Kinatay, kinatay (or, Butchered, butchered)
‘Here is a film that forces me to apologize to Vincent Gallo for calling “The Brown Bunny” the worst film in the history of the Cannes Film Festival.’
Roger Ebert reviews Brillante Mendoza’s Kinatay. Even more interesting than the review is the comments section in which Filipino readers are fighting amongst themselves. We Pinoys do have a knack for having our squabbles in the most public venues.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
May 20th, 2009 at 01:47
nasa just made katay to hubble telescope on tuesday. sniff, sniff.
May 20th, 2009 at 07:31
Found the Ebert review at the Cannes website the other day.
I’m not a big fan of the orgy of wretchedness Mendoza loves glorifying. I am sure his next project will again capitalize on shock value (I hope he won’t let his characters eat shit, Salo already did that) at the expense of soul and story.
Perhaps Independencia should have been in competition and Kinatay for Un Certain Regard.
About pinoys squabbling in the most public of venues- words fail me.
May 20th, 2009 at 09:49
I just read through all the comments. This is enough entertainment for now.
What can I say? We love reacting to derogatory jokes by Hollywood celebrities. One joke of a senator just declared that a doctor involved in an unbelievably hilarious “Careless Whisper” video should not be allowed to practice medicine. The sexy actress in the said video claims to be violated by the video, and seeks help and support from the women’s rights group. And they give it.
I hate the news. :|
May 20th, 2009 at 20:45
Not as embarassing as a certain senator threatening violence if ever Alec Baldwin comes here in the Philippines over what he said on Letterman.
May 20th, 2009 at 22:51
We have become too onion-skinned, that any remark at all that refers to our labor exports, women, and Manila’s filthy sidewalks is a cause for crying foul. But back to Ebert’s review, his negative reaction to ‘Kinatay’ piqued my interest and made me want to see the film, if only perhaps for the shock value and a possible material for a film review.
May 21st, 2009 at 01:31
I was kind of disappointed that this picture didn’t make it to this year’s Seattle International Film Fest lineup. In fact, there’s only one long-form motion picture from The Philippines this year. That would be Aureas Solito’s Boy. The problem I have with the film fest is that the program directors out here don’t know what they’re missing out on the explosion of Pinoy indie films that have more diverse subject matter than just gays or prostitution or poor people’s misery.
May 21st, 2009 at 11:01
No amount of hullabaloo over Mendoza’s Kinatay can ever eclipse Von Trier’s Antichrist over at Cannes this year. Go google Antichrist out and see if you won’t cross your legs! Cannes I think is heavy on gore this year with their line-up. Makes me want to see the Von Trier though.
May 22nd, 2009 at 01:29
Mabuti pa ang entry pa ng Korea, co-production with Universal (the Hollywood outfit) pa!
Don’t you think our film industry should actually benefit from international co-productions?
May 22nd, 2009 at 19:38
i’ve made a badge designed specifically for self-righteous superpatriot like these:
http://mcoy.blogspot.com/2009/05/u-thought-police.html
May 25th, 2009 at 03:50
Surprise!
Brillante Mendoza wins the Cannes Palm D’or for Best Director. I don’t think this will make a “Kinatay” fan out of me but I am still happy for Mendoza and for Philippine Cinema.
May 25th, 2009 at 08:40
Well done, Cannes. You gave best director for Mendoza. We can expect more ‘idea’ movies in the future, and more grants for movies like this that only the ‘art’ crowd appreciates.
May 25th, 2009 at 21:57
I love Ebert. He never fails to give an intelligent reason for hating a movie. He never liked movies with gratuitous torture in it (I don’t want to say “torture porn”). He doesn’t get it, and he never will. But calling this movie worse than “The Brown Bunny”? Being a big fan of his, I had followed the controversy surrounding him and Gallo from start to finish (he finally gave the movie a 3 out of 4 star rating after seeing it in Chicago when Gallo cut around 30 minutes from its original screening at Cannes). It was a happy ending for both of them, and I seriously doubt that Ebert’s opinion of “Kinatay” will change after Mendoza’s win. I’m not proud because Mendoza won. I’m proud because film critics such as Ebert have expressed interest over a Filipino film that is so unpopular among them and have provided readers around the world this type of discussion.
May 29th, 2009 at 05:26
i have not seen kinatay, but the interest it has generated is entertaining…once again filipinos are on the rampage making this a patriot’s war, defending our nation’s integrity, trying to sway ebert’s views, thinking that reviews on an art form is an attack on the nation…that the philippines is not poverty-prostitute-mail-order-bride ridden…god forbid he get a whiff of the kho-halili extravaganza that has exploded in our country—tell manang to hide the tin and plastic plates, put out the crystal and china….just give him a charice pempengco cd and remind him of manny paqcuiao, maybe he’ll forget it all —a lot of filipinos did…not to be a traitor to my own country, but we can’t demand an apology for every “slur” if it is indeed happening…hay naku
May 29th, 2009 at 05:38
we’d rather have international screenings of fluffy romance comedies…better yet, someone should make a philippine knock off of slumdog millionaire—or is that already in the works, complete with a dance sequence at the beach to remind them to visit our tropical country