Degradation of Filipino Cinema
When Love Begins... Unofficially Yours... A Very Special Love... No Other Woman... These are just some of the films that have rocked the Philippine cinemas. Surprisingly, these are all blockbusters.
You can just imagine my surprise that there are actually many Filipinos who cater to such films. That there are actually thousands of Filipinos waiting in line just to see these films. I may sound condescending, but are Filipinos getting dumber or less picky in their choice of films? I see nothing wrong in wanting to enjoy and just relax on a feel-good movie but should our cinematic standards devolve as well? Movie is art but it still depends on how it was made.
As an experiment, I watched No Other Woman as my colleagues raved about how "realistic" the film was. The film gave me nothing but an enormous amount of headache on the poor acting (Filipino actors tend to overact), lacklustre storyline and foul directing. I was literally bored out of my head and couldn't see any redeeming factor conveyed in this film (perhaps beside seeing Derek Ramsey's impeccably sculptured body!). I would recommend watching 'My Other Woman' by Maryo delos Reyes instead if you're into forbidden love affair type of films.
Films nowadays paled in comparison to the ones created by cinematic icons like Lino Brocka and Peque Gallaga. They lacked depth and creativity that has characterized most of our films in the old days. If you don't know what I'm talking about, go ahead and watch 'Insiang', 'Scorpio Nights' and 'Oro Plata Mata'. These are just some of the masterpieces hailed in our film-making history. Even the controversial 2000 film 'Live Show' lived up to my expectations as one of the most thought-provoking films I have ever watched.
My choice in films may seem high for the average Filipino standard. But why settle for anything less? I have yet to see one of our films that would again qualify to the grand standards of International Film Festivals as it did ages ago. If movie-makers would only stop considering earning money as the their driving force for creating a film and focus instead on art and realism, then we would probably have more worthwhile films to watch instead of the shallow trash that the masses enjoy watching so much. But again perhaps there has also been a decadence on the stream of talents with the people involved in film-making nowadays. Talent that could never be comparable to the bygone days of our proud cinematic giants in history.
You can just imagine my surprise that there are actually many Filipinos who cater to such films. That there are actually thousands of Filipinos waiting in line just to see these films. I may sound condescending, but are Filipinos getting dumber or less picky in their choice of films? I see nothing wrong in wanting to enjoy and just relax on a feel-good movie but should our cinematic standards devolve as well? Movie is art but it still depends on how it was made.
As an experiment, I watched No Other Woman as my colleagues raved about how "realistic" the film was. The film gave me nothing but an enormous amount of headache on the poor acting (Filipino actors tend to overact), lacklustre storyline and foul directing. I was literally bored out of my head and couldn't see any redeeming factor conveyed in this film (perhaps beside seeing Derek Ramsey's impeccably sculptured body!). I would recommend watching 'My Other Woman' by Maryo delos Reyes instead if you're into forbidden love affair type of films.
Films nowadays paled in comparison to the ones created by cinematic icons like Lino Brocka and Peque Gallaga. They lacked depth and creativity that has characterized most of our films in the old days. If you don't know what I'm talking about, go ahead and watch 'Insiang', 'Scorpio Nights' and 'Oro Plata Mata'. These are just some of the masterpieces hailed in our film-making history. Even the controversial 2000 film 'Live Show' lived up to my expectations as one of the most thought-provoking films I have ever watched.
My choice in films may seem high for the average Filipino standard. But why settle for anything less? I have yet to see one of our films that would again qualify to the grand standards of International Film Festivals as it did ages ago. If movie-makers would only stop considering earning money as the their driving force for creating a film and focus instead on art and realism, then we would probably have more worthwhile films to watch instead of the shallow trash that the masses enjoy watching so much. But again perhaps there has also been a decadence on the stream of talents with the people involved in film-making nowadays. Talent that could never be comparable to the bygone days of our proud cinematic giants in history.
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