Ang Panggagahasa Kay Fe

Have you ever watched a local film where as the credits roll and the lights turn on you sit on your chair dumbfounded? Your brain going on overdrive, trying to process what just transpired on screen? That what you had just viewed was a rarity in Philippine cinema - an intelligent and thought-provoking film?



Alfred Yapan's Ang Panggagahasa Kay Fe (The Rapture of Fe), a finalist in this year's Cinemalaya Film Festival, is one of these rarities. It is the story of Fe, brilliantly played by Irma Adlawan, and the men in her life - an abusive husband, an ex-flame, and a secret admirer. The last few minutes of the film is simply terrific and would most probably require repeat viewing or a heated but fun discussion with whoever you went to the movie with.


The film will be in competition this week at the Cairo International Film Festival and at the Bahamas International Film Festival in December. It has also been included in the lineup at the Chicago International Film Festival and the New Delhi's Osian's Cinefan Film Festival.


As luck would have it, the film will have its commercial run in select theatres starting today, most notably at the Robinson's Galleria and Robinson's Place Ermita.

Go watch!

Cinemalaya Cinco: Final Update

4. That's the number of days I spent at the CCP.

9. That's the number of full-length films in competition that I watched. 24K was the exception.

10. That's the number of short films in competition that I watched.

1. That's the number of films in competition that I watched.

1. That's the number of bloggers in my blogroll that I saw. Consistent with my personality I did not introduce myself.

4. That's the number of feature films that I expected to be good and did not disappoint - Dinig Sana Kita, Last Supper No 3, Ang Panggagahasa Kay Fe, and Mangatyanan.

2. That's the number of feature films that were surprisingly good - Sanglaan and Colorum. The former does not have a great story but boasts of fantastic cinematoraphy and Ina Feleo. The latter is a road movie that brings us from Manila to Bicol to Leyte and back. Alfred Vargas and Lou Veloso are a revelation.

2. That's the number of films that were not great but were not bad either - Nerseri and Engkwentro.

2. That's the number of feature films that did disappoint - Astig and Aurora.

6. That's the number of shorts that were really good. There's Behind Closed Doors, Hulagpos, Ugat sa Lupa, Si Bok at ang Trumpo, Blogog, and Bonsai.

1. That's the number of shorts that I could not fathom - Musa. I overheard a few people say the film is great because of its symbolisms. Frankly, I could not find one. Nagmukha akong bobo.

Cinemalaya Cinco: Update 1

2 days. 7 features. Sanglaan. Ang Panggagahasa Kay Fe. Aurora. Astig. Dinig Sana Kita. Last Supper  No. 3. Engkwentro.

Dinig Sana Kita is the best among the films I've seen. It has a great poster too. The film is the story of two would-be-lovers - one is a deaf guy, the other a rocker girl. Their love story is not what the film is about but wisely focuses on each of the protagonists' personal issues. Poignant. Heartwarming. Feel-good. Watch this!

The next best thing is Last Supper No 3 about one man's comic but horrific experience with the law after losing a neighbor's Last Supper. Hilarious. Laugh-out-loud funny. Watch this!

If you dig thought-provoking and mind-boggling films ala Mulholland Drive or Blue Velvet then you should not miss Ang Panggagahasa Kay Fe about domestic violence and Filipino folklore. I bet that the ending, which is open to different intepretations, will be discussed by film addicts in the years to come. It is that good.


Sanglaan does not have a great story but it more than makes it up with really striking visuals. The opening sequence, the wedding anniversary dinner, and that final scene between Bascon and Feleo are good examples. The best sequence that stands out though is Bacon and Feleo's having dinner together - Feleo's dreamy smile and Bascon's brooding look while blowing cigarette smoke - is a sight to behold. Now imagine the sequence in slow mo. Reminded me of Wong Kar Wai's terrific In The Mood For Love.

Astig which follows the intersecting lives of four men in Manila is passably ok. There's not much to rave about the film except for the soundtrack and Sid Lucero's performance and storyline. The banter between Lucero and Keanna Reeves and Lucero and Glyza de Castro were a hoot. And Arnold Reyes' character is daft. Really daft that I wanted to reach out to the screen and beat him to a pulp.

The worst and lone non-competition entry on my list was Aurora, a film about a woman kidnapped for ransom by local terrorists. I think that Alix, in this film, wanted to do a Lav Diaz. Sadly he does not have Diaz's visual artistry. While 'stagnant' scenes from Diaz's Melancholia contains indelible images that stick to your brain for days, Alix's Aurora just sucks. The redeeming value here is Roces. Ang galing. And I'm not referring to her fake breasts. I also don't get the XX rating it got from the MTRCB. That 27-second sex scene was not, in my opinion, graphic. Ang MTRC nga naman.

So if you have money and time to spare, go to the CCP and watch the entries. Per movie screening costs P100 and you get 50% discount if you are a student provided you show your school ID upon purchase. I got mine for P1000. Festival Pass. Watch all you can. I was lucky I got one. A couple of hours after I purchased mine I overheard that all Festival Passes were sold out. Lucky me!

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Whatever it takes.
For the love of movies.

Cinemalaya Cinco

The fifth edition of the film festival for indies starts Saturday and will run until July 26. And for the second consecutive year I will be in attendance at the CCP.

Last year I was able to watch 5 films. Three were outstanding (Jay, 100, Boses), one was so-so (Imoral), and one was downright disappointing (My Fake American Accent).

Word is this year's batch is the best and based from the trailers the press release may turn out to be correct. There's even a decent review of one entry here.

Here are five of the 10 films in competition that is worth watching.

*****

Dinig Sana Kita

The film is a love story between a Deaf boy who loves to dance and a troubled rocker girl who abuses her hearing. One lives in the world of solitude and silence, the other in noise and fear. Crossing paths in a Baguio camp that mixes Deaf and hearing kids, both find that they have more in common with each other including a love for music.

DINIG SANA KITA is the first Filipino film to have a Deaf Actor in a Lead role. Romalito Mallari is a Deaf performer that has played several stage productions as actor and/or dancer. It also features several Deaf actors in the cast and ensemble.

*****

Astig

ASTIG (Mga Batang Kalye), written by multi-awarded writer Jerry B. Gracio, produced by Noel Ferrer and directed by GB Sampedro is an episodic tale of four young men whose stories parallel and contrast with the landmarks and various images of Manila. It tells the story of Ariel, a conman who has to leave his girlfriend upon learning that she is in love with him; Boy, an expectant young father who has to sell his body to pay his wife’s hospital bill; Ronald, a Chinese mestizo who is coming to grips with his identity; and Baste, an overly protective son of an OFW who has to avenge his sister. The film tells the stories of the tough guys of Manila and their resolve to survive the dirt and filth of the “Distinguished and Ever Loyal City.”

*****

Last Supper No. 3

Based on a true story, Last Supper No. 3 is a humorous look at the circuitous path our legal system takes to justice. Assistant Production Designer Wilson Nañawa is tasked to look for a Last Supper to use as a prop for a TV commercial. He finds three, but loses the one owned by Gareth Pugeda. What happens next changes Wilson forever as he spends the next two years entangled in bureaucracy and red tape facing estafa and serious physical injury charges. How will this ordinary man fare against a system he knows nothing about? Will justice prevail for Wilson? Or will he be imprisoned for the loss of Last Supper No. 3?

*****

Ang Panggagahasa kay Fe

Each morning, baskets of black fruits mysteriously appear by the front yard of Fe. Thinking that it was a reconciliatory gesture from her abusive husband, Dante, Fe tells him about it. This only confirms Dante’s suspicions that she might be entertaining a lover. Fearing her husband’s jealousy, Fe grows even more scared as the fruits kept coming, a step closer to her front door. She keeps everything to herself until she turns to a former suitor, Arturo. When Fe urges Arturo to elope, she finds out that the young man has far more binding commitments with his family. Caught between an abusive husband and an impotent lover, Fe has to decide. Will she escape with her elusive suitor who could very well be just a figment of her imagination or stay trapped with the men in her real life who could never protect her nor make her happy? Caught in a society where violence still remains unimaginably real and covertly present, could the imagined be real enough for a woman to assure her survival?

*****

Mangatyanan

HIMALAYA “Laya” MARQUEZ has never had a complete dream since she was 12. Something always wakes her up at night. That something used to be her father, the famous photographer DANILO MARQUEZ, whose constant sexual abuse of Laya tore her family apart. Now, at 27, Laya possesses a cold exterior that hides torrents of pain. Working as a travel photographer, Laya is sent to Isabela to capture a rare harvest ritual called Mangatyanan by the Labwanan tribe. What Laya finds there, however, is a severely dwindled group held together by their desperate leader MANG RENATO. Soon Laya senses a strong connection between the tribe’s predicament and her own troubled life. Events spiral out of control as the Mangatyanan crumbles under Mang Renato’s desperate grip and Laya is forced to flee. But something happens that brings her face-to-face with her own demons. Will she finally confront her past or will she keep running?

*****

You can find the full schedule here.