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Entertainment => Film & TV Talk => Pinoy Entertainment => Topic started by: pinoymovies on Nov 28, 2003 at 02:57 PM
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An article regarding Mario O'Hara from Abante, Nov 27, 2003, Billy Balbastro's column. Posting it here for Noel Vera. :)
Nakaabot kay Direk Mario O’Hara ang comment ng isang premyadong scriptwriter at director tungkol sa kanya at sa current movie niyang Babae sa Breakwater.
Sabi raw ng katoto niyang ito: "I hope he makes it this time."
Napatawa si Mario sa komento na ito dahil ayon sa kanya, magkaiba ang standard nila of success.
"Hindi ako masyadong materyoso at simple lang ang buhay at pangangailangan ko dahil simple lang akong tao," sabi niya.
"Basta magawa ko ang pelikulang gusto ko at makatulong ako sa ilang mga tao na mga baguhan, masaya na ito. Sa aking standards, matagumpay na ako."
Malamang ang standards of success daw ng direktor na ito ay obviously material things -- pera, awards, mga bahay at lupa. To think na marami siyang pelikula last year na hindi kumita.
Oo nga, kahit tinambakan pa ng mga dating superstar.
Sa December 3 na ang playdate ng Babae sa Breakwater at ang premiere night ng debut film na ito ng Entertainment Warehouse ay sa Linggo, Nov. 30 sa SM Megamall.
Mga bida rito sina Katherine Luna at Kristofer King.
Nakausap namin si Arlene Aguas na prodyuser ng Entertainment Warehouse kasama ang mister niyang si Edgar.
Tila naniniwala rin siya sa pagtulong ng industriya at sa pag-tap ng international market para sa local films.Naniniwala siya sa quality films para pwede sa festivals at regular commercial run sa ibang bansa.
Ihinahanda ng husband niyang si Edgar ang "kicker" ng Babae.. para ilahok sana sa Berlin filmfest na gaganapin sa February. Kaya nagbabalak din sila na gawan ito ng subtitles na.
Take note na ang napanood naming print ng Homecoming ni Gil Portes ay may subtitles na. Ipinagawa ito ni Gil last October sa Amsterdam.
Nagbabalak din sina Mr. and Mrs. Aguas with Direk Mario O’Hara na gagawin nila ang updated version ng Noli Me Tangere ni Rizal.
Ayon kay Direk Mario, tila wala nang available print ang Noli Me Tangere ni Gerry de Leon na ginawa for the Rizal Centennial noong 1961. Hindi na ito napapanood ng mga kabataan at estudyante natin.
Kaya excited sila with this project. Dapat ba silang humingi ng permiso sa National Historical Commission o National Commission and the Arts, tanong ni Mario. After all, Rizal novel ang gagawin nila.
Gaya ng inaasahan, si Katherine Luna ay gaganap ng Maria Clara sa binabalak nilang Noli.
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An updated version of Noli? That sounds like great news!!!
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That's great. But his heart is with Sisa, I think.
Thanks for the update, PM.
"Malamang ang standards of success daw ng direktor na ito ay obviously material things -- pera, awards, mga bahay at lupa. To think na marami siyang pelikula last year na hindi kumita.
Oo nga, kahit tinambakan pa ng mga dating superstar."
Who's Billy referring to, I wonder?
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Here's that article again, cleaned up.
Try cutting out the "smart quotes." You can turn em off in MS Word.
Mario O'Hara: A passion that refuses to die
By Maridol Rañoa-Bismark
The Philippine Star 11/29/2003
Mario O'Hara has always been an artist. He's the type of person for whom the craft has no price tag. Dangle a big, fat sum before him, and you think he'll lunge at it the way ordinary mortals would?
Think again. Here is a man who turned down 12 movie offers to reprise his role as a call boy in Lino Brocka's groundbreaking Tubog sa Ginto.
"The choice was between being true to my craft or prostituting myself. I felt accepting the offers will mean repeating my role. So I turned them all down," O'Hara explains.
