Ian Loreno's "Chinoy Mano Po 7" - The Inevitable Formula

We don't have a problem with the "Mano Po" anthology because it usually presents different and valid concerns associated with the Filipino-Chinese population in contemporary Philippine society. Theirs are stories we've always been fascinated with because they're a clannish lot that strictly adheres to colorful traditions we're interested spectators of. We even become players in their folktales sometimes.

STORY

Business tycoon Wilson Wong (Richard Yap) runs a tight and disciplined ship, both at work and in his household. He has rules and tradition that allow him to set and achieve goals - and he expects everyone around him to abide by these, including his children Wilson Jr. (Enchong Dee), Katkat (Janna Agoncillo) and Caroline (Janella Salvador). Unfortunately, rules are easier written and enumerated than followed. His children detest that he hardly has time to spend with them. Deborah (Jean Garcia), his subservient wife, feels lonely in a relationship that's more of a bootcamp than household.  

What seems like a progressive kingdom is actually an emotional prison full of weeping souls. Sonson (Dee) has his head in the clouds from booze and drugs. Carol tries to pursue cello playing (her father's choice) when her heart is in vocal performance. 

Devoted wife Debbie is running a jewelry shop and keeping the household together while Wilson Sr. is closing deals. 

It isn't a very contented and happy kingdom, to say the least, and the king is least aware of this. When a charming stranger Marco (Jake Cuenca) barges into Debbie's shop, the latter doesn't mind the attention that the strapping lad showers on her. But is Debbie carrying an affair? 

Director Ian Lorenos' "Chinoy Mano Po 7" is an engaging drama that tries to build up the characters of his cinematic canvas with circumscpect cerebration so we actually understand their back stories and motivations. Enchong Dee particularly sizzles from this forethought. In "Mano Po 7", Dee is the troubled son bearing enough ethos for the whole Wong family. He takes his situation and reacts, and we are a bit unsettled. He pulls off his party pooper scene adequately. In his moments with Jocelyn (Jessy Mendiola), they get to discuss the Chinese ways, i.e. the use of negative language to coax motivation or express affection, but does the "movement" really come from Confucius? I'd have thought that the philosopher was more circumscpect than to use negative psychology in motivating people. 

Kong Fu Tse (551 BC - 497 BC), the philosopher's non-Westernized name, built up his idea about the strength of the Chinese family. What is the proper attitude towards parents? His answer is short and straight forward: "Never disobey." In the 4th concept of Confucianism - filial piety (hsiao), a lot is written about family values: Parents are revered because they are the source of your life. It also says that you have to make your family name known and respected. But there is an unanswered question with regards to the hsiao: "What do you do if your values are different from your parents"? There's a general rule to live by: to "remain unsoured even though one's merits are unrecognized by others." (Analects) This gives authority to the philosopher's advice about never turning bad or selling out, no matter what. It is a rather universal concept, right? 

Jean Garcia turns in a well limned and sympathetic portrayal of a painfully subservient wife. At one point, she arrives into the conjugal bed and starts her romantic overture, only to be rebuffed and told that she had to "clean up first before stepping on the bed." Ouch. Did she smell? Even romance follows a set of decorum? Hmmm. I am almost sure that this isn't a universal practice among Chinoys. Wilson Sr. is a flawed individual altogether, a Shakespearean character that deserves to be extinguished from the face of the Earth. How can you admit loving the people around you when you're so insensitive to their needs? 

Meanwhile, in the midst of the melodrama, Janella Salvador is a breath of fresh air. Her presence lights up the screen, particularly when Marlo Mortel joins her scenes. Her side story involving Kian Cipriano's lecherous music teacher is a misplaced narrative strain. But didn't it merit a considerable reaction from Wilson? His daughter got sexually harassed, for Pete's sake. NR lang?

EXTRAMARITAL

I am somehow concerned about Garcia's "relationship" with volatile Jake Cuenca. Was that really harmless friendship? Though she swears that nothing transpired between them - "walang nangyari sa amin", her frequent meet ups with Marco were "extramarital" enough and disconcerting. A married woman, after all, shouldn't go on intimate car dates with a single man, debah? Unless she plans to do an Angelica Panganiban (and be an unmarried wife), that is.

