Manila is not a place I would have associated with good new cinema, and Filipino ghost and horror stories have never really caught my eye, never mind that of the cinema going public, even that of the Filipino public themselves!
However, things appear to be changing according to this story from Variety through Yahoo. With the Asian cinema market growing strong with audiences there (well done them) their film creators are starting to be inspired by the likes of Ringu and The Eye. A recent homegrown film that did just that grossed a large figure for it’s Manila release.
Star Cinema’s “Feng Shui,” starring Kris Aquino, daughter of former President Cory Aquino, beat local and foreign films at the B.O. when it opened in September.
Playing in Manila until late November, it grossed P100 million ($1.8 million) in its first five weeks…the success of “Feng Shui” has encouraged local filmmakers to come up with more Filipino ghost tales.
I see they’ve done the decent thing and rather than just remake all the Asian films they have been influenced to create their own instead. How clever, if only Hollywood could think of such great things. The British Government could also learn a thing or two from their Governments investment in their film industry!
The Metro Manila Film Festival (Dec. 25-Jan. 9), which used to be peppered by fantasy flicks and superhero stories, is screening two horror pics this year. The fest shows only Filipino films — part of the city government’s scheme to support the Filipino movie industry.
Festgoers are looking forward to “Spirit of the Glass” by Jose Javier Reyes and “Sigaw” (Scream) by Yam Laranas. “Spirit” is about a group of young people whose beach resort trip goes awry when they inadvertently summon a gang of malevolent spirits on a Ouija board.
Some of the movies on offer sound very interesting:
Regal Films’ “Sigaw” is about a haunted apartment building where the residents are as trapped by their own human frailty as they are by the confined space, and the ghosts that haunt the place.
“I want the audience to bring home their fear,” Laranas says, “to be afraid of being left alone in their house or in their room, to feel a chill when they walk in empty dark corridors.”
It sounds like the Director here has hit the nail on the head, it’s something you can hear from many Directors and Writers, that the most effective tool in a horror is to enable the reader or viewer to connect with the fear. To be afraid of something they experience day after day, either as a fear they already experience or something they had never thought to have been afraid of before.
Still, there’s the fair share of films that sound like stinkers, let’s not be under the illusion that all mainstream is bad and small foreign movies are wonderful.
There are two films set during the Japanese Occupation in 1941: “Aishite imasu 1941” is a gay love story between a cross-dressing Pinoy and a fierce Japanese captain.
…I’ll not go on!
wag nga kyo mag-away!
horror movies are great lalo na the feng shui!
appreciate nyo naman ang filipino movies!
holla atcha girl!
Ay sorry, I meant about my comment to James’s question on old Philippine films.
Regarding digital one: Yup, it’s all wait and see for now.
Laksa is a local Singaporean dish, a spicy, noodly, soupy kind of thing.
abi: i’m saving my comments until after digital one’s produced something worth judging. if it turns out to be a farce, then i’ll probably chime in and start complaining, too. but, who knows, something good might result from their efforts (albeit, a mere “copycat”). :)
what’s laksa? some indonesian recipe?
James: If that person was talking about actual film reels, maybe. I’m no film expert, just an avid movie goer, but the government simply doesn’t have enough money to allocate funds for preserving old Philippine films, so I wouldn’t be surprised if that was true. I mean, we do see lots of old films shown on television, but these are just copies right? Whatever happened to the actual film itself? How sad, we are so friggin’ poor.
Chocnut: Am I right? Or should I just shut up now and eat some laksa?
abi: normally, i would bemoan what you term “me-too” mentality. but, honestly, i welcome any help that the Philippine movie industry can get. so, any effort at giving others a break is good in my book. :)
A question for the Philippine film experts: is it true that only four films made in the Philippines before 1970 still exist? That’s the rather astonishing statistic someone once cited on a newsgroup I used to read…
Chocnut: Regarding Philippine cinema’s maturity. I agree with your sentiment that we aren’t progressing as well as we should, creatively speaking.
And with ABS’s digital one project: hurray and all that, but doesn’t it smell of gaya-gaya? The execs over at 2 should have *their* tongues pulled and rolled out for perpetuating this me-too mentality.
“Maynila Sa Mga Kuko Ng Liwanag,” “Himala” and “Ganito Kami Noon Paano Kayo Ngayon” are some of my faves. And yes, they were made in the 70s/80s–often referred to as the Golden Age of Philippine Cinema. :)
Kevinn: having seen “feng shui” and “sigaw,” i, on the other hand, was stating that they were monumentally disappointing (especially the former).