Had he taken the path of least resistance, O'Hara knew he would have fallen into the typecasting trap, never to escape from it throughout his professional career. True, it could have given him a nice, big house in the city, but O'Hara did not budge.
His craft is more important than anything money can buy.
Today, years after he chose his craft over the lure of material things, O'Hara's reputation as an actor's director is intact.
Decades of working with the likes of Lolita Rodriguez, Eddie Garcia and Jay Ilagan (Tubog sa Ginto), Christopher de Leon (Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang) and Nora Aunor (Condemned), among others, have given O'Hara a knack for spotting talent when he sees one.
"A good actor must have an open heart. He must have no walls, no inhibitions," he begins.
This, he immediately saw in Katherine Luna, a newcomer cast as the title role in Babae sa Breakwater. Katherine may be untried and untested, but that does not mean she cannot give acting a try.
"I knew I found my lead actress after talking to Katherine during the auditions," the director says. True enough, Katherine's easy smile reminds you of that Close-up ad where the model instantly attracts a horde of admirers when she flashes those pearly whites.
"I want to work with actors who have not developed any habits yet," O'Hara explains his choice of Katherine and her leading man, Kristofer King.
The acting newcomer sings hallelujahs for his director.
"Direk Mario knows how to mine your deepest emotions to convey a message. This way, he brings forth emotions you never thought you can express," says Kristofer.
The admiration is mutual. O'Hara is the first to reveal he doesn't work with just any actor. Aside from an open heart, his performers must have two other qualities: sensitivity and intelligence.
These, he says, are what his co-actors, like Lolita, Nora, Christopher, Jay, and lately, Matet de Leon, have, in good measure.
Breakwater is a case in point. The movie's selling point is not star appeal but something much deeper. It's the director's ability to motivate his actors to give a sterling performance.
He singles out one scene he is especially proud of: "The old Filipino song O, Ilaw, plays in the background. It's a mellow ditty, soothing to the ears (yes, its slow, rhythmic strains can even lull you to sleep). But the visuals are anything but comforting. They are violent. It's what Katherine's character, as a little girl sees. It jars her so much life is never the same for her since."
That's what happens when you're raised in radio like O'Hara. A radio talent since 12, the former chemistry student of Adamson University knew background music inside out. Many were the days and nights when he cooked up all sorts of images to go with music he fancied on radio.
O'Hara played and replayed scenes in his fertile imagination. The movies in his mind were many, laden with messages and angst.
His favorite is Condemned, starring Nora Aunor and Gloria Romero in the 1980s. It was in a class of its own, not only because of its cast, but because of the ideas that it brought forth.
While shooting the film, O'Hara saw people sleeping by the Manila Bay breakwaters. A lightbulb flashed in his mind. The place is a microcosm of the world; its ups and downs, and the colorful people who inhabit it. It could be the setting for a story throbbing with human pathos. So why not come up with a movie about the lives of people there?
Thus was the idea for Babae sa Breakwater born. O'Hara wrote the story about a man who leaves his hometown in Leyte during the heyday of armed vigilante conflicts after he (O'Hara) bumped into Arlene Aguas, a first-time producer who owns Entertainment Warehouse Inc.
O'Hara is confident his film will earn, thus proving his producer right in taking a risk in filmmaking at a time the industry is at an all-time low.
"It's a musical tapestry of people," O'Hara proudly describes Breakwater. A film critic once compared it to Brocka's Maynila, sa Kuko ng Liwanag – its stark realism staring at you in the eye.
O'Hara says, however, that his film, unlike Maynila, ends on a hopeful note. How it does this is something for the moviegoer to see.
The award-winning scriptwriter (1978 Metro Filmfest for Rubia Servios) has another surprise up his sleeve. He wants to do a modern remake of Jose Rizal's Noli Me Tangere no less. He has also considered doing the classic Without Seeing the Dawn.
Thank goodness the trendsetting Mario O'Hara has not quelled that passion for his craft inside him. At a time when the industry needs all the help it can get, such devotion to films that command power and bolt-upright-attention is nothing short of heaven-sent.
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Here's an article I found on Pinoyexchange (why didn't anyone here find it first?)
