Lawrence Fajardo's Posas - Social Commentary as First Rate Entertainment

It’s just another day in the life of Jestoni Biag (Nico Antonio), a petty cellphone thief operating in the backstreets of Quiapo and the contiguous areas. Jes is a devoted brother to a mother and a younger brother who are entirely dependent on his daily earning, dismissive of Jes’ means of finding his keep. Her mother keeps reminding him, “Magpapakabait ka, anak” as though it would suffice to keep Jes out of trouble. One day, he finds Grace Rosuello (Bangs Garcia) waving away her new iPhone. He easily snatches the gadget away from Grace, unaware that the call center agent has actually seen his face and could easily identify him from a line-up. Jes then peddles his loot to Musngi who buys them at a fraction of their original price.

Meanwhile, Grace is desperate to recover her phone for its “sentimental value”. Truth is, she has sex videos with a married man conveniently hidden in her phone. She has to claim the phone before her dilemma gets out of proportion – and no bureaucratic red tape is too tedious for the frantic girl. She seeks the help of SPO1 Santiago (Jake Macapagal) and PO1 Damian (Nor Domingo) who are receptive for the wrong reasons: “Ang laki ng dyoga.” Like a bizarre twist of fate, Grace spots Jes. A mad pursuit ensues until they finally collar the suspect who’s reiterative of his innocence. Jes is booked at the police station (Sta. Cruz Central Market station) where he meets Police Inspector Domingo (Art Acuna). They take Jes to a holding place where he is subjected to torture until all that’s left is his resolve to come out of the situation alive. Jes takes Inspector Domingo and his cohorts to Musngi. They recover Grace’s phone back. Jes is eventually released, but becomes part of a bigger web of criminal enterprise. From here on, he has to hand a percentage of his loot to Inspector Domingo as payback for the P100,000 bail that the precinct loses upon Jes' release. Was he truly scot-free? As a valedictory deed, there’s one more mission he had to accomplish; one that would pull him deeper into the iniquitous mire.

Director Lawrence Fajardo once again tackles a gritty tale that covers the repulsive bureaucracy that a willing complainant has to go through just to report a crime and pursue its rightful claim in the judicial system. It also spotlights the incongruous exercise of law enforcers where regulations are concerned to protect the right of any accused individual “until proven guilty”. This chasm of malfeasance is deftly depicted by Zig Dulay’s interminably succulent script. In fact the audience is roped into this long drawn out situation where, sometime in the narrative, you feel the need to come up for air. Rich with an atmosphere of fraudulency and corruption, the audience is given insight into a bureaucratic stigma that haunts the different arms of the government. It just leaves you cold. In fact, the closing scene shows a sign that underlines the raison d’etre of these institutions: “to prevent crime” and “to enforce the law”. But what have they become?

“Posas” (Shackled) is buoyed by a consistently competent ensemble. The actors have somehow embraced realism giving “Posas” a sense of urgency. In fact, it inspires neurosis. Who can you trust? How do you distinguish the good from the bad guys? These questions become exigent when viewing this film.

Nico Antonio has consistent characterization, sufficient enough to inspire empathy. He has a distracting affectation (the way he stares), but he’s a newbie. He will surely finetune his thespic skills with time. Bangs Garcia, on the other hand, has evolved into a compelling actress. When she’s on screen, you feel the energy emanating from her. To think I used to consider her a mediocre presence. How things have changed in two to three years. Susan Africa makes the most of her screen time. When she tries to convince the officers that “Mabait ang anak ko,” she was more than believable, only to change tunes when she finally saw Jes behind bars, “Walang hiya ka! Sinabi ko sa yong mag ingat ka!” She knew all along what kept her son busy.  

But the revelation in the movie is theater actor Art Acuna playing Inspector Domingo. With his lean frame, calm delivery and mild demeanor, he succeeds to impart a level of malignity and truculence without even raising his voice. He scared the bejesus out of me. He likewise imparts charm in savagery, which is antipodean at best.

“Amok” is still my favourite Lawrence Fajardo film, but “Posas” isn’t too far behind. It’s a good thing that a week after Cinemalaya closed the festival, “Posas” found its way into commercial theatres. In fact, people were able to see “Posas” for a mere P109 at most SM Cinemas. How’s that for inexpensive, albeit world-class film making? This is social commentary and applicatory entertainment. What more do you want in a film?

Nico Antonio as Jestoni Biag, the cellphone thief.

Bangs Garcia as Grace, the call center agent who loses her cellphone in Quiapo.

X-Deal - Bringing Class Back to Erotica

When Billy and Sara (Jon Hall and Paloma Esmeria, respectively) move into a new apartment unit in a high rise tenement, the couple meets Dana (Jamilla Obispo), a professional blogger (she has 5,000 daily hits) who moonlights assisting her drug-dealing mother. Billy is a slacker, a freelance lomographer whose family has migrated to the U.S. He bides his time sneaking around and watching films projected on his wall – and he waits for Sara’s arrival from work. Together, they enjoy a potpourri of sexual games and immersive role playing fantasies that have them copulating in showers, by the stairs, and elsewhere.

