The ‘most likely’ Metro Filmfest winners

(Second of two parts)

The awards night of the Metro Manila Film Festival is tomorrow in the evening (at the Aliw Theater) and last Tuesday I already gave my fearless forecast in the various acting categories.

This is a good year – to my relief – and there are a lot of entries that are worth seeing. Below are my bets (all three I’m sure will win best picture and it’s just a matter of ranking which is first, second and third) in the best film category. (All three pictures were given a grade A by the Cinema Evaluation Board.)

Ligalig – This suspense-thriller should sweep all the awards in the technical categories and I’m very sure that Ligalig director of photography Gilberto Vistan will win best