“maturity”/”come of age”? depends on what standards you’re using. i was just having a conversation regarding this matter, and i feel that the industry’s regressing. we’re becoming more “advanced” and “proficient,” but we’re not getting any more creative. ask anyone to name their top 10 films, and unless they were born in the past ten years, they’d probably refer you to the classics, i.e. mostly pre-90s. they’d be hard-pressed to name ten films from the decade that just passed.
they didn’t give the “experience as with ‘old foreign horror’ movies” and for that, i feel, we should be thankful. look at the horror movies from thailand or japan. the reason why they work is because they play upon cultural images and deeply-ingrained beliefs and traditions. “the ring,” “nang nak,” and all these other “horror films,” we’ve been doing them for years, until we started moving towards the “hollywood” model of what a horror film should be–which paved the way for a frightening situation, but for films that were just plain blah.
ever seen the black and white films? “juanita banana”? or that other film (whose title escapes me at the moment) that depicted people in hell? there were people languishing in hell. i still remember vividly the sight of a person whose tongue was being pulled and rolled out. gloss isn’t always the best way to depict dark subjects.
chocnut: I’m not referring about the Feng Shui, Sigaw or Spirit of the Glass as “promising” or “a must watch”. But with all the commotion going on these movies, they could be.
I’m saying, that as a whole, Philippine cinema has matured. Better in a way… Right from those ‘old campy horror’ movies that didn’t give the experience as with ‘old foreign horror’ movies.
Besides, “Mang Kepweng” with Chiquito(sp?) gives a better comedy/horror thingy experience for me, than that lil’ Matet movie.
abi: unitel’s been doing their share. baby steps. (it helps that they’re still “small”–they can afford to make mistakes.) “santa santita” was a veritable effort, but fell short somewhere. good enough, though.
star cinema’s launched its own contest, digital one (?). in fact, they’re in the process of casting for one of the finalists. i think it’s their way of atoning for their sins, i.e. for foisting upon us those stupid films like “BCUZ OF U.” let’s pray that something good comes out, in time for your return trip.
Imogen: i think someone ought to remind joel lamangan that he was just an extra on “himala.” he assisted lino brocka, but he’s no brocka.
Panaghoy sa Suba is actually very good. And Sigaw was fun to watch. I don’t recommend bothering with Aishite Imasu — the story had potential, but the actors were mediocre and the friend I watched it with went crazy observing the mistakes in production design. Also, for a gay man, the director sure couldn’t direct a gay kiss to save his life.
Hey chocnut, good observations on our local film industry. I’m really hoping that Unitel Pictures (a new, local movie production house) doesn’t lose hope and continue to produce better movies that go against the slew of stale films we’ve been seeing.
I’ve heard about the CineMalaya competition in Manila and have read the synopsis of some of the finalist films. I personally think some of the plots are modern and fresh (compared to our slew of local films ha). Of course, with only a P500,000 grant per film (that’s a little under $9,000), expect crappy production values. Nevertheless, it’s a good effort to shake up the Manila movie industry.
(Short note: I’ve been out of the country since August, but I’ll be back in flash-flooding, bottle-necked, steamy Manila in March. Woohoo!)
Philippine Cinema, given the right budget and tax provisions by the government would definitely outshine other foreign language films. During the 1960’s and ’70s other Asian countries used to import the talents of our filmmakers to teach them the art of Filmmaking. Now, I do not blame it if the ones produced lately are the kinds that wouldn’t give a ring to the foreign auidience given the fact that Philippine Cinema is not alone in its struggle to improve the industry by uplifting the public’s patronage. With the economic problems the country is facing at right now and the stubborn piracy issues bombarding the Third World countries, we are at most faced with a vital pressure : and that is to make use of what is left from Filipino filmmakers’ decaying pockets.
