Anita is a lovely, likable, lithesome film peppered with winning performances from the ensemble. It took some time for the film to come into fruition. It is a good thing director Sigrid Andrea Bernardo held on passionately to her 'baby' project. Upon receiving a grant from CineFilipino, she showered her 'baby' with the best care and love she can give. Her 'baby,' in return, gave birth to a confetti of accolades and awards including Best Picture at the CineFilipino competition.

Quick Change (Eduardo Roy Jr, Cinemalaya 2013)

In Quick Change, Mimi Juareza essays one of the best, boldest performances seen on local screens in 2013. Her character Dorina engages in the illicit world of underground cosmetic surgery. She is like a fairy godmother to legions of gay people wishing to be beautiful. 

With an injection here and there of contraband stuff, she molds her clients into an approximation of who they want to be. Sometimes, a client asks for the moon by wishing to be a fab celebrity such as Anne Curtis. Immediately, another fake cosmetic surgeon shoots down the idea and says bluntly, 'we are not magicians.'

They may not be magicians but they sure do produce several good illusionists. We see a bevy of pretty gays made up to look like celebrities. Amazingly, they do look like their dream pegs. The gay contestant winner in the film is, in reality, the winner of Eat Bulaga's beauty contest for gays. She says she is a Kim Chiu-look alike although she resembles more the Kapuso starlet, Jennylyn Mercado. Either peg, she is really beautiful.

 
Juareza is not that far behind. Curly or wet, her tresses complement her sweet face. She registers well on the screen. Her early scenes make me believe she is a woman. Her physical looks and demeanor suggest she is a woman. She is a woman until her towel drops to the floor.

The appendage between Dorina's legs shatters the illusion that she is a woman. Her ex-boyfriend left her for another tranny because of that appendage. It is not so much because she is gay or has a dick but that Dorina has a bigger one. The ex-boyfriend is so full of himself. He is proud to show off his dick to other guys with smaller dicks such as Dorina's nephew. But, his ego gets deflated when he sees a person with a bigger dick.

Another big thing possessed by Dorina is her heart. She cares and treats her nephew like her own child. I'm reminded of the Lino Brocka film Ang Tatay Kong Nanay. A flamboyant Dolphy drags along her son to her daily rackets and nightly passions. This time around, Dorina is Ang Tita Kong Nanay. She also tags along her nephew in her rounds.

The boy, along with the audience, gets exposed to the world of gay people. We get immersed into beauty contests. We enter the milieu of gay entertainers at the Manila Film Center. We see the bare bodies of Dorina's clients. We hear their reasons for enduring the pain of surgery and courting death. Yes, they know the dangers of illegal cosmetic surgery but they still come in droves.

There's pathos seeing a client drop by for her regular fix of beauty interventions. Along with the injections, maybe she wants to hear her doc's encouraging words. A little flattery goes a long way in uplifting the mood of the client. 

The filmmakers, Eduardo Roy Jr. and Bing Lao, did an excellent job of showing a sympathetic view of gays. Dorina, a charlatan alright, is herself a victim of fake beauty products. Her only fault is that she tried to help fellow gays fulfill their wishes and needs.

Bwakaw (Jun Lana, Cinemalaya 2012 Directors Showcase NETPAC Award Winner)

Happy Grandparents' Day to our beloved elders!

Indie filmmakers have given voice to various issues affecting senior citizens. Abandonment, senility, and lack of a companion are some of the issues predominant in those films dealing with the elderly. Cinemalaya and Cinema One Originals have championed several of these multi-awarded films including Diablo, Layang Bilanggo, and Six Degrees of Separation From Lilia Cuntapay. One of the very best stories is by a Palanca hall-of-famer, Jun Lana.

Lana's excellent film Bwakaw tells the story of Rene, an elderly gay diabetic trying to get to grips with the serious illness of his dog, Bwakaw. The mongrel has been his faithful and sole companion the last few years. The woman he'd loved before forbade him to visit her. Who else can Rene turn to for companionship if the dog dies?

Rene (Eddie Garcia) is different from the screaming faggots and outlandish gays portrayed by Dolphy, Roderick Paulate, and Joey de Leon. Rene doesn’t put on garish make-ups, wear women’s clothes, or don skimpy two-piece bikini. I cringe when people say that Facifica Falayfay is one of the best characters played by Dolphy. Facifica is a hideous character who lies about the identity of the harana serenaders and initiates cat fights. It's no wonder then that his family tries to reform him. There's a positive thing about the film Facifica Falayfay, though. It served as inspiration for Auraeus Solito's Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros, as seen in the beauty contest segment and the brood of tough goons. The difference however is gay teen Maximo is accepted and loved dearly by his family. 

