…Of the Manila Film Festival. By government fiat, foreign films are banned from theaters during the holiday season to accommodate 5-7 lame-ass local movies. Unlike other film fests that are supposed to showcase and celebrate the art of film, the MMFF boils down to nothing more than a matter of commercial survival for our largely mishappen film industry. Faced with stiff competition from Hollywood all year round, besieged by copyright infringement and dwindling state subsidies, the local film industry badly needs the holiday flush to gorge itself on cash while it can. They give audiences (families raring to spend for the holodays) a close-market menu and then pat themselves in the back calling the fest a success.
It’s a workaround that won’t hide the fact that in an age of higher expectations, local films are no longer responsive to their audience. Don’t like my theory? Let’s run Return of the King along with Captain Barbell and Fantastic Man then let’s see who bites the dust on opening weekend. If local films are at least still responsive to audiences, then our producers should be willing to take that 100 million peso bet. No? I didn’t think so.
You will notice that I limited the comparison to the fantasy/action genre. That is because pinoy fantasy/action movies are a joke. This is where Hollywood and raised expectations are likely to make a serious dent. For example: We have pretty okay CG for Fantastic Man, but I can see the matte lines, for crying out loud, and we can’t quite pull off the 3D-POV thing they had in Spiderman. That takes time and discipline and discipline and expertise. And, I would guess. a non-trivial amount of money (Though not always—decent CG movies can be done through off-the-shelf components). Hollywood action and fantasy is also a hit because cultural nuances are usually a secondary requirement to appreciation. A swarm of sentinels. A host of horcs. A fiery car chase—no cultural subtleties required. They are universal “whoas!”
Which brings us to the possible exception to the downward trend, and perhaps, a ray of hope. Note that the biggest critical and box-office local hits of the year were either dramas, comedies, or “dramedies”. That’s where cultural nunces still work, That’s where the local film industry can still connect at a deeper level with its audience. That’s also where new blood is coming out of the woodwork: exciting new writers and directors that can make me care. There lies the beating, bleeding heart of Filipino cinema that can be critically acclaimed AND commercially viable.
It’s not in the testosterone-adled whack fests with underwhelming car explosions (we need less of those from both Hollywood and the local industry). Nor is it in Alamat ng Lawin-type ripoffs that are just sad. Think of how other national cinemas (Europe/China/Hongkong) held their own against the Hollywood onslaught and evolved a globally-competitive film industry. Not through an escalating game of Blowing Things Up (or Who Gets to Have More Debauchery—though you can find that it Europe too :P), but through a unique, sharpened look at the human condition. I for one am willing to have more of that.
Bollocks!
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