The narrative convolutions in "Mano Po 7" are engaging enough, but it is nevertheless formulaic and unfortunately, predictable. There's gorgeous photography all over. Sound needs moderation because music is excessively played in some scenes. When louder than what human ears can take, music is nothing but noise. In one party scene, it was so loud it almost challenged the integrity of my tympanic membrane How can a very loud music help move a story, I wonder. 

Now, is this really the best of the anthology? Not really. For the most part, we feel it's an inferior version among the Mano Po tales. Film no. 7 is less ambitious. Heck, even its requisite travel scenes could only afford to take the cast to Taipei instead of mainland China. If its story telling is not "revolutionized" in the succeeding "episodes", this anthology will eventually lose its relevance. 

HAND IN GLOVE

But wait? How is Richard Yap in the film? While he fits the role like hand in glove, the actor conveniently subscribes to his go-to "laging galit" acting schtick. We've seen him in similar persona before, in other teleseryes and movies. Nothing changes much here. No revelations. Even when he turns conciliatory with his wife, I feel Yap's performance was one-note; no emotional variation to speak of. When he sheds a tear (while at the tomb of his stern father), it was screaming for a bit more vulnerability. Most people easily break down the barriers when they're on their own. But Yap was as stern as when he's with others. Is that consistency - or just limitation of capability? The good looking actor wasn't bad, but his performance was nothing to crow about either.  

Janella Salvador is Caroline.

Enchong Dee and Jessy Mendiola discuss Confucius and negative motivations.

Jean Garcia is in top form as the suffering wife Deborah Wong.

Taiwan, this time.

Down time and the music class of Janella, Marlo and Kian.

#manopo7   #chinoy   #richardyap   #janellasalvador   #jeangarcia   #enchongdee   #jakecuenca   #jessymendiola   #ianlorenos

Chito Rono's "The Trial" - Riveting Cinema

Ronald Jimenez (John Lloyd Cruz) is 27 going 13; mentally that is. But he is about to graduate seventh grade. Helping him catch up with school work is Bessy Buenaventura (Jessy Mendiola), his kind-hearted teacher and the school president’s niece.

Though Ronald is “developmentally delayed”, his functionality approaches “borderline normal”. Still slower than most, he is able to perform tasks and function like most people. In fact, he's a brilliant gardener in school where he works part-time in exchange of his admission. Back home, he lives with lesbian “father” Santi (Sylvia Sanchez) and cross-dressing “mother” Nando (Vince de Jesus), his biological parents. He is surrounded by the oddball horde who populates the comedy bar where his parents work.

Meanwhile, grief palpably percolates in the Bien household still reeling from the death of son Martin (Enrique Gil) who perished in a vehicular accident. It has been a year since but Amanda (Gretchen Barretto) is still wrapped in her own guilt and loss that she is unable to move on.

Hubby Julian (Richard Gomez) just wants to start anew so he wants their marriage annulled. To facilitate this, he has decided to sell their house, an idea that Amanda resists, “Ayokong makalimutan si Martin.” But a sensational rape case sweeps the Biens out of their own misery.

When a rape video involving Ronald and his teacher Bessy goes viral, Amanda gets asked by her friend Lallie Laperal (Vivian Velez) to help out. Amanda is, after all, Bessy’s godmother. Meanwhile, Santi and Nando pursue Julian to handle Ronald’s case. Unknown to the grieving couple, Ronald was Martin’s good friend when he was still hosting his Payatas feeding program. Ronald is even privy to some of the Bien’s internal dispute, not the least of which is Julian’s past infidelity.

To honor the memory of her son, Amanda convinces Julian to the take the case in exchange of her signing the annulment paper. Julian can only acquiesce. What happens to Bessy?  Did Ronald, who regularly watches porn videos borrowed from a friend, force himself on the only lady who’s shown him affection? Did he have violent streaks? The video (which shows Bessy parrying Ronalds’ advances) doesn't lie, does it? How can Bessy’s shouts (“Tama na, Ronald!”) be indicative of anything but rape?

