SPOT THE DIFFERENCE
We've seen one face of the industry - now it's time to look at the other reality of Philippine cinema, with a report from the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival.
SI TECHIE, SI TEKNOBOY, AT SI JUANA B
Of this year’s crop of full-length features at the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival (one of only two festivals that give grants to independent filmmakers in this part of the world), two titles stand out for their differences: SI TECHIE, SI TEKNOBOY, AT SI JUANA B (Techie, Technoboy, and Juana B) by first-time director Art Katipunan, and SAMPAGUITA, NATIONAL FLOWER by Francis Pasion, the same director of JAY, shown two years ago in the same festival where it was awarded Best Film.
Both films tackle varying issues — the former delves on how modern technology has affected interpersonal relationships among ordinary Filipinos; the latter on the lives of flower vendors on the street. Both adopt contrasting tones and styles: SI TECHIE is pure comedy told in a conventional narrative; SAMPAGUITA is in-your-face drama presented in fused narrative-docu filmmaking.
The disparity between the two is relevance: Katipunan's work looks well-intended and sincerely made, but is ravaged by atrocious acting by its leads, along with unnatural and overwritten dialogue. It spends more time on visual gimmicks and less on actual storytelling.
There's one sequence in the middle of the film where the character Techie, who seems to care for her gadgets more than her own boyfriend, caresses her laptop silently, as if making love to it. It's presented with great composition, lighting, and sound — imagery that progresses the plot and develops our affection for the character. The scene lasts for less than ten seconds. (If you do decide to give the film a shot, stay for the ultra-spirited and well-written closing credits featuring social anarchist/local performance artist Juana Change — you'll find it more interesting and original than the film itself.)
SI TECHIE dares to take on virtual reality, a concept boasting of infinite, fast-changing ideas, but it fails to offer any new perspective in the context of contemporary living.
On the other hand we have the Jury Prize winner SAMPAGUITA, which is inspired filmmaking right from the first frames. It moves quietly, taking its sweet time, as it tells the genuinely painful, at times hilarious, stories of actual kids who sell the flowers sampaguita in the cruel, big city. There are many scenes where words aren't uttered, but the audience is left engrossed, because Pasion has tasked actions, character expressions, and Neil Daza's slick camerawork to move the film forward.
At the film's conclusion, you realize this is a film with no new point of view — everything it shows we know already, but SAMPAGUITA should be complimented for going beyond entertaining; for educating local viewers in understanding that films don't have to be uproarious to tell a story worth our time.
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