Rene has more of an affinity with the closet gay Don Benito in Tubog sa Ginto. Eddie Garcia plays them both so they are masculine in appearance. The wondrous thing about the award-winning performances of Garcia is he didn't overplay the characters, both of which are hard to portray. Don Benito hides his homosexuality from his family to the extent that he hires a voluptuous secretary to mask his affair with a leech of a lover.

On the other hand, Rene is a straight guy, or used to be one, until he reached senior citizenry. He realized too late that he is really gay. He used to have a girlfriend named Alicia. But, despite fifteen years of being a couple, they didn't get married. No reason was given for the break-up, although the rainbow of gayness must have hovered over his clouded mind back then.

The most moving scenes in the film are the ones featuring Rene and Alicia. A heart-tugging scene shows elderly Alicia (Armida Siguion-Reyna), in a rare moment of coherence, pleading for Rene not to visit her anymore at the retirement home. She wants Rene to remember her as she is now, a woman who've regained her precious memories of the first and only boyfriend in her life. There's no tinge of regret or anger over her fate. Her loving act of saying goodbye relieved Rene somewhat of the heavy cross of guilt for the perceived pain he might have inflicted on Alicia. 

The heavy drama is balanced with rollicking funny scenes, especially those inspired by Soxie Topacio's Ded Na Si Lolo. Rene has been considered  'dead' for a long time because of his preoccupation with the past, perceived sins, and regrets. He has made up a will and packed up his things into balikbayan boxes. His decrepit house is bare with only the boxes lining up the walls. He is just waiting for his death and has even experienced sleeping in his coffin, which he bought at a summer sale. But, two deaths later, and Rene is now unpacking things. His house undergoes a makeover. He starts to live and the last scene shows him going on a trip.

Director Jun Lana crafted a film so good that if only the late comedy king Dolphy had a film like this in his oeuvre, then there's a higher chance of him being hailed as a National Artist for Film. Bwakaw has a well-written gay character in Rene. The latter is also one of the more memorable elderly characters alongside Dolphy's character Gregory in Omeng Satanasia. 

How about Eddie Garcia as nominee for the National Artist for Film? Well, let's just respect the selection process and be thankful that we've been blessed to have seen and enjoyed the films of the late Dolphy and veteran actor Eddie Garcia. I can't wait to see what other film projects are in store for Garcia and other venerable acting legends.

Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa (2011, Alvin Yapan)

Kinukumutan ka ng aking titig – R M

This impressive film could have been titled the Dance of the Flitting Eyes and it would have been just right. The eyes, more than the feet, do most of the important actions (and talking) in this scintillating, visually-appealing movie.

A lovestruck rich kid named Marlon Dionisio (Paulo Avelino) is stalking someone outside the Far Eastern University (FEU) campus. When he spots his love object, a middle-aged svelte lady (Jean Garcia), he homes in on her until she reaches her next working place, a dancing studio.

We soon learn that the sexy dancing instructor, Karen Pantoja, is also the literature class teacher of Marlon at FEU. She, with the wistful eyes, asks him about a poem of Ruth Mabanglo (R M). The student clams up and later rues his chance to make a strong impression on his dearly beloved teacher. He seeks the help of classmate Dennis Acejo (Rocco Nacino), who happens to be an assistant of Karen in the dancing studio.

Marlon enrolls in the dance class of Karen. He also secretly hires Dennis as a dance tutor. Marlon perseveres because he wants to shine and perform well in the eyes of Karen. Unknown to him, a different pair of eyes is showering him with love and affection.

Mahal, ako ay napapapikit – R M

With Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa, I’ve finally found an Alvin Yapan film to adore. His first two Cinemalaya films Huling Pasada and Ang Panggagahasa Kay Fe left me bewildered and unsatisfied. The screenplays of the two films seem better off being a nice read than being adapted for the screen.  

Third time’s the charm for Yapan. He has finally learned how to transpose his literary musings into chunks of engaging film language. A ballsy magnificent cotillion scene in Sayaw shows the two boys having an argument. Karen steps in to defuse the heated exchange. It sounds simple enough, but the amazing thing is the characters are ‘conversing’ using only their eyes! Bravo!

The Dance of Two Left Feet also utilized brilliant Filipino poems in a variety of approaches. A poem-song was used as accompanying music during a dance scene. Another poem about heartbreak was dissected by the two male leads. If you loved the poems so much, then I advise you to purchase the Original Sound Track. Included are the poems Kinukumutan Ka Ng Aking Titig (R M), Kontrapunto (Ophelia Dimalanta/Translated in Filipino by Rebecca Añonuevo), Litanya (Merlinda Bobis), Paglisan (Joi Barrios), Ang Sabi Ko Sa Iyo (Benilda Santos), and Nais Kong Madarang (Rebecca Añonuevo). It's a convenient and probably less expensive way of getting all the poems in one go.

The ending of Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa leaves the viewers with a mystery. But by then, we no longer need to unmask the secret in the wet eye of Marlon (and also the pensive eyes of the inexplicably single Karen). Prying more is akin to knifing brutally a ripe star apple. The gentle, graceful, and passionate poems/steps/gazes they shared with us have nourished and refreshed us like a bunch of delicious tropical fruits. Saktong-sakto lang ang pagkahinog. Mapapapikit ka sa sarap sa bawat kataga....

Zombadings 1: Patayin sa Shokot si Remington (2011, Jade Castro)

“Bakla!”

A young man was walking along a narrow street in the festive town of Lucban, Quezon when a boy yelled out that insult. What is surprising is the affront didn’t make him mad. He mulled over it and accepted the truth behind that tag. He realized that he is truly gay. The young man, named Raymond Lee, is the writer of superb local screenplays such as Tanging Yaman and Endo.

Scriptwriter Lee’s encounter with the Lucban boy became the germ for this project about gay zombies taking revenge on homophobic people. He joins forces once more with his Endo collaborators: co-writer Michiko Yamamoto and director Jade Castro.

The comic film starts with a five-year-old boy named Remington poking fun at gays by calling them "bakla." He has a guardian who didn't seem to mind his inappropriate actions. This neglect may have prodded him to continue ridiculing homosexuals. The script didn't point out why the boy grew up to be like that. His parents seem tolerant of gays so I was wondering what triggered his verbal bullying. His mother is a policewoman so it was somewhat disappointing that in a family that shatters gender stereotypes the boy is a homophobe.

The little bully ultimately meets his match in the person of a middle-aged gay visiting the cemetery. The latter puts a curse on the boy. Remington, says the aggrieved one, will experience being gay.

Most of the laughs center on twenty-year old Remington's struggle to fight his emerging gay side. His crush Hannah soon gets push aside as he starts to hanker over his best friend Jigs. The two boys have a humorous risqué scene that has them locking lips several times. Watch out for the randy hand that has a life of its own. Director Jade Castro admits that he changed the tempo of the scene by adding a frothy music background. His decision was a response to some comments raised by members of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board.

Pahiyas

Castro always includes a dance number in his feature films. This film has a funny street dance by Remington (excellently played by Martin Escudero) that recalls the spontaneity of Ina Feleo’s dance in Endo and the élan of a Singin’ in the Rain dance number. With bright rainbow colors streaming out of his heart, he eclipses the colorful decorations and pahiyas installations at homes in Lucban.

The key to enjoying this film is to go with the flow. Groove to the dance beat. Don’t take it too seriously. As Raymond Lee says ‘he makes movies that he (a movie fan) wants to see.’ If a bullied gay person like him creates a movie that makes fun of the behavior of gays, then let it be.

My main complaint with the film is not the gay issues but its extremely populist mentality. It tries very hard to please every movie fan out there that it ended up being a pastiche. There are bits of Zsazsa Zaturnnah here, a beefcake shot there, and a handful of fright scenes spread across the film. The gags are so diverse that it looks like they are mere outputs of an all-night drinking party. The clunky line-up scene has all the appeal of the ill-fated Bench-Volcanoes billboard. Nil. The truly comic scenes are few and far between.

The major saving grace of the film is its big heart scene. Most of the Yamamoto films I have seen have a grand heart scene. There is the piggyback scene in Magnifico and the power hug scene in My Big Love. Zombadings 1 has a similar powerful sequence near the end. With time nearly running out for Remington, his father comes to the rescue. Spurred by the true power of love, the elder sacrifices his manhood in order to break the curse. He is what we call 'tunay na lalake.' This heart-tugging sequence made me change my view about the film. Winnie Monsod siya bigla with a few reservations. The previous sentence can be translated as: ‘if you have movie money to spare, then watch this film instead of a Hollywood movie.’


*****
Related link/s:
Thoughts by actor Martin Escudero (inquirer.net)
Chat with cast and crew (mb.com.ph)