As legal dramas go, Chito Rono's "The Trial" examines a world of flawed characters and dysfunctional families navigating a consciously litigious and supercilious society. It isn't easy to second guess its narrative trail. The story telling, from Enrico Santos and Kriz Gazmen’s script, is quite fluid. The build up towards the climax engages the viewer into one resolute viewing. As audience, you’re transfixed on your seat, with bated breath, while the plot gradually unravels into one suspenseful denouement.  Mainstream drama has never been this riveting.  

“The Trial”, inspired by a script originally written by Ricky Lee, is a pondering on intents and actions, of causes and effects, and how perception of truth is easily carved by man’s idea of what normal or abnormal is. In so many ways, our existence is defined by these scruples. Moreover, we’re made to scrutinize how some people face bereavement, palpably depicted in extreme contrast by Amanda and Julian’s behavior towards each other.

Grief is dealt with in different ways; some more destructive than others. The past, just like history, has its own relevance, as when Julian watches random videos of his family prior to the accident – quite wistfully gripping in its laidback demeanour. Looking back allows us to see how far we’ve strayed from our intended paths. I realize that there are situations far more devastating than the actual tragedy.

The movie romps away with superlative performances. Gretchen Barretto unexpectedly scintillates with devastating sincerity. In a role that’s conveniently a claptrap for overzealous sentimentality, Barretto is an enthralling study of thespic authority. You could feel her pain in every scene. When she finally runs after Ronald and remembers a similar incident involving her son, it becomes one of the most heart breaking scenes I've had to endure at the cinema this year. Suddenly you realize that it was Amanda’s moment of closure. If cinema were meant to move people like that, then you know it has served its purpose well.

Vince de Jesus, as gender-bending Nando, beautifully delivers a performance that shall define his acting career from here on. In fact, his scenes are high-wire acts, vacillating between comic and poignant (e.g. his valedictory scene with John Lloyd during their victory party). One of my favourite scenes involves Sylvia Sanchez as she recalls how Ronald was once bullied ("ang pula ng siopao"), ending up with blood on his forehead. This would be Sanchez’s most memorable, if uneven, turn as an actress. Unfortunately, her other scenes needed a bit of restraint because wrath or disappointment isn’t essentially realized by sheer auditory volume or nerve-popping histrionics. People don't always shout when hurt.

We’ve always thought of Jessy Mandiola as an adorable but bland pretty face. “Call Center Girl”, anyone? But not anymore. With this star turn, Mendiola is on her way to joining Star Cinema’s stellar league of A-list dramatic actresses (Bea Alonzo, Erich Gonzales, Angelica Panganiban, Iza Calzado, Maja Salvador) as she bowls us over with quiet power in "The Trial". 

Despite brevity of scenes (she is actually not seen in almost a third of the movie), her presence lingers in your head. 

There are several worth mentioning where she displays cinematic brilliance: her reaction after failing to answer a student’s question (about the difference between genetic drift and random mutation) while being observed by a CHED supervisor. Her deceptively “ordinary” scenes with her abusive boyfriend Benjamin Alves were likewise affecting. After all, what is there to fight for when someone you love has seen through your self-worth. Then there’s the scene when she tells Ronald, “Ikaw ang pinakamabait kong kaibigan sa buong mundo.” Mendiola, I suspect, is still evolving in her craft. Isn't that exciting for someone who’s a relative upstart in the business?

John Lloyd Cruz is a virtual force of nature. He inhabits Ronald Jimenez with fierce earnestness, it’s hard to presuppose his performance the way we can’t second guess persons with intellectual crutches. He is never predictable. Cruz, in attacking a character, combines intellect and intuition, and he’s quite consistent in it. His exquisite command of craft is evident in several scenes, like when he tells his teacher, “Ma’am Bessy, di ka naman okay, eh.” Or when he asks Gretchen how Martin’s younger brother isn’t Amanda’s son: "Paano nangyari yun?". Or when he realizes what Amanda’s asking, “Sikreto nga eh. Akala mo ha?” This list is long – and is thus proof of Cruz’s enviable commitment to his character.  

RESERVATION

We do have reservation about Vivian Velez’s character. She may have valid concerns, but she is compromised by a black-and-white characterization. “Punch line of the academic community?” Don't we just love hyperbole?

