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I don't do ftlm And who isrevieun. Builhavesetmyself to he task
of critbizing
smashes which lfeelto be flar,rled in thehessence. Hence the
reason for this.Although I havent seen either of them, orbelieve I
ever will, my prognostics won,tbe based on their artistic oreven
technicalqualities, but rather some inherenilystructural defects
that render them inept.1, Llgaya. First up is that
muchballyhooed-about movie featuringRosanna Roces as a town
hooker,prcduced by the ox-MTRCB ChairpersonSiguion-Reina with her
son as director,
The supposed story line of themovle goes like this: tom
hookerdoes thetovrn; fiis to change her profession;
facesinsurmountabb societal oppoaition in theprocess; fails in the
end; remains a whorcbr the rest of her life. What I don't agreewith
is the premise: that hookers can'tchange their standing if they
wanl to, 0nthe contrary whores normally have rtodifficulty settling
down to a quiet life whenthey do so desire.
ln fact, successftrl whores domake enough in the span of their
shortcareers in order to do so quite combrkbly.
two currently popular box office hey tell? The reason he
cinemato know of theirbnneroccupation anyway, unlessrcrfts is that
it is set in a smallruraltown.True, such a context nould create
baniensto social reintegration, but then again wtratis hee to stop
Ligaya fiom rnoving? Therais even no such thing as society frrese
days(quote liom M. Thatcher). What kind ofsocietal pressures are
there to contendwih?
The aspirations of the pelikulawere quite noble. There you can,t
fiult itsmakers. To make a statement is evencommendable given the
state of the localfilm industry. Horvever, I do feel that
thewritens arc a bit late. The time for socialpalism was at the
beginning of this centurynot the end. They may harre wanted to doa
Rizal and minor society, but as I said,what society is there to
speak of/
I'm even gathering that the pRdepartment is trying to convert
thecontroversy sunounding Ligaya into analtegoi2ation of the
Filipina or somethingto that efiect. PUH-lease! lt makes mehink
whether or not the MTCRB peopleuore given payola in order to coms
upwith an x-rating in order to crcate ffre hypenecessary for the
crorryds to be dmwn in.
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Whilc I'mgreat acting, this is Rosanna's first credibbrole. And
as I hear the technical aspect ofthe film measures up to
internationalstandards, I still maintain that in this rcgad,Ligaya
is fundamentally in en Oh yes, itmight receive criticalacclaim,
maybe bag afew awards here and abroad (the last ditchappearance of
exoticism). Nevertheless,the need to expose these
irreconcilablesituafpns exists.
In the end, Ligaya helpspreserve the very Victorian notions
itseemingly seeks to debunct. And for thisreason, Rosanna Roces, I
can kiss yourtits good bye!2. Romeo and Juliet. The secondfeature
of this review is that adaptation ofWilliam Shakespeare's Romeo and
Julietfor a contemporary audience. I forget thenames of the c*t, ib
diredorild producer,
All I know is that the only way toappreciate Shakespeare is to
not removehis rlorks ftom he o(Jinal contexts theywere written. To
respect, in other words,the historical specificity of the work. To
doothenvise, to say for instance, we want toshow how contemponary
his themes !'Jere,to depict hb tragedies c hey vrould appeartoday,
is to defame the man's stafure anddisregard his intentions. This is
why youdon't find Jesus of Nazarctr set in Bmoklyn,with Jesus
rummaging through a trash canafter a rave saying, 'thou shalt not
party onacid alone,'
Romeo and Juliet was set in theiinal days of European budal
society. Oneof Snakeqeare's intentbns was to depictthe mntrafttions
brcught about by such ademise. Wi$urt fr6e necessary ebmenb,the
bagedy does not work. To strip thestory of them by seting the play
in SouthCenhal L.A. or sornething of the sort rvould
There would be nothing to differentiate itfrom any other of
Hollywood's mushyfilrns...Ya might as ucll be watching
EndbssLove.
lf anyone wishes to read afurtherdiscussion of these issue, s/he
canlook up Georg Lukacs, The Historir:al Novelor Kate Hamburger's
The Logic ofLiter4ure under the chapter on Cinema. Iwould certainly
not wish for anyone toconclude that these arguments are myown.
Finally, I r,uould never expect myreaders to agree with me,
especially if theyhave been infected with that pioneer-yeoman
notion of Federalist Americawhere everything is possible. 'No
oneshould dictate what you can and cannotdo," lf it is
entertainment you want, then Isay go see them, I hate arguing at
anyrate. lt's so tiresome having to deal withour lack of
intellectual tradition. . .- Cqndido Apokolyps