Highly recommended to cineastes
Entertainment Warehouse Inc.'s "Babae sa Breakwater" is Mario O'Hara's best work since "Fatima Buen Story." Marketed as a "bold" movie (with nudity, sex scenes, and some emotional and physical violence), it is in fact a serious, unflinching, and unsentimental look at love, survival, and loss in an unlikely setting. The characters, led by Paquita (Katherine Luna, a total newcomer) and Basilio (Christopher King, another acting tyro), are Manila's wretched and damned folk who live on the fringes of society-figuratively and literally. They are squatters who live in the border of the city's now spruced-up, lighted Roxas Blvd. and the world-famous Manila Bay, two lovely tourist spots linked by hidden makeshift dwellings precariously lining the rocky "breakwater." The two principal characters are weak and powerless, lovers in an ugly dog-eat-dog world; the director and writer looks at them with affection and understanding. These poor people exist dangerously between land and water, aground where they are menaced by thugs, and ashore where they sink and drown in polluted waters. Here they are-the proletariat and lumpenproles Felliniesque in shape, appearance, and grotesquerie, and in carnival-like merriment or rueful terror. There is integrity in the choice of actors; the leads and extras look their parts, play them well. It isn't a cheerful movie, but the constant, periodic use of Yoyoy Villame singing ditties and dividing "chapters" is brilliant-the Greek chorus as musical and comic relief. Jesse Lucas' score is the reverse of Villame's star turns-subdued and threatening. I wish more local films would be this daring, this innovative, this exemplary. - Mario A. Hernando
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Mga Babae sa Breakwater, I have to say, is a wonderful, well-directed film little film. A little heavy and a bit depressing at one point, funny in another. The acting was excellent all around, most specially for the lead actress and the veterans. It really goes to show that, at times, it is better to go for unknown actors than big name stars. (I wonder who among our current crop of stars will be willing to take a dip and swim in the Manila Bay amongst the garbage?) And the music of Yoyoy Villame fit in perfectly, and would come in just the right time.
The story, as a whole, was well written although there some parts I couldn't understand. And the ending I found to be a tad too improbable. ( But I liked the closing credits!)
This is truly one of the better Filipino films made recently.
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One vote in! ;D
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Hehehe! Someone here is smilling ear to ear ;D
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Looks like Noel has a personal stake in this movie. ;)
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All movies are personal to me. They affect me in mind, heart, and lower.
I'm acting no different, in either love or hate. No half measures, man.
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Mario O'hara is really too heavy for me. Review will be posted later today or tomorrow. He still has the power to intertwine your left and right brains and leave the theatre asking 'Oh Gahd! I didn't get some of the scenes.' I am still processing a lot of the images from O'hara's new opus.
But I liked it. It is another masterpiece from the underrated uberkampfmeister of Pinoy cinema. He is the Fellini of the Philippines. Katherine Luna and Kristofer King are big revelations of the film. Yoyoy Villame is funny. Give him the award for Best Original music. Bring a friend who knows Bisaya since all of the songs used are in that dialect. He used a device which employs music between chapters with Yoyoy Villame rendering the songs.
On the lighter side, why would Mike Figgis do a Hollywood crap like Cold Creek Manor?
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panoorin, dahil, uh, asteeg. 8) ::)
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23 cinemas after 3 days. this must be a record for mario o'hara. check out these cinemas today guys :
SM (Bacoor, Sta. Mesa,Southmall, Fairview,Megamall, Tutuban, Manila)
Masagana Cinema (pasay)
Star Mall (mandaluyong)
Metroplis (alabang)
Liana's (alabang)
Alimall
Berma
Isetann Recto
The Market Place
Dilson
Robinsons ( Galleria, Metro East, Novaliches, Malabon, Imus, Coronet, Nova Mall
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So are there, uh VCDs out on the streets?