“The Trial” compels its viewers to sit back, if a tad uncomfortably, for an engaging narrative ride. It doesn’t allow passive spectatorship. You couldn’t help but dissect the motives presented by its characters – from Ronald to Bessy; from the grieving household of the Biens to the dysfunctional family of Santi and Nando Jimenez. You even find yourself examining Lallie Laperal’s motives – or her lawyer’s “too involved” attitude. With its mellifluous plot unraveling before your very eyes, you expect one perfect story, right? Or was it?

For the sake of discussion, allow me to nitpick. Bessy’s own intellectual inadequacy is so subtly suggested that we actually believe her predicament, i.e. that she’s also “slow”. Being that way, such individuals don’t briskly form conclusions or react with proficient problem-solving skill. In the scene where Ronald and Bessy engage in sex, when Bessy saw a phone filming their liaison, she immediately “concocts” a scenario that would make her look like the victim (thus her repeated cries, “Tama na, Ronald.”) This reaction seems incongruent to that of a slow mind. Lesser mortals would just scoot, skedaddle and hide, not engage in improvisational dramatics. Did she actually anticipate a litigious scenario to unravel as a result of their indiscretion? She isn’t all that slow, is she? 

In another scene where Julian discusses his strategy to save Ronald from imminent incarceration, Sylvia Sanchez’s undue wrath seemed too extreme – her vocal histrionics almost dug a hole in my tympanic membrane. After all, she was talking to an illustrious lawyer who’s had years of experience - and who had to be pursued to take the case. You’d think she’d be circumspect dealing with someone who agreed to help – instead she flew off the handle! Who cared if their family would look eccentric before the court? Eccentricity won’t send them to jail. Wasn’t their goal saving Ronald at all cost?  

THE SLAPPING LAWYER

Now let’s discuss my "favorite" part. Attorney Patricia Celis, portrayed by the usually brilliant Isay Alvarez, meets Amanda for the first time. The lawyer carries undue vitriol, regarding Amanda with absolute acrimony. She's haughty and morose. You would think that Atty. Celis has a personal stake on the case. You’d likewise mistake her as the aggrieved party. As counsellor, wasn’t she supposed to approach the case with sobriety and rational savvy? Which lawyer involves herself in a slapping incident with a would-be witness? Talk about misplaced theatrics. But then Alvarez is a luminary in Philippine theater. How very apropos.

As for the scene where Ronald finally takes the witness stand, was Bessy’s admission from the audience gallery even admissible in court? (She was asked if Ronald’s confessions were true.) Shouldn’t she take an oath first – that she’s telling the truth and nothing but – before anything she divulges would actually amount to much under the court of law? What’s the judge doing while this drama was happening? Cogitating on her morning bowel movement? Was she dozing off? You see, more credible admissions have been deemed inadmissible under the wrong platform. How different is this?

The film boasts of a hundred and one messages that make us think. That misunderstandings don’t exactly define a bad relationship. That a person could be worth our affection despite his inadequacies. And so on. This much is true – “The Trial” deserves to be seen by anyone who claims to love good movies.

John Lloyd Cruz

Jessy Mendiola

Benjamin Alvez joining his Tito Piolo in ABS-CBN?

Enrique Gil

Frasco Mortiz's The Reunion - Lost in the Music

Ten years after their high school graduation, Lloyd, Joax, Boggs and Patrick are still finding their place in the sun. Lloyd (Enchong Dee), a graphic artist, works at a print shop churning out calendars and pasting faces in glass mugs. Joax (Xian Lim) drives other people’s cars at a valet parking. Boggs (Enrique Gil) does the harrowing grind of a real estate stand selling nothing. Pat (Kean Cipriano), a musician, still pursues his dream of making it big in an industry that has so far ignored him. Stuck with their dead end jobs, the barkada finds themselves in a class reunion where, once again, their level of success is under scrutiny. This somehow takes them back to their momentous past: Lloyd was besotted with shy but receptive Ara (Cristine Reyes); Joax flirted with student council rival Toyang (Megan Young); Boggs succeeded to get fellow athlete Ligaya’s attention – and affection, as did Pat with Shirley's (Bangs Garcia)! One fateful day, Pat and his friends got unwittingly involved in a scandal (involving Alodia Gosiengfiao’s missing jewellery piece inside the girl’s car) that nipped these romantic couplings in the bud.