But something unsettles Sara. She’s aware of Billy’s cursory glances at Dana. He is fascinated by the disobliging beauty next door. One day, Billy fields his bulging crotch at Dana, but she rebuffs his advances. She chides with a rude confession, “I’m not attracted to you, but to your girlfriend.” Then she laughs and chastises him for his “green briefs”. That night, Billy starts persuading Sara to try a threesome. Sara’s unhappy, but acquiesces. Here’s where the “exchange deal” begins: Sara agrees to sleep with Dana. A week later, Dana would let Billy shag her. Not quite a threesome, but a fair deal for both Billy and Dana. But what does Sara get from such arrangement?

It’s been awhile since female-oriented erotica has graced the cinema. And I surprise myself by saying that it’s about time. I am tired of shoddy, artless film making skills from brain-challebged Pink Film makers with bubblegum production budget and the ugliest men to grace the celluloid. It’s time the fair sex reclaim their rightful place. With Lawrence Fajardo’s “X-Deal”, the promising director brings sophistication back to the genre.

Jamilla Obispo, with her over inflated mammary, is a study of contrast. Her doll-like face reminds one of a younger Desiree del Valle, replete with deceptive innocence. Obispo is mostly comfortable though her scenes with Paloma feel tentative and perfunctory. Paloma, on the other hand, makes for an effective seductress. We see her dolled up in various uniforms – saleslady, nurse, and even a blind woman in heat! And if for anything, these scenes are instructive for future reference. LOL. John Hall scorches the screen with his arrogant confidence. His physique is a sight to behold that when he flashes his backside, you end up looking the other way to avoid embarrassing yourself. Hall vacillates easily in his trilingual tongue. When he briskly shifts to his raw Visayan, we listen up – and it sends shivers down our spine. There’s something helplessly sexy in a multilingual muscular man with piercing gaze.

Yes, there’s a degree of sleaze and kink (try a candle scene with liquid wax poured down your breasts), but that’s why it’s R-18. It is meant as adult entertainment fraught with risky theme and graphic images. Despite this, the movie doesn’t feel gratuitous or exploitative; thanks to a dynamic story telling acumen that allows the film to bristle with tension and desire.

I have misgivings with its conclusion which is messy and cluttered. The side story involving Dana’s bizarre mother (she speaks as though she’s performing an incantation) is an awkward fit into the trio’s dilemma, thus this narrative strain feels like a slice of a different story altogether. But then, this allowed the story to move to its epilogue. Otherwise, I have a hunch the story would have stagnated.

Billy teases Dana.

Billy waits for his saleslady.

Some of the lines feel vulgar, but nonetheless humorous. When Billy asked Dana why he had to wait for a week for their concupiscent rendezvous, the latter quipped, “Pagpahingahin ko muna ang kepyas ko.” Turns out, an apple doesn't fall far from the tree. While Dana and her mother enjoy an intimate moment together, the latter declares, "Your father gave me the best fuck a girl could ever have." Would you have your dear mom with such filthy gob?

The film has an inordinate amount of sensual couplings. This is mammary heaven. In fact, the film kicks off with Hall flicking Paloma’s pert nipples in ambrosial close-up. In another scene, Paloma and Hall’s silhouette shows the brave woman devouring what would look like John Hall's gargantuan appendage, I blushed in spite of myself. The night Dana was to consummate her boundless attraction with Sara, we find both ladies sit beside each other while their fingers reach down each other’s crotch – on full view! Passion is never a gossamer ideation as depicted in carefully choreographed movements, scenes too far removed from the hackneyed drivel that populate the gay-oriented ouvres of say, Crisaldo Pablo, Monti Parungao or Lucas Mercado. Eroticism in the films of Pablo, Parungao, Mercado, et.al. takes the form of disrobing, nothing else. The element of seduction has all but vanished in the periphery of peekaboo mushroom heads. Imagination has been clipped and disabled. Creativity after all isn't acquired from experience. It is an inherent talent. You either have it or you don't.

Lawrence Fajardo’s “Amok”, pending commercial exhibition (outside a Film Festival), is a mind-numbing cinematic experience that had us absolutely engaged; a shoo-in for Blush’s Best as 2011 draws to a close. But it has to be served to a paying public venue with regular screening times to be truly worthy of our citation. And we are glad that “X-Deal” has attracted a good audience when we watched it at the Galleria. This theatrical success might pave the way for the eventual commercial release of “Amok”. We're holding our breath in anticipation.

Jamilla Obispo

Paloma

Jon Hall: eloquent in Visayan as he is with English.

Note:

Please read our featured post on Cinema Bravo and how bad writing can sometimes make you a critic:
- http://makemeblush2.blogspot.com/2016/10/cinema-bravo-film-criticisms-execrable.html