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Another article on Babae sa Breakwater. From Malaya Online, Mario Bautista column:
BABAE SA BREAKWATER
Lovers of serious films will enjoy Director Mario O'Hara's new opus, "Babae sa Breakwater." Sold as a bold flick with its numerous sex scenes involving nudity and perversion, the film is actually an ill-fated love story involving two outcasts: a prostitute named Paquita (Katherina Luna) and a provinciano from Leyte, Basilio (Kristofer King), who meet each other as homeless people living in Manila Bay's seawall. They try to survive amidst very harsh surroundings, that include a disabled former cop (Gardo Versoza) who now rules their turf like a kingpin.
The film emphasizes from the start that 41% of our people live below the poverty line and the citizens shown here are the veritable dregs of society and scums of the earth: loonies like taong graza, vagrants, snatchers, beggars who survive a cruel environment through sheer guts. The film is sometimes difficult to watch because most of them have open soars and ugly skin diseases that can make you cringe. So be sure not to eat while watching this.
The presentation is very stylized, with O'Hara often resorting to surrealism (its peopled by grotesque, Felliniesque characters), theatricality (there's a scene where the homeless people put on various masks and costumes and dance while fireworks explode in the sky as they go on with their merrymaking) and magic realism (Basilio can talk directly to the sea by submerging himself into its waters) to forward the narrative.
Yoyoy Villame and his loud and annoying songs, plus many other local folk songs are used as some kind of Greek chorus that underlines what happens in the story. In contrast, the musical score of Jesse Lucas is properly muted and serene.
The daring cinematic techniques do not work all the time, and we're sure viewers who look for more conventional entertainment fare will be alienated. There are also some unexplained holes in the script, but much of it is effective and imaginative which thinking viewers will find quite challenging and stimulating.
O'Hara got total newcomers to play the lead roles but he does succeed in getting very credible performances from them, including all the other supporting players (Lucita Soriano, Rez, Cortez, Dick Israel, Dante Balois, Winston Morales) who look their part and delineate them quite well. This is certainly not a feel-good movie as it shows us the dark, sordid side of life in the big city where the jetsam and flotsam of society's lumpen proletariat are reflected in the ugly garbage that pollute the waters of the bay.
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That's great, pinoy. You watching the film? Tell me what you think...
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So are there, uh VCDs out on the streets?
meron na...
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Foocha...Ayala Avenue? Quiapo?
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just saw the film...
and i liked it because it steers away from the typical Filipino movie. While it's still saturated with melodrama and bad editing which is very evident from all other Filipino movies, it is rich with magic realism, surreal images and novelle filmmaking technique such as the use of Yoyoy Villame as chapter stops. Although I liked the film, it is still filled with flaws that prevented me to love it... the film is rich but it is also very lacking... It's hard to explain why I never fully enjoyed the movie (well, its not really an enjoyable experience seeing poverty in its lowest) but it's just lacking... still very recommended though.
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Theaters and showtimes (http://www.clickthecity.com/movie/movie.asp?movid=8342)
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(posted this on another forum)
Finally saw Babae sa Breakwater.
I think it's the best Filipino film in the past two--maybe three years.
I don't understand what's being said about "bad editing." O'Hara's editing here is imaginative, coherent, precise. Editing is the Achilles' Heel of Filipino filmmakers, only a handful show any kind of skill at it (I don't mean them per se, but the editing style is consistent from film to film): Gerry de Leon, Celso Ad. Castillo, Tikoy Aguiluz, Mike de Leon, and Mario O'Hara.
I agree it's very rich. If it lacks, uh, what's that, something, it probably lacks production value--the very thing Star Cinema and Viva Film productions have, and the very thing that matters least in a work of art. Production value is NOTHING--not when you have ideas, imagination, and genuine filmmaking skill at work.
As for production design--well, there isn't much. It's mainly locations, well chosen, I think. that show the huge difference between the kind of seamless, hygenic, lifeless postmodern architecture favored for tourist-infested areas (like along Manila Bay) and the dirty, lively creatures that infest their foundations.
Wonderful, lyrical film, goes beyond what Brocka started. I'll say more when I can later.
