There was an extraordinary amount of preparation given to the MetroManila Film Festival this year. Not only because the 2023 edition was most successful with its top grosser Rewind earning more than a billion worldwide, but significant movies like Firefly and Gomburza were not only critical but commercial successes.
But the 2024 edition is exceptionally special. This is the 50th year of the All-Filipino Christmas Film Festival and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is determined to make this event as memorable as possible. Even during the launch held at the Manila City Hall, the MMDA already emphasized that the curation of this year's films must represent the best of the best that Filipino cinema can offer. And, in fairness, in terms of diversity of choices and genres, the promise was more or less fulfilled.
If one measures this year's curation by star power alone, then the Golden MMFF is the one to beat. Never did one festival gather names like Vic Sotto, Vice Ganda, Vilma Santos, Aga Muhlach, Tirso Cruz III, Piolo Pascual, Judy Ann Santos, Lorna Tolentino, Eugene Domingo and Dennis Trillo in its roster of entries. This only signifies the premium given by local producersa to this year's festival most especially after the jackpot turnout for Rewind which promises the possibility of raking in a billion.
And in all fairness, the selection of the movies cuts across all the genres that are palatable to the local audiences.
There are some suprises that required courage on the part of the industry icons: What? Vice Ganda doing a dramatic role as a returning OFW with a promise of a very different ending far from what his fans have seen for the past so many years? What? Vic Sotto sheds off his Enteng Kabisote costume to don that of a Lakan, the highest official in The Kingdom complete with full military entourage and prancing and dancing babaylan? To see is to believe.
Did somebody actually have the courage and nobility of spirit to bring to the screen the musical rendition of National Artist Ishmael Bernal's classic Himala written by another Pambansang Alagad ng Sining Ricky Lee with music by Vincent de Jesus? The musical was a hit onstage when it was performed to capacity crowds but would the same theater going audience flock to cinemas this Christmas to watch an all theater cast led by the luminous Aicelle Santos in the role immortalized by yet another National Artist Nora Aunor? Sige nga. Let us see where this goes. Let us see if that thousands of pesos ticket-paying theater audience will invest four hundred bucks to see the movie version of this iconic musical directed by Gomburza's Pepe Diokno.
Green Bones is a story of morality, of moral compass --- of who we believe is good or who we easily judge as evil. It is a tale so well personified by Dennis Trillo and his posse of fellow inmates who indicate the goodness in every man, despite the sins they have committed against society. The story is much deeper than what it seems if one is willing to address the questions being raised: what makes true goodness in a person? Now that is something worth thinking about and watching.
Then there are two kinds of horror movies.
Of course horror is a most patok genre each MMFF: people love to be terrified while singing Silent Night and calling this engagement a barkada movie. No one wants to watch a horror movie alone which is why you have both Judy Ann Santos and Lorna Tolentino with the comeback of one of the best character actresses around, Chanda Romero, in Chito Rono's slow burn Espantaho. Remember, this is from the director who brought you Feng Shui and Ang Mga Kaibigan ni Mama Susan. In other words, with Santos and Tolentino and Romero thrown into the pot, you can figure out that this is not cheap thrills.
Then there is Strange Frequencies which is a local adaptation of a Korean movie about a bunch of influencer ghosthunters led by Enrique Gil as himself. This troop of millennials are out for some fun and games ... and harvesting more followers for their livestream leading to you-know-what. This is Blair Witch Project Redux with actors playing themselves in a world gone completely meta.
The romance movies must be there from Regal and Viva. My Future You stars a charming love team of kids whose chemistry onscreen goes over and beyond the marketing of studios. Francine Diaz and Seth Fedelin are not exactly fresh faces but gleam with such charm and empathy in a rather familiar trope of a movie with interesting twists to make the narrative look new. This promises to be the dark horse in this dog-eat-dog battle of movies if only due to the fact that it is the sole G-Rated movie in the entire menu.
Viva sets its entry somewhere in Japan where a confused and confusing Carlo Aquino meets an equally confused and confusing Julia Barretto in what turned out to be a confused and confusing romance set against fields of yellow blooms and hazy Japanese winter skies. Whew! That says it all. It is a story about forgiveness ... to let go of the past but more so to be kinder to one's self by moving on.
Then there is Richard Somes with his trademark action movie Topakk which already had a screening at the Cannes Film Festival Market. True to Somes' brand of action, it is all about keeping you at the edge of your seat with non-stop tension and a fair share of blood to make you think that this feature was co-sponsored by the Philippine Red Cross. Arjo Atayde takes his role seriously --- and I mean seriously --- to wrestle through the action scenes with utmost conviction.
Uninvited could have a local title called Ang Mama ni Angela Markado.
If you talk production value, then ask no further. This Vilma Santos-Aga Muhlach-Nadine Lustre starrer reverberates of real life events in the past ... of a man in power having virgin like coeds kidnapped, raped and killed by his henchmen. The movie covers an entire party where all the guests look like they belong to that kind of party ... and where everyone spoke in eloquent La Salle and Ateneo English. And to think at the heart of all this is a revenge movie where the grief and anger of a mother make her do near-impossible feats.
It will be such a waste to miss out this year's festival if one has this pre-conceived notion that Filipino movies do not deserve even a single day of their holidays.
This is one MetroManila Filmfest where commercialism is not a shameless display of reductive or even pandering movies meant to cater to the most superficial level of human intelligence. Instead, some of these movies are well thought-out, all are well produced but most of all, the ten films want to bring back the audiences to the moviehouses where their narratives can be savored properly as a community experience --- as a celebration of Christmas.
Kaya sige na. Nood na tayo. Puwede?
