First movie review: Sarong Banggi (One night)

This is my first movie review (as seen in the title above). I hope I will nail this one:D

Well, I’m not really a fan of watching Pinoy movies because I look at it as cheesy and dull. I guess 80% of these films are created for television with fancy love teams and predictable premises just to satisfy the fix of the mass. It happened that I saw this movie from a pile of DVD’s my aunt has sent from abroad (I didn’t know that there are retailers of filipino movies outside the country). This may be the first and the last movie of its kind that will be featured in this blog (except for deserving independent tagalog films). haha

 Lahat ng tao ay may kwento.Naglalakad na kwento. (Everyone has a story. Stories that walk)

The story is about a narrated night of a middle aged masseuse (Jacklyn Jose) and how it changed her life.  The first few takes reveal a group of adolescent boys driving their way to the lighted streets of beachwalk to celebrate the birthday of one of their friends (Angelo Ilagan) and transform him from boyhood to a fully grown man.  The movie progresses as it discloses the twisted fate of the two characters.

In conclusion, The movie has poignantly moved me. However, the first thing that I didn’t like is the slow pacing of the story. I even forwarded some scenes. You know the feeling of watching a movie and there are scenes that you want to scrape out from it or take a nap instead. The second thing that I noticed is the poor acting skills of some casts except for Jacklyn Jose who proved that she is a versatile and timeless actress despite her age. The plot, which is similar to the Oedipus tragedy, is uncanny and interesting. Nevertheless, the ending is a bit of disturbing.

Personal rating-6.5/10