Hi, saw kakabanas post by sheer accident. You could have posted me anytime, I'd be glad to answer.
"Ganito Kami Noon, Paano ....
This was a bitter disappointment. I've heard so much about this film and when I saw it, I was shock to see how uncinematic it was--it looked like a telecine. Eddie Romero, as you can also see in Aguila, doesn't really have a filmmaker's eye. He's more a literate person, the script of the film easily being the best element there. It is one of the rare attempts by Filipino filmmakers to do winsome light comedy, and it has wonderful performances by Boyet as Kulas, Gloria Diaz as a deceptive seductress (tho you see similarities to between her and the Faye Dunaway character in Little Big Man), and a great comic turn from Leopoldo Salcedo--never thought he had it in him, he's so serious in his other roles. It's smart and sophisticated up to a point, but it's not really a film.
Minsa'y Isang Gamu-gamo
Was another disappointment. Lupita Kashiwahara (don't know if spelling's right) doesn't put much subtlety into her films (Babae was strident, but had a great performance from Nora Aunor), and doesn't put much subtlety into this one. It's a cry of anger and pain, but clumsily done. The scene where she greets her brother's body, seen today, was unintentionally funny to me, I'm sad to say.
Kapit sa Patalim
Or Bayan Ko. This is late Lino Brocka, and you only have to see the films from his great period in the '70s to see the difference. In films like Insiang, Tinimbang, and Maynila, he worked on so many levels--personal, social, theatrical; in his late films, he was mainly political. I could even tell you the turning point--when he took Jaguar to Cannes, and this film Yol, by Yilmaz Guney, got all the attention because the director was in jail. That was when he noted how political films travelled better internationally, and this film and Orapronobis are the result.
Mind you, I still do like them--they're superb agitprop, vivid and brilliant posters for the opposition. But they can't compare to his truly great works.
Himala
Came so very close--it's Bernal's most hallucinatory and surreal work, and prophetic, in that it evokes the lands around Pinatubo and the despair and religious fanaticism of the people living there. It just got edged out of the list.
Itanong Mo Sa Buwan
Didn't like it. Something about the complex plot, which was inventive and clever, didn't gell for me. Also the dialogue felt fake, which is surprising, considering Amando Lao's work for Jeffrey Jeturian and in Takaw Tukso is superb.
Aliw
This I like very much, but again got edged out. It is much better than his Working Girls. I also regret not including Relasyon, or Salawahan.
Bona
ditto.
Batch '81
I did like it, but someone familiar with frats told me where it fails to get the details right and that spoiled it for me somewhat. I still think it's a wonderful sustained piece of filmmaking, and full of energy (unlike his Sister STella L, which I felt lacked conviction).
And yes, I'm a fan of Mario O'Hara...which I think I can defend in so many words (a LOT of words).
