Sa Ilalim ng Cogon - Rico Maria Ilarde
Sam (Yul Servo), an ex-soldier who finds himself in jail for vagrancy is hired, along with his jail cellmate Pepito (Raul Morit), by ganglord Johnny-B (Dido dela Paz) to steal laundered money from a tiles factory. Pepito reneges and gets killed by Sam in self defense. Sam, with a bagful of loot and without any means of transfortation, walks his way to a mysterious house wherein he meets a beautiful girl Katia (Julia Clarete), who hides a hideous secret. Rico Maria Ilarde directed Ang Babaeng Putik which I found to be a flawed yet interesting horror film. Sa Ilalim ng Cogon (Beneath the Cogon) bears Ilarde's signature style and unfortunately his obvious weaknesses. Undaunted by limited funding, Ilarde focuses on what he has which is a talented eye, a guided sense for atmosphere, and a Roger Corman-like ability to stretch a budget to cater his monstrous designs. Ilarde's story here, I think, is straightforward and somewhat predictable. He could've saved this story for his portion in the upcoming Shake, Rattle, and Roll installment as the plot doesn't seem to be fit for a feature length film. The promise is plentiful yet the outcome is far less satisfying. What it lacks in plot twists, is complemented by some quirky directorial decisions. He manages to infuse a few stylish quirks that furthers the material from something unfortunately generic into an enjoyable mishmash of everything. There's a brash thug who engages Sam in a brief yet adequately directed fight scene. Then, there's Ilarde's brilliant touch (the only thing that I thought gave the film a much needed humanity) - a romantic urge between Sam and the mysterious Katia that ends the film in a blurry yet ultimately salvaging note. A friend of mine thought the romance between Sam and Katia was inadequate as the characterizations were insuffient. I also thought the characterizations were insufficient but I concluded that the romantic sidestory is adequately laid - a girl who has never seen a guy for a big part of her life, and a guy who seeks his wife who has left him - a match made in heaven, I thought. Anyway, Sa Ilalim ng Cogon is a mixed bag - it has too much of everything yet too little to make an entirely brilliant film. ***/*****
