How the Manunuri voted

( First of two parts )

When I used to sit as juror for the annual Metro Manila Film Festival, I used to complain about the lack of deliberations among the board of judges. It was basically write down your choices and pass the papers – without any discussion regarding the merits and weaknesses of the entries.

In contrast, the deliberations in the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino are long and at times even excruciating. There was, in fact, a time in the late ’80s when our deliberations lasted from 1 p.m. till way past 1 a.m.

The Manunuri deliberations that were conducted recently to select the winners in last Saturday night’s Gawad Urian were quite long and, yes, taxing. In some years, there would be clear winners and that was easy for the group members. Last year’s deliberations were relatively fast because Batang West Side really stood out from the rest and this explains why it practically swept all the awards.

This year, the awards were distributed among the different films that were in competition. Why, even the Best Picture award had to be split in two – a first in Urian history or maybe in any local award-giving body for that matter.

Below, I am going to share with you inside information on how the Manunuri deliberations went – why some works won and why some didn’t.

In last December’s Metro Filmfest, Bong Revilla really had all the right in the world to complain why his entry, Agimat, failed to win in the Best Sound category. Created and supervised by this group called Audio Media, Agimat’s sound – effects and all – was really a cut above the rest and unusual for a local film. (I’m sorry to say, but sound had always been the weakest aspect of Filipino movies – even from the beginning – but mercifully, has been improving in recent years.) It is for this reason why Agimat was voted Pinakamahusay na Tunog – although it still slugged it out with the other Best Sound nominees: American Adobo (by Dan Ferat), Diskarte (by Nestor Mutia), Dekada (by Albert Idioma and Alex Tomboc) and, in particular, Munting Tinig (by Noel Bruan and Ari Trofeo), which was its closest rival for the award.

In the Best Music category, Tony Cortez won the award for Diskarte because of his choice of music in all of the scenes in the film that needed scoring. His music furthermore was unobtrusive and properly created and heightened the mood of this very well-made and exciting action film.

Two other entries also strongly fought it out in this category: Mga Munting Tinig by Joy Marfil and Jologs by Jesse Lucas. In fact, it should be pointed out that Jologs worked as a comedy primarily because of its music – and this clearly shows the importance of the technical aspects of a movie and why we as moviegoers should appreciate and recognize outstanding technical works in film. Unfortunately, there were some excesses in the use of music in Jologs – unlike in Diskarte, which basically has a perfect music score.

The editing of Diskarte is also one of the strongest points of the film. The editing aspect is particularly important in Diskarte because it is an action movie. Fortunately, Francis Vinarao is able to rise to the challenge and delivers such an excellent job in the movie. For that, he got to bring home the Manunuri’s award for Best Editing.

Shayne Clemente, cinematographer of the Aga-Muhlach-Claudine Barretto movie Kailangan Kita, was practically a runaway for Best Cinematography. Considering the fact that this film was shot in very scenic Bicol, Ms. Clemente’s cinematography never called attention to itself. Other cinematographers would probably have turned that into a travelogue. But not Shayne Clemente – the obviously intelligent artist that she is.

Somebody who didn’t know her craft that well probably would have played around the majestic Mayon Volcano and used this Albay landmark as the film’s focal point. But she must have realized that Kailangan Kita is not a movie about volcanoes and tourist spots. It’s a hot romantic film and hot and romantic (and appetizing, too since it has a lot of food all around) was how she captured the scenes of the film in her lens. For bringing such creative and intelligent work on the big screen, the Manunuri honored her last Saturday night with the award for Best Cinematography.

(To be concluded)