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got to catch it coz there was nothing interesting to watch... turns out to be one of those "socially relevant, the philippines is so damn poor" films again... walked out halfway thru the film
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got to catch it coz there was nothing interesting to watch... turns out to be one of those "socially relevant, the philippines is so d**n poor" films again... walked out halfway thru the film
Oh, sorry you felt that way... but I personally feel that its more than that.
Anyone here got to read the Pugad Baboy strip on Babae sa Breakwater?
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got to catch it coz there was nothing interesting to watch... turns out to be one of those "socially relevant, the philippines is so d**n poor" films again... walked out halfway thru the film
This observation is quite unfair. This movie is certainly not another one of those "socially relevant, the philippines is so darn poor" films, this movie actually turns the world upside down. While Star Cinema churns out movies that present middle class/upper class Filipinos experiencing their first romances and family troubles, O'hara dares to present the lowest of the lows with such vibrant personalities and exuberant colors. You sometimes pity the ordinary Filipinos for leading boring mundane lives while the residents of Breakwater dance half-naked, pee unmindingly, listening to the songs of Yoyoy Villame and experiencing miracles day after day after day.
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I've mentioned this before, but O'Hara works from what's real, what's out there. He and Brocka take the Philippines as it is and presents it on film, honestly and directly...the difference between him and Brocka is that he uses a little more imagination, a little more fantasy, but always fantasy grounded in what these people are capable of (to them it won't be fantasy, it'd just be part of their lives). Check out Vittorio de Sica's Miracle in Milan, for one of the few other films in this genre.
He's head and shoulders above someone like, say, Wong Kar Wei, whose gassy beauty isn't connected to anything or anywhere, and whose onanistic self-indulgence (he doesn't even want to bother with a script) gets the applause of wannabe cool film enthusiasts everywhere. That's a case of Emperor's Clothes, if any. O'Hara actually has something to say, and the beauty and poetry in his films serves his themes. Wong Kar Wei's nothing but so-called beauty and poetry, and it gets tiresome after the first two or three films you see. I like a little more meat with my palabok.
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Babae sa Breakwater (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/noelmoviereviews/message/411)
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Great review there, Noel! I agree with your observations. :) But to call it the best Filipino film of the past two or three years... ::)
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Two years. I wouldn't put it above Batang West Side.
What better films you got in mind?
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I wanted to see it when I was there but I missed it. I'll wait for the DVD/VCD.
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BREAKWATER WINS YCC BEST PICTURE (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/noelmoviereviews/message/415)
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Homecoming and Malikmata as nominees? ??? Where's Magnifico? Bridal Shower?
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Well, Bridal maybe because it didn't finish its run in 2003 isn't included (did it? Finish its run in 2003, I mean?). I read something in the release about that.
Magnifico, I don't know. Maybe they have a bug up their ass about Maryo J.
Tho to be honest, I much prefer Breakwater to Magnifico.
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Well, Bridal maybe because it didn't finish its run in 2003 isn't included (did it? Finish its run in 2003, I mean?). I read something in the release about that.
Magnifico, I don't know. Maybe they have a bug up their ass about Maryo J.
Tho to be honest, I much prefer Breakwater to Magnifico.
Babae is my top contender this year. Next is Magnifico and then Bridal Shower. Homecoming and Malikmata? Oh..probably Reyes and Portes has friends with the academe.
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Babae is my top contender this year.
Word.
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Homecoming and Malikmata... best picture nominees? Ho hum... One of the judges there is Patrick Flores and he has a grudge against Bridal Shower, Crying Ladies and other movies and adores Malikmata like it was the second coming of Christ. He also thinks Homecoming is a gift of the Philippines to the internation art film market. I think the group is overly biased towards Joey Reyes' works. I do agree with the choice of Babae sa Breakwater taking the win, but if its co-nominees are these piles of crap, I think there's something wrong with the whole award-giving body. It's either these folks have chronic cataracts or they're just plain lack a sense of taste.
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Sequel ba ito ng Babae sa bubungang Lata?
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Homecoming and Malikmata as nominees? ??? Where's Magnifico? Bridal Shower?
Don't cry your heart out. Ipapalabas naman ulit yung Magnifico.
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Sequel ba ito ng Babae sa bubungang Lata?
Nope.
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Fore me this is the best picture of the year. And it isn't even nominated in the Star Awards for Movie. They probably thought its another run of the mill bold flick.
The other remarkable Filipino films last year in my list include:
Magnifico
Bridal Shower
Crying Ladies
Ang Huling Birhen sa Lupa
By the way, has anybody seen this Robin Padilla film directed by Jon Red? I saw it in the papers being shown in the Pelikula at Lipunan held in Iloilo.
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ASTIGmatism.
I haven't seen it.
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Noel, do you think that it was a bad idea for the producers to promote Babae as a sexy filck? I personally feel that the strategy backfired and ultimately failed. which is really sad. Such a wonderful movie and no one--ok, maybe there was a few-- bothered to see it as they thought it was bold.
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It made the second week, the producers claim they made their money back.
And I've gotten word that it's just been invited to the Director's Fortnight in Cannes. The French Embassy just informed the DGPI.
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It made the second week, the producers claim they made their money back.
And I've gotten word that it's just been invited to the Director's Fortnight in Cannes. The French Embassy just informed the DGPI.
pero wala siya sa list..paki-check ulit
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pero wala siya sa list..paki-check ulit
here's the list:
36th Quinzaine des Réalisateurs / DIRECTOR'S FORTNIGHT
13-23 May 2004 CANNES (parallel competition)
COMPETITION :
À vot' bon coeur (Vecchiali PAUL - France - 1h33 - 2004) World premiere
Ano Tonneru (Manda KUNITOSHI - Japan - 1h11 - 2004) World premiere
Babae sa Breakwater (O'Hara MARIO - Philippins - 2h04 - 2003) International premiere
Cha no aji (Katsuhito ISHII - Japon - 2h23 - 2003) World premiere
En attendant le déluge (Odoul DAMIEN - France - 1h20 - 2004) World premiere
Gavkhouni (Afkhami BEHROUZ - Iran - 1h30 - 2004) World premiere
Je suis un assassin (Vincent THOMAS - France - 1h50 -2004) World premiere
Khab é Talkh (Amiryoussefi MOHSEN - Iran - 1h27 - 2004) World premiere
L'Odore del sangue (Martone MARIO - France/Italy - 1h40 - 2004) International premiere
La Blessure (Klotz NICOLAS - France/Belgium - 2h45 - 2003) World premiere
Los Muertos (Alonso LISANDRO - Argentina - 1h18 - 2004) International premiere
Maarek Hob (Arbid DANIELLE - France/Belgium/Lebanon - 1h30 - 2004) World premiere
Machuca (Wood ANDRES - Chile/Spain/France - 2h00 - 2004) World premiere
Mean Creek (Estes JACOB AARON - USA - 1h27 - 2003) International premiere
Mur (Bitton SIMONE - France - 1h39 - 2004) World premiere
Oh, Uomo (Gianikian et Ricci Lucchi YERVANT ET ANGELA - Italy - 1h10 - 2004) World premiere
Tarnation (Caouette JONATHAN - USA - 1h28 - 2004) International premiere
The Heart is Deceitful... Above All Things (Asia ARGENTO - USA - 1h32 - 2004) World premiere
The Woodsman (Kassell NICOLE - USA - 1h27 - 2003) International premiere
Vénus et Fleur (Mouret EMMANUEL - France - 1h20 - 2003) World premiere
Website:
http://www.quinzaine-realisateurs.com/index2.php?T=qz04
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thanks!
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How did they hear about it Noel? Through you?
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I don't know...I like to think my article in Cahiers du Cinema had something to do about it; that came out in April. Ferdie Lapuz says it's largely thanks to me, but he helped promote the film, not me.
But it probably started earlier, back when Philip Cheah staged a retrospective in the 2000 Singapore film festival, and with Demons going to Cahier's Autumn Film Fest, and winning the NETPAC award in New Delhi. Plus Tony Rayns loves O'Hara's work, and shows them in Vancouver. Word gets around.
