I was able to watch 19 films during the recent Cinemanila. On its ninth year, some things have not changed: programming (mostly 2006 releases from various festivals like Berlin, Venice, Cannes, and Toronto), scheduling (the fest's worst aspect), and promotion (print media was maximized to good effect). Strong points this time around were the strong line-up from Cannes last summer (Grand Prize winner "The Edge of Heaven" (pictured, left) won Best Screenplay for writer-director Fatih Akin (Head-On; In July); Special Jury Prize honoree Marjane Satrapi's and Jonathan Parronaud's "Persepolis" received the third place Jury Prize, while Palme d'Or winner "4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days" received two consecutive gala screenings on Aug. 15) and the new venue (Gateway Cineplex in Araneta Center, Cubao)-even if I was pissed off with the poor ticket selling process (a viewer has to be there two hours prior to the screening or you will spend the same time before getting a ticket because of the long line) and scheduling (no change in the fest's 9-year existence).
Despite the limited films that I've seen, the line-up indeed was rife with intriguing and diverse movies. "Persepolis," Marjane Satrapi's film adaptation of her acclaimed autobiographical novel was a box-office and critical hit - one of this year's best films for me. I was disappointed with Thai auteur Apitchapong Weerasethakul's "Syndromes and a Century," a self-indulgent drama that bored me despite the coherent first half of the plot, and Wang Chao's Cannes 2006 Camera d'Or winner "Luxury Car," a suspense-drama character study about a father and daughter's tragic reunion. From Malaysia comes Yasmin Ahmad's ASEAN Best Film winner (and Berlin 2006 Special Award recipient) "Mukhsin," a conventional coming-of-age drama that has a hallmarks of a traditional Filipino movie (I joked with my friends that Filipino producers should buy the remake rights as soon as possible, given its potential in the market), while Lars von Trier's insufferable and crazy "The Boss Of It All" left me thinking that the Danish auteur has gone into the dogs (seriously) and lost his critical mind.
Among the entries that I failed to watch (given my busy office work) were "The Edge of Heaven," Yoji Yamada's (Oscar nominee Twilight Samurai) latest samurai drama "Love and Honor" (ditto), and Francis Ozon's Berlin 2007 entry "Angel". Some ASEAN movies that I missed (due to schedule conflicts) were "Hula Girls," "The Go Master" (I believe it wasn't shown in the festival), and Eytan Fox's (2004's "Walk on Water") "The Bubble". And as always, I hate the idea of having Filipino films competing for awards (word has it that Raya Martin's Lino Brocka Grand Prize for Digital Lokal winner "Autohystoria" was a blunder, based on mostly negative reviews from viewers and critics), and I have reservations with much-hyped films that have sexually graphic ("Irina Palm") ("Ploy") content.
To say the least, Cinemanila 2007 is a mixed bag. To say the most, things have not changed for the better.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
RANDOM THOUGHTS: THE NINTH CINEMANILA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
I was able to watch 19 films during the recent Cinemanila. On its ninth year, some things have not changed: programming (mostly 2006 releases from various festivals like Berlin, Venice, Cannes, and Toronto), scheduling (the fest's worst aspect), and promotion (print media was maximized to good effect). Strong points this time around were the strong line-up from Cannes last summer (Grand Prize winner "The Edge of Heaven" (pictured, left) won Best Screenplay for writer-director Fatih Akin (Head-On; In July); Special Jury Prize honoree Marjane Satrapi's and Jonathan Parronaud's "Persepolis" received the third place Jury Prize, while Palme d'Or winner "4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days" received two consecutive gala screenings on Aug. 15) and the new venue (Gateway Cineplex in Araneta Center, Cubao)-even if I was pissed off with the poor ticket selling process (a viewer has to be there two hours prior to the screening or you will spend the same time before getting a ticket because of the long line) and scheduling (no change in the fest's 9-year existence).
Despite the limited films that I've seen, the line-up indeed was rife with intriguing and diverse movies. "Persepolis," Marjane Satrapi's film adaptation of her acclaimed autobiographical novel was a box-office and critical hit - one of this year's best films for me. I was disappointed with Thai auteur Apitchapong Weerasethakul's "Syndromes and a Century," a self-indulgent drama that bored me despite the coherent first half of the plot, and Wang Chao's Cannes 2006 Camera d'Or winner "Luxury Car," a suspense-drama character study about a father and daughter's tragic reunion. From Malaysia comes Yasmin Ahmad's ASEAN Best Film winner (and Berlin 2006 Special Award recipient) "Mukhsin," a conventional coming-of-age drama that has a hallmarks of a traditional Filipino movie (I joked with my friends that Filipino producers should buy the remake rights as soon as possible, given its potential in the market), while Lars von Trier's insufferable and crazy "The Boss Of It All" left me thinking that the Danish auteur has gone into the dogs (seriously) and lost his critical mind.
Among the entries that I failed to watch (given my busy office work) were "The Edge of Heaven," Yoji Yamada's (Oscar nominee Twilight Samurai) latest samurai drama "Love and Honor" (ditto), and Francis Ozon's Berlin 2007 entry "Angel". Some ASEAN movies that I missed (due to schedule conflicts) were "Hula Girls," "The Go Master" (I believe it wasn't shown in the festival), and Eytan Fox's (2004's "Walk on Water") "The Bubble". And as always, I hate the idea of having Filipino films competing for awards (word has it that Raya Martin's Lino Brocka Grand Prize for Digital Lokal winner "Autohystoria" was a blunder, based on mostly negative reviews from viewers and critics), and I have reservations with much-hyped films that have sexually graphic ("Irina Palm") ("Ploy") content.
To say the least, Cinemanila 2007 is a mixed bag. To say the most, things have not changed for the better.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment