At first I wanted to wait for the movies to open on Black Saturday before I put out my five cents worth about the first Summer Metro Manila Film Festival.
Aba, may summer edition na pala? Yes, this has been planned years ago but the pandemic changed the tune of all the plans laid out for the next three years. So now that the movie houses have opened and Deleter proved to be a great success in last December's MMFF edition, the summer MMFF is finally pushing through.
Admittedly I was not so sure about the viability of this summer adventure. For one thing, only three out of the eight movies last December made a killing at the box office. The difference between the gross earnings of Deleter to the third placer was not only substantial but indicative of market behavior.
What affirmed my concerns was Mario Bautista's article on his own prospects of the summer festival.
https://www.showbizportal.net/2023/04/we-are-afraid-for-entries-in-summer.html?fbclid=IwAR3loilOndfRfhMEDr1FZG48IxVaHH3aEkBgfapYDTzFcfqbXvWm7BBPGDk
He was right on all points: the movie ticket at P300+ has made it unaffordable to that sector of the market who are the avid Filipino cinema enthusiasts. When the movie ticket is more than fifty per cent of the minimum wage required by the government to its workers, you know that moviehouses will run on empty ... not unless the film being shown is deemed as worthy of the expense or for a special occasion.
That has been illustrated in the past few weeks when Filipino films opening on non-event weeks earn a pathetic low on its first day of showing, not enough enough for the producers to recuperate for the expenses of the DCPs sent to cinemas for screening.
Then there is what Mario Bautista cited (which analysts of the industry have long bewailed): the rise of alternative forms of entertainment brought about by technology and hastened by the change of lifestyle during the pandemic. Streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney Plus, Viu and the various platforms of Viva have plucked away moviegoers from braving Manila traffic, paying what they feel is an exorbitant amount for tickets --- whereas they can get similar pleasure for one fourth the price and with less hassles.
This does not even include the addiction to YouTube, Tiktok, Facebook and Instagram Live which have become portable and accessible sources of short term entertainment. It is not even free TV or cable networks that have posed threats to the box office harvest of movie houses: it is the various social media platforms that have recalibrated all the equations of entertainment especially during the three years of the pandemic when people could not converge in confined public spaces.
Another important factor (which people tend to take for granted) is the diminishing power of the star system in our country especially brought about by the closure of the largest network by the government. When ABS-CBN ceased to be a multi-media company and downsized into becoming a content provider, one of its greatest assets --- its stars --- also lost a substantial amount of their clout.
Above the title stardom no longer guarantees box office patronage --- or not as much as it used to. Now the stars are the "sensations of the moment" personalities like the influencers, or the TikTok celebrities or anybody who knows to market himself or herself for the fifteen seconds of fame.
In the December MMFF, the biggest grosser did not feature a box office star. The movie that topped the box office was driven by its content and not by star power alone. One lesson learned from the most recent festival and should be a benchmark to producers is that if you depend on star power, it may not necessarily sustain its box office clout after a first surge of attendance. Word of mouth is now the most powerful form of marketing over and above the fact that your audience is those who can afford to buy the tickets and no longer the madlang people who used to go to movie houses in droves.
All these factors lead to the threats that face the Summer MMFF when a great number of those who can still afford to watch movies are either out of the country or out of town for the extraordinarily long weekend. And for those who chose to have staycations, it is a matter of convincing them to get out of their houses to go watch a Pinoy film.
"But they have been cooped up in their homes for so many days, baka naman they want to go out for a change?"
Hindi rin. Remember that people have gotten used to being cooped up for almost three years of their lives. Also take note that while people were relegated to the silence and laid-back atmosphere of the City during Holy Week, they were not exactly staring at the ceiling and counting sheep. They may have been watching The Glory on Netflix ... and for all you know, Partners in Crime and/or Love you With an Accent which they should have watched in the moviehouses last December but opted to turn these movies into Holy Week entertainment.