I hope it does creditably. I love Breakwater, but I think Woman on a Tin Roof and Demons are far better films, actually.
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Wow, it's great to know that Mario O' Hara is now slowly but surely making his presence felt internationally. The man's long been underrated, certainly.
Noel, does this invitation to the Director's Fortnight in Cannes means it will be a cinch for Mario's forthcoming works to get into the official selection and compete for awards? Do you have an inkling what's his next project after BABAE SA BREAKWATER? I hope he can get funding for HOCLOBAN, and get this movie for competition at Cannes.
Sana, sana...
Myke
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It will be easier to enter the other categories, yes. Brocka went to the Fortnight twice that I know of, one Out of Competition screening (Orapronobis), and that's about it, I think.
Far as I know, no Filipino film has made it to the Competition. But heck, no Filipino film has gone to Cannes in fifteen years, so just this far is already an accomplishment.
Max Tessier does agree with me--Demons, or Woman on a Tin Roof would have been more impressive.
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All this talk about Babae sa Breakwater and its inclusion in the Cannes' Director Fortnight as well as the very positive reviews the movie garnered since last year made me want to watch this movie. Is this available on DVD (hopefully with subtitles?) or in any other format? More importantly is it still showing in Manila?
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Grouch, email me. I might be able to help you.
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It will be easier to enter the other categories, yes. Brocka went to the Fortnight twice that I know of, one Out of Competition screening (Orapronobis), and that's about it, I think.
Far as I know, no Filipino film has made it to the Competition. But heck, no Filipino film has gone to Cannes in fifteen years, so just this far is already an accomplishment.
Max Tessier does agree with me--Demons, or Woman on a Tin Roof would have been more impressive.
Raymond Red won a Palme d'Ore for Anino.
Brocka's Jaguar was in competition (1980) and so as Bayan Ko (1984).
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I stand corrected (imdb lang pala!).
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According to Pierre Rissent, Babae might not have the same impact as Insiang .
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No, Breakwater is not as good a film as Insiang--but then, not many films are, I'd say.
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Hindi sya gaanong kumita dito pero sa International Film Fest napansin sya!?!
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It was on the news last night. Katherine Luna bagged the Best Actress award for Babae sa Breakwater in the Festival of Asian Cinema held in India.
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Cool.
Who won best picture in that local award ceremony--what's that called--the fam-us or something? ;D
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Here's what I gathered from a friend:
Breakwater went to the Brussels International Film Festival (the famous one), the Tokyo Film Festival, the London Film Festival, Vancouver Film Festival and Pusan Film Festival. Also Vladivostok in Russia and Hamburg in Germany. More invites forthcoming.
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'Let's give the best actress to the worst film of the festival.' - one jury member said.
I won't tell you who said this but it's so dyahe to hear that comment from a kick-ass film director. But Tikoy, Oliver Pere (of Cannes' Director's Fornight)and Mohsen Makmalbaf fought for Katherine. That's why she won.
All members of the Makmalbaf family were present in New Delhi last week.
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'Let's give the best actress to the worst film of the festival.' - one jury member said.
I won't tell you who said this but it's so dyahe to hear that comment from a kick-ass film director. But Tikoy, Oliver Pere (of Cannes' Director's Fornight)and Mohsen Makmalbaf fought for Katherine. That's why she won.
All members of the Makmalbaf family were present in New Delhi last week.
Yung bold star na nanalo ng Best Actress, susunod sa yapak nila Aleck Bovick at Ann Capri.
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'Let's give the best actress to the worst film of the festival.' - one jury member said.
I won't tell you who said this but it's so dyahe to hear that comment from a kick-ass film director. But Tikoy, Oliver Pere (of Cannes' Director's Fornight)and Mohsen Makmalbaf fought for Katherine. That's why she won.
All members of the Makmalbaf family were present in New Delhi last week.
If you're referring to CineManila 2004 (obvious ba, you included Tikoy kasi), then that kiss-ass director must be Eddie Romero!! ;D
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no!! it's the Osian Cinefan in India
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Fore me this is the best picture of the year. And it isn't even nominated in the Star Awards for Movie. They probably thought its another run of the mill bold flick.
