Two films to choose from - STARBYTES by Butch Francisco

Eating kangkong is healthy and good for your diet because it is a rich source of Vitamins A and C. Watching Kangkong the film, that is – however, is an altogether different matter because it may not be good for your mental health.

Kangkong casts Rodel Velayo as a rich kid being primed by his grandmother (Odette Khan) to become a priest. His journey to the religious life, however, is disrupted when he meets Brigitte de Joya, a recently-orphaned balikbayan from Washington who comes to live in the humble kangkungan fields of his uncle and aunt (Ben Sagmit and Flora Gasser).

Now, why Brigitte de Joya would prefer to fly back to the Philippines and live miserably in a shack situated right in the middle of a kangkong plantation is beyond me. No, she’s not the free spirit type who loves the feel of the ground. In fact, she’s almost unable to eat the kangkong dish that was served to her on the dinner table during her first night with her relatives in the province.

I also find it strange that for all of Odette Khan’s connections (she is a cold-hearted usurer who owns all businesses in town), she is unable to stop the shotgun wedding of her grandson to their manipulative servant (played by Sofia Valdez).

But then, why am I splitting hairs over a worthless film like this? For one, its story is really as thin as a kangkong leaf. And its technical elements are just as bad – especially the music which uses a score that is so dated, it must have been composed way before the invention of the phonograph.

The performances of some of its cast members are also as annoying as the script and the musical score. Odette Khan, at least, tries to rise above the flimsy material and succeeds in some parts.

Brigitte de Joya’s voice (if that is really hers) is so irritating, you want to put her in a FedEx box and ship her back to America where she was supposed to have been raised in real life.

But Brigitte’s face is very pretty – doll-like, in fact. I doubt very much, however, if Seiko can turn her into another Rosanna Roces. And most certainly, doing a trashy film like Kangkong is not the best way to start a serious film career.

Rodel Velayo was not impressive at all when he was launched in Mel Chionglo’s Burlesk King two years ago. In fact, he was total eclipsed by co-star Leonardo Litton in the acting department.

However, he did quite well in Aray, a serious film (although with a funny-sounding title) by Don Escudero. Here in Kangkong, he’s back to Square One.

But you can’t blame the guy. Even an actor of Sir Laurence Olivier’s calibre would fail miserably given a material as rubbish as Kangkong.

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Balahibong Pusa is the first full-length movie of William "Yam" Laranas, who first made a name for himself in the world of short films and, later, as director of TV commercials and cinematographer for major film companies.

Produced by Viva, Balahibong Pusa traces the beautiful relationship between a widowed mother (Elizabeth Oropesa) and her young daughter (Joyce Jimenez). Problems between them arise only after the mother brings home a man (Julio Diaz) to live with them in the house. As to be expected, this man turns out to be a snake who also wants to lay his hands on the beautiful daughter.

Balahibong Pusa is visually stunning – due mainly to the beautiful photography of Laranas, who also serves as the film’s cinematographer. Since the film’s other technical elements are also well-handled, Balahibong Pusa looks very sleek and highly-polished.

But I wish Laranas paid more attention to his script. The story of a stepfather lusting after his stepdaughter – to begin with is a tale as old as civilization. And he doesn’t even attempt to add new insights to this material which – if I probably bothered to count – must have already been done about 10,000 times in the past both on film and television.

And given a bad script, most of the stars in the film naturally turn in mediocre performances and one-dimensional characterizations of their respective roles.

Joyce Jimenez, who is starting to improve as an actress, probably would have fared even better had she been provided with a more solid material.

Julio Diaz and the usually brilliant Elizabeth Oropesa, on the other hand, are totally wasted in this film. Julio, for instance, turns in a really embarrassing performance at the end of the movie when he becomes insane all of a sudden. Such a waste of talent.

Balahibong Pusa is said to be doing very well at the tills. Good for Yam Laranas. And I’m happy that he has finally joined mainstream cinema as a full-fledged director. At least, here’s a filmmaker who knows how to properly orchestrate the technical elements of his movie. But next time, he should get himself a better script.

More Urian Citations

Two days ago, I enumerated in this column, the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino list of citations for the last quarter of year 2000. Unfortunately, I failed to put in the list the citations earned by Gusto Ko Nang Lumigaya which has been cited for direction (Maryo Jo de los Reyes), screenplay (Lualhati Bautista), editing (Richard Padernal) and the performances of Pops Fernandez and Bojo Molina.

I also forgot to put in that list the acting citations given to some of the performers of Markova: Comfort Gay. Among the actors cited by the Manunuri in this Gil Portes film are Dolphy, Eric Quizon, Joel Lamangan and Jeffrey Quizon.

Well, as they say in the vernacular: Huli man daw at magaling – huli pa rin. Apologies to the people concerned.