What is ironic is that after seeing all the eight entries of this year's Summer MIFF, the conclusion is clear: this is a far better batch than what we were offered last December.
No, this is not a repeat of the "art-oriented" menu served December of so many years ago. Instead, we have credible commercial films (and one art house work) that is simply well-made and for certain cases well-acted.
When more than half of the entries is worth your time and money, then you know that this is a good festival, perhaps one of the best for the past few years. It will be on the eve of tragic if people do not support these films because these are the kinds of Filipino movies we should be producing ... and hopefully showing to the world. These are the films that need the full support of the audience if they indeed still care about the future of our national cinema.
Again, this year --- there is only one big star in the line-up of finalists and he is appearing in a movie which is not within the expectations of the larger chunk of fans. Coco Martin's return to Brilliante Mendoza's ouvre in Apag is not exactly what his legions of fans is used to seeing. This is not even the kind of role you would find the star in his festival entries. Rather, Coco returns to his roots in this family drama about loyalty, redemption and Kapampangan cuisine.
But if there are four films worth noting as must sees or should be seen, then the following entries are worth your ticket and time:
(a) Love You Long Time: Directed by JP Habac stars Carlo Aquino and Eisel Serrano. If one expects yet another time travel movie, then the surprise comes in a well-thought out screenplay that plays with the trope of lost chances and forgiveness without crossing to the level of sappy or melodramatic. The novelty of the film is its approach to a tired narrative to give it a fresh insight into two lovers who meet in different timelines.
(b) Unravel : Directed by RC De los Reyes may look like it was sponsored by the Travel Commission of Switzerland because of its "touristy" coverage of one of the most beautiful countries in the world. But the outstanding and engaging performance of its lead stars, Gerald Anderson and Kylie Padilla, are more than enough reasons to watch this heartbreaking movie about love and life. Both Anderson and Padilla are such wonderful surprises in the way they tackled their roles that the movie is practically a rediscovery of these actors.
(c) Here Comes the Groom: Directed by Chris Martinez. Although less complicated than what is considered an iconic predecessor, this version of the fatal effects of an eclipse at a specific spot called Magnetic Hill in Tagaytay still elicits the right kind of laughs and guffaws. When the soul switching takes place between a van containing a homophobic padre de familia and his brood going to a wedding with another vehicle containing screaming drag queens on their way to a competition, the humor is built-in because it is both hysterical as well as intelligent. And this could have only been achieved by outstanding performances of Enchong Dee, Maris Racal, Kempee de Leon, Gladys Reyes and, of course, Eugene Domingo. But wait ... there's more! The biggest surprise here is Kaladkaren ...who when morphed into a male becomes completely unrecognizable. Panoorin nyo na lang, OK?
And finally ...
(d) About Us But not About Us: Directed by Jun Robles Lana. (Note to Direk Jun: I hate you!! How can you make a movie that has a running time of ninety minutes of two people talking and manage to maintain your audience to be at the edge of their seats?) Let me just say this: this is the best of Direk Jun Lana's works made possible by what I consider as my Wow Moment for the year so far --- the performances of Elijah Canlas and especially --- most especially --- Romnick Sarmenta. If Unravel is a rediscovery of Andersen and Padilla, About Us is my eureka moment for Sarmenta whose acting is flawless --- absolutely flawless --- going beyond the standards of Filipino craft because of its sheer sincerity and truth. Enough said: this, I believe, is the best Filipino film of 2023 --- and if there is any other work that can exceed this, then I shall say we are at the cusp of renaissance of sorts.
Have I said enough to convince the reader to please ... please go out and watch as many if not all of the Summer MMFF movies.
Kung hindi tayo ang maniniwala sa pelikulang gawa natin, sino pa? Kung uunahin natin ang paghuhusga kaysa sa pagpapanood, ano na ang tatahakin ng pelikulang Pilipino?
Give these movies a chance. You will be happy to find out that you were wrong with your hasty prejudgment.
