Black, white, and gray: Crime thrillers and corruption
Tony Leung and Andy Lau in Infernal Affairs
A friend who admires OTJ reminded me that the Filipino audience doesn’t go for crime thrillers. “Why not?” I asked. “Is it because crime thrillers have convoluted plots that require logical thought? The audience doesn’t want to be made to think? They don’t like that existentialist stuff?”
Brigitte Lin in Chungking Express
“Maybe it’s the ambiguity,” said another friend. “The audience wants everything clear, black and white, no open-ended questions, a final resolution. Crime thrillers are gray, they don’t furnish easy answers.”
A third friend had the most cynical explanation. “Pinoys don’t go for crime thrillers,” she said, “Because they require the viewer to differentiate between right and wrong.”
“No. It can’t be. You think?”
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
September 2nd, 2013 at 14:32
Maranaw cinematheque FTW! The great equalizer. Natandaan ko si manong tindero na memorize ang pelikula ni Kurosawa.
May linya si Leo Martinez sa OTJ na parang, “We did this to save the nation.” (Shades of Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men). Di ko na matandaan yung eksaktong mga salita. Ganyang-ganyan ang dinadahilan ng iba. Tutulong daw ang bayan kaya gumagawa ng kung ano-ano. Minsan di na siguro nila ma-distinguish na ang ginagawa nila ay mali. Parang, ok lang yan kasi nakakatulong naman sa mga mahihirap. Eh wala naman dapat mahirap kung walang anomalya. And I can hear Jack Nicholson telling Tom Cruise off again.
September 2nd, 2013 at 14:33
*tutulong kaya gumagawa ng kung ano-ano
September 2nd, 2013 at 15:13
It’s a product of 400+ years of “Us vs Them” mentality of Monotheism. For Monotheism is exclusionist by nature. Either your with us or against us; of God or of the Devil.
I think Filipinos prefer or may have been conditioned to this kind of setup; type of storytelling. Where heroic and villainous characters are boldly categorized. Yes I would have to agree to the third friend, that for most it would be disconcerting and quite a bothersome task to try to figure out which is which. For the Filipino psyche has been wallowing in the black&white absolutist dogma of the Church and the clergy has always been there to point out for you on how to think about things; which unfortunately I would assume may lead to neural degeneration and the infantilization of adults.
I believe its also correlated with corruption, for the clergy seemingly “forgives” corrupt actions with the mundane and approved apotropaics of the Church. E.g. “a holy mass in your home featuring a personal appearance/visit of the Black Nazarene”.
Also many are not familiar with the Zimbardo experiment, many may even deny it for it entails more disconcerting things; empathy and personal responsibility among other things.
September 2nd, 2013 at 15:45
“Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who’s gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg? I have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago, and you curse the Marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know. That Santiago’s death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don’t want the truth because deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post. Either way, I don’t give a damn what you think you are entitled to.” – Col. Jessup (Copied from IMDB)
Ang ganda ng pagkakasulat ng column. Isheshare ko iyon. Nakakafrustrate kasi, ilang kaibigan ang inaya ko manood ng OTJ, at ilang beses ko na sila inaya, ayaw nila dahil pelikulang Pinoy daw. Sabi ko, ibang klaseng pelikulang Pinoy ito, parang Infernal Affairs. Pero wala pa ring sumama. Gaaaarhhhh.
September 2nd, 2013 at 20:02
Oh wow, there’s my paradise-level wuxia goddess. That Brigitte Lin excels in the same eye-acting as Nora Aunor. However, Nora Aunor can’t fly, she cannot kill with needles or candle wax, and she cannot decimate a platoon of soldiers with her will alone.
September 2nd, 2013 at 23:59
I am curious to see the international version of OJT. Good movie.
September 3rd, 2013 at 00:09
Algernon: It’s the same, minus the sex scene and the Joey Marquez character’s family life.
September 3rd, 2013 at 00:40
What will happen if Eric Matti and Jerrold Tarog agree to collaborate? I have no idea but the suspense is killing me.
September 3rd, 2013 at 00:48
Gratuitous sex scene for the lulz. Somehow I just tried to justify it in my head with “after that frustrating chase scene, these emasculated men probably need some ego-massaging.”
On a serious note, napapaisip din ako minsan kung ano ang nararamdaman ng mga anak nila pag nalaman nila kung saan galing ang ipinang-tu-tuition sa fashion/law/boarding school, ang mga bakasyon sa Europe, atbp. Do they feel an Oedipus-like remorse or experience an Anakin-to-Darth Vader transformation? Hrrrmm.
September 3rd, 2013 at 01:13
Oh btw Christopher Doyle, Wong Kar-wai’s brilliant collaborator is in Manila shooting a Kavn dela Cruz movie starring Tadanobu Asano (daw). I will totally watch any film, even one directed by an insufferable enfant terrible if only to see those two work again! (Tremendously liked “Last Life in the Universe”. Hindi naman ako excited masyado. LOL.)
September 3rd, 2013 at 01:47
eponine: You remembered the v but forgot the h. It’s Khavn, ehponivne.
Uulitin na lang namin ang Ichi the Killer at hihintayin ang pangalawang Thor.
http://www.interaksyon.com/entertainment/interview-christopher-doyle-begins-pre-production-work-for-khavn-de-la-cruz-film/
September 3rd, 2013 at 01:55
Algernon: What an odd combination. One is nerdy, the other laddish.
September 3rd, 2013 at 07:23
“How is it even possible not to know the difference between right and wrong, especially in a country that prides itself on its religious belief?”
This struck me because I think this may be one of the root causes of this inability to differentiate right from wrong. Much of the religious system here has always been corrupt since Spanish times, and I think that if a number of our “moral guardians” are setting bad examples, then perhaps those who follow them will in turn be influenced.
September 3rd, 2013 at 11:17
allancarreon: For example, at the Erap impeachment trial. The bishops, having condemned jueteng, admitted to taking money from jueteng.