By PABLO A. TARIMAN
BOMBARDED with the stench of pork barrel which made one Janet Lim Napoles an instant billionaire and with the shocking details of the money trail as related by whistleblower Benhur Luy, the country is now pictured as one big, well-organized gangland peopled by shrewd shenanigans luxuriating in bathtubs awash with bags full of cash.
The opening of the Sineng Pambansa National Film Festival with an All-Masters Edition fell on a day of prayer rally denouncing such massive scam.
But those who decided to take a respite from the latest national telenovela by going to the cinema were amply rewarded with poignant, if, redeeming films that show Filipinos the exact opposite of money-hungry entrepreneurs and politicians.
It is just as well that the Film Development Council of the Philippines encouraged the filmmakers to shoot their entries in their respective regions. The result is a feast of first-rate films depicting slices of paradise in the provinces — the exact opposite of the sleazy characters in the corruption-plagued Metro Manila.
Maryo V. de los Reyes’s “Bamboo Flowers” zeroes on a humble family trying to make ends meet by taking in assorted work that allow them to get by without selling their soul. The housewife (sensitively played by Irma Adlawan) doubles as tourist guide, the son ( portrayed by a highly promising Ruru Madrid) hops from being tourist entertainer to appliance salesman while constantly in touch with his grandpa (superbly played by actor Spanky Manikan) even as he makes it to the national singing finals.
Beautifully scored by Lutgardo Labad, “Bamboo Flowers” is a small film with a big heart showing small-town Filipinos who would not succumb to the lure of the big city at the expense of family solidarity. The bonding between grandpa (Manikan) and grandson (Madrid) remains the film’s most touching highlight.
On top of it, you get to see Bohol’s young music and dance ensembles juxtaposed with the story of city dwellers (played with aplomb by Mylene Dizon and Yogo Singh) coming to terms with the peace and quiet of the island.
Moreover, the healing power of the countryside is depicted in “Sonata” directed by Peque Gallaga and Lore Reyes and with grand, and very apt, musical scoring by Emerzon Texon.
For music lovers and musicians,”Sonata” is both visual and aural treats as you hear a re-scored version of Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” and with Cherie Gil (as the retired diva Regina Cadena) trying her hands on Mozart’s “Minuet” and of course ending in her grand version of Dvorak’s “Song to The Moon” voiced midway until the end by true-to-life soprano, Camille Lopez Molina.
While viewers get to immerse in the opera roles Regina Cadena (Gil) has sung during her vocal peak, the film managed to portray a highly spontaneous portrait of art imitating life and vice-versa. The tormented love life of “Tosca” by Puccini finds real-life equivalent in Gil’s relationship with her lover portrayed by Richard Gomez. The tragic demise of innocent children in the Opera, “Medea” finds resonance when one of the kids who brought back the diva to normal life meets an untimely death.
The scriptwriter, Wango Gallaga, managed to wield an absorbing story of artists who need a life outside their art. The presence of two kids played by Chino Jalandoni and Joshua Pineda somehow succeeded in filling up the gap between the diva’s art and the ordinary listeners who got to know opera characters from Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Madama Butterfly (Pinkerton), among others.
In this film, Gil transcends her role as Maria Callas in “Masterclass” to the emotionally wrecked Regina Cadena in “Sonata” with such unflinching vulnerability she has an audience rooting for her when she got back to life, thanks to the kids who taught her that there is life beyond opera’s opening nights.
“Sonata” is a small film with such wide, encompassing, if, powerful layers allowing the viewers to see the fine, thin line between art and life. The excellent sound design of Michael Idioma allows the viewers to hear the sound of music as well as the sound of the night in an idyllic Negros farm.
As they are, “Bamboo Flowers” and “Sonata” show us that there are still sectors in this society who find fulfillment in their passion for their art and in living a simple but honest life.
Other noteworthy entries in the Sineng Pambansa film festival which will end September 17 in all SM cinemas are Joey Reyes’ “Ano ang Kulay ng mga Nakalimutang Pangarap?”, Chito Rono’s “Badil,” “Joel Lamangan’s “Lihis,” Gil Portes’ “Ang Tag-araw ni Twinkle,” Mel Chionglo’s “Lauriana,” Tikoy Aguiluz’s “Emman” and Romy Suzara’s “Tinik.”