Goat World
A.O. Scott covering the Cannes filmfest in the New York Times: “Toward the end of Brillante Mendoza’s “Serbis,†the patrons of a dilapidated Manila adult-movie palace are surprised to discover that a goat has wandered in from the street, partly obstructing their view of the naked bodies on screen. The animal’s sudden appearance — which sets off one of several chaotic, hilarious chases in this rambunctious, noisy film — might be taken as a symbol. The cinema can be a place of fantasy and sometimes disreputable pleasure, but reality, as stubborn and hard to corral as that goat, has a way of intruding whether we like it or not. . .”
I’ve read a couple of awful reviews of Serbis, one calling it this year’s Brown Bunny, but the thing to remember is: they’re not ignoring it.
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May 20th, 2008 at 06:57
We’re getting ready to brave the super-hot or super-rainy weather to line up for screenings at the Seattle International Film Festival beginning this Friday. Too bad Serbis isn’t in the screening roster. I’m sure looking forward to viewing Tirador and Foster Child as twin features though.
May 26th, 2008 at 00:16
Quick update from the Seattle International Film Festival on the screening of Foster Child and Tirador which screened back-to-back yesterday.
First off, there really weren’t that many people that seemed interested in the films since there were so many vacant seats at the venue (The Harvard Exit Theater). I was pretty much the only person apart from the usher that was seated at the balcony area for both films. Everyone else was located on the main floor.
For Foster Child, the festival organizers acknowledged the presence of Cherry Pie Picache’s sister in attendance. I personally felt lukewarm for the it, partly because it may have served the film better as a whole to get more editing done to convey a stronger impact I know that it may have compromised the artistic vision of the director, but watching a kid cook a meal in real-time didn’t sit well with me.
I enjoyed Tirador a lot more by comparison. I think I liked it better because there was something happening for almost every minute of the film. I enjoyed the little moments like the comical event that happened after the confrontation at the DVD player dealers’ store. That last scene at the prayer rally was chilling in a sense that it grounds the fictitious events depicted earlier in stark reality…one that a growing number of Pinoys are living day-to-day.