Here are some Filipino films you should find and see :
1.Ora Pronobis- Lino Brocka
2.Batch ’81- Mike De Leon
3.Bayaning Third World- Mike De Leon
4.Still Lives- Jon Red
5.Utang Ni Tatang- Jon Red
6.Ebolusyon ng Isang Pamilyang Pilipino-Lav Diaz
7.Batang West Side- Lav Diaz
and for the Metro Manila Film Festival I recommend you also see :
1. Panaghoy sa Suba- Cesar Montano
2. Aishte Masu- Joel Lamangan
Richard: how could i have missed those on mignac’s list! (i told you it’s always hard to come up with a list when you’re asked to.) i would have mentioned “booba,” but it’s high art. ;)
i just remembered another film: “minsan pa.” it has the feel of an 80’s film–in a good way of course. back when films were simple vignettes of life. it’s the kind of film that brocka or bernal would have made. (think: “miguelito.”)
there’s this other film from the 80’s that, unfortunately, i cannot find anywhere: “saan darating ang umaga?” (on a totally unrelated note, i think it would be interesting to see a remake of that film, with maricel soriano playing the role of nida blanca’s character.)
Right on chocnut!
Richard, check out the ff:
Batch ’81 by Mike de Leon – Martial Law allegory
Keka by Quark Henares – Aside from being an excellent story, for it’s 80’s nostalgia effect.
Tanging Ina – Pinoy film buff’s film
May Minamahal
Most movies with Vilma Santos
Richard: recent Filipino films? hmm. “good to pretty good” (in no particular order):
1. crying ladies
2. pasiyam
3. anak
4. bata-bata paano ka ginawa?
5. magnifico
i’m sure that there must be other good films, but it’s a problem of mine: every time i’m asked to come up with a list, i’m dumbfounded.
Kevinn: i’m sorry, but i really have to ask: how old are you? part of the appeal of those old films is the camp treatment. likewise, i don’t think that they should be evaluated in terms of their “special effects,” and comparing them side-by-side with today’s thrillers would be unfair. i know people who still get sleepless nights from watching “patayin sa sindak si barbara” or “huwag mong buhayin ang bangkay.”
which two films (“showing big promises”) are you referring to? “feng shui”? the trailer was, indeed very deceiving. i thought that it was going to be good. in fact, the first thirty minutes was creepy, until the plot device was revealed, and it was downhill from then on. “sigaw”? fifteen minutes into the movie, you already know how it’s going to end. it borrowed generous servings of the same old stuff from different movies. “plot elements”? let’s just say that the trailer’s plot is better than the movie’s.
(but, yes, the cinematography for both films was good. “feng shui’s opening sequence was excellent. unfortunately, after about ten minutes, the whole look of the film changes and becomes “blah”–at least until the scene where kris aquino takes a cab, and after that it’s back to “blah” again. as for “sigaw,” you can always count on yam laranas for beautifully photographed films.)
Old Filipino horror movies sucked… Shake, Rattle and Roll??!? C’mon! Those movies lack imagination, suspense or even horror elements and the monsters themselves in those series are too cheesy.
But now… seeing the trailers of the two horror movies mentioned here and impact going about, locally-made movies are showing big promises – big improvement in terms of cinematography and plot elements.
Chocnut – give us some recommends that we can get hold of then. I’d happily watch new foreign cinema.
typo:
“[…] movie-going PUBLIC a lot of good […]”
oversight:
“a good film MUST BE ‘socially-relevant.'”
“Manila is not a place I would have associated with good new cinema, and Filipino ghost and horror stories have never really caught my eye […]” – it’s still not the place for “good new cinema” because most of the veteran/award-winning directors are still stuck in the mindset that a good film is a “socially-relevant” film. the big name Filipino directors are too busy massaging their bloated egos, thinking that they’re doing the movie-going a lot of good by going back to the same trite issue of “martial law”–and to think the dictator’s been dead for years! as for the “better” directors, the new blood, they’re rarely ever given the chance to shine. (mark meilly has yet to produce a follow-up to “crying ladies.”)
it is quite unfortunate that you haven’t seen the older Filipino horror films because there was a time when they were creepier than anything that Korea or Japan has been producing today. back in the eighties, you could count on the movie studios (like Regal Films) to produce really good films like “shake, rattle, and roll” or “halimaw sa banga” (“monster in the jar”). “feng shui” was a contrived laughable piece that had so much promise but failed to deliver. it was a good thing that two weeks later, a better horror film was released, “pasiyam.” unfortunately, it lacked the “star power” of kris aquino, and it wasn’t able to attract the attention it deserved.
(oh, and yes, this year’s film fest is the worst so far.)
Hi, I come from the Philippines but moved here to the UK over 6 years ago now.
I have not heard much about nor seen the film you’ve mentioned Rich, but I wont really be surprised if it was a blockbuster, we do love our movies, whether home-made or foreign. But for this movie to beat all other foreign films during the time it was shown, that is really interesting.
Thanks for the info.