The other remarkable Filipino films last year in my list include:
Magnifico
Bridal Shower
Crying Ladies
Ang Huling Birhen sa Lupa
By the way, has anybody seen this Robin Padilla film directed by Jon Red? I saw it in the papers being shown in the Pelikula at Lipunan held in Iloilo.
Bridal Shower was a funny and witty movie. Crying Ladies was a good one also. But, Magnifico? Jeez, what on oevrblown piece of tripe. And Ang.. What is it again? I forget. Anyway, the only gripe I had with Magnifico is that it's too overmelodramatic (melodrama na nga, nasobrahan pa). I don't think I can ever take it too seriously.
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Oh, Magnifico's okay. What it does lack for me is the kind of imagination that can make a film fly, not just walk (something that Breakwater, with all its 'production flaws,' has).
Huling Birhen is an interesting variation on Himala; my problem is the cast (Ara Mina can't act to save her life) and direction are both hysterical.
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Mario O'Hara's Woman of the Breakwater goes to Vancouver:
http://journals.aol.com/noelbotevera/MyJournal/entries/553
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BABAE SA BREAKWATER IN SENSES OF CINEMA (http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/noelmoviereviews/message/482)
The Special Section includes an article by our very own commentary.
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Is there a VCD or DVD of "Breakwater" yet?
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Belated news--broke early March, but got around to posting it only now:
MARIO O'HARA MADE UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES LIKHAAN WRITING FELLOW FOR DRAMA (http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/noelmoviereviews/message/490)
EMBARGO DATE: 16 February 2005 REFERENCE:
Likhaan: 922-1830
UP ICW PANAYAM : LECTURE ON DRAMA
PANAYAM: The UP ICW Lecture Series on Literature of LIKHAAN: The UP Institute of Creative Writing (UP ICW) resumes with the fellowship lecture of Mario O’Hara – the 2003-04 ICW National Fellow for Drama – on 4 March, Friday, 1-4 p.m., at the CAL AVR, Bulwagang Rizal, UP Diliman, Quezon City.
Mr. O’Hara is a prizewinning actor, director, playwright & scriptwriter; the compleat package. His directorial jobs encompass a wide variety of genres, e.g. , Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos, Bakit Bughaw ang Kulay ng Langit, Condemned, Bulaklak ng City Jail, Babae sa Bubungang Lata, Sisa and Pangarap ng Puso.
He received, among others, the following awards: 1978 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), Best Screenplay, for Rubia Servios; 1984 MMFF, Best Director, for Bulaklak ng City Jail; 1986 MMFF, Best Director, Halimaw sa Banga; 1998 Urian Best Director, for Fatima Buen Story; 1998 Centennial Literary Awards, Grand Prize (zarzuela), for Palasyo ni Valentin, which was staged by the UP Playwrights’ Theater, under the direction of Tony Mabesa, during its 1999-2000 season. It was published by the UP Press in 2003.
UP ICW Adviser Professor Emeritus Bienvenido Lumbera will be the emcee-moderator, while UP Film Institute Director Dr. Roland Tolentino, the critic/reactor. On the other hand, UP ICW Director Vim Nadera, Jr. will deliver the welcome remarks, while Prof. Arthur Casanova of the Brent International School at Biñan,Laguna will introduce O’ Hara.
The public is invited.
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The movie's finally out on VCD! (275 locally, $11.99 online). It's about time cuz' im probably the only Yoyoy fan who hasn't seen it. :)
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Woman of the Breakwater and other Filipino films available on Netflix / DVD (http://journals.aol.com/noelbotevera/MyJournal/entries/992)
Brokeback Mountain permanent link (http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/noelmoviereviews/message/559)
CRITIC AFTER DARK: A REVIEW OF PHILIPPINE CINEMA now available at Fully Booked, Powerplant Mall; CCP Bookstore; Datelines Bookstore, Cubao; and Booktopia, Libis, QC (http://www.bigomagazine.com/theshop/books/NVcritic.html)