Back to present time, they believe that their setbacks are somehow rooted on that specific incident, like a trajectory that went awry. The solution: to reconnect with the girls from their past. So with the help of Ali (Jessy Mendiola) and Jay (Matt Evans), the guys set themselves up for a wild goose chase to find their Juliets. Unfortunately, Lloyd’s opportunity to find the girl is closing in fast. Ara (Cristine Reyes) is rumoured to be getting hitched. And no one seems to know where to find her. In the age of google and one-click search boxes, phone directories, Facebook and twitter accounts, finding Ara becomes a quest for the Holy Grail – and she couldn’t be found! Go figure. The same goes for Shirley who has moved up the fame ladder by becoming a popular FHM model. (Another head scratching moment! She's gone so famous that she couldn't be found? LOL) What about Toyang? Where the heck is Carmen San Diego, err... I mean Toyang? O, Diyos ko, ano ba naman ito? Will the boys be able to correct the misplotted dots and “rectify” their misdirected lives this time?  

Director Frasco Mortiz’s movie runs on a premise that’s too ridiculous to believe. In fact, connecting the dots should be the least of their worries as logical groundwork in the narrative leaves much to be desired. Sure, Mortiz buoys his story with unbridled energy, delightful music and testosterone charm, but it’s a hurdle going through something as ludicrous as getting flak for helping a girl find her lost jewellery inside a car. If this incident became a scandal then, didn’t it warrant an investigation? A single paragraph of explanation would have easily cleared the air, wouldn’t it? Didn’t anyone – Lloyd, Joax, Boggs, Patrick - even try to explain the situation to Ara, Shirley, Toyang and Ligaya? Everyone believed they were guilty of sexual indiscretion though they were all fully clothed inside a car that isn’t even tinted? How have they become such idiots?

The sprightly music of Ely Buendia’s Eraserheads is turned into discordant chapters that help bestow cinematic vim to an otherwise droll, sitcom-inspired, albeit middling story. What’s worse, there’s hardly chemistry among this filmic brotherhood. You don’t discern sincere camaraderie. Despite their emerging problems, you end up not caring. In fact, many of the characters are downright forgettable. I had to refer to my notes to check who Boggs was or if Pat had a girlfriend. When your protagonists don’t make a lasting impression, you know you’re in trouble.

Among the guys, Enchong Dee ends up with a more sympathetic character. His Lloyd was written as a geek and he succeeds depicting him in some ways, deflecting an occasionally noticeable "softness". But he should thank the luminous Jessy Mendiola resilient in a half-baked character named Ali who eternally tags along with Lloyd like a fag hag, i.e. if Lloyd was a fag (get it?) Something about Xian Lim disconcerts me. He has a perfidious veneer that seems detached from real emotions. He towers over everyone which must be why empathy is hard to come by. Either that – or he needs more teleserye experience to finetune his craft. His “singing” scenes should have imbued a little more compassion, but this moment flittered like a lovely, piquant butterfly on its way to rainbowland. Many other talents are wasted here: Julia Montes (who’s always competent); Bangs Garcia (who’s back to being a mere boob-girl); Gina Pareno (as Aling Nena, was inconsequential); Janus del Prado in a politically incorrect and insensitive role.

I am thus baffled why this was given a B rating by the retards and dimwits of the Cinema Evaluations Board (CEB). How can anything with such incongruent narrative strains deserve such “quality-indicative”, tax-evading rating? But then, I’ve long accepted the fact that these CEB evaluators either have self-serving motives or possess the brain of cockroaches. “Pak! Pak! My Doctor Quack” was rated B. Need I say more?

The E-heads surely deserve homage the way ABBA got their “Mamma Mia”. After all, their music helped define a generation. But pinning their musical legacy on a mediocre story, wrapped in frothy, buoyant energy is nothing short of a disservice. Some heads need to roll.  

In her drunken stupor, Aling Nena (Gina Pareno) offers an unsolicited advice: "connect the dots" which reminds me of a recent horror flick.

Ali (Jessy Mendiola) pines for her best friend.

Toyang and Joax flirt around.

Pat (Kean Cipriano) and Shirley (Bangs Garcia) give each other their hearts.

Enchong Dee

Xian Lim

Enrique Gil

Kean Cipriano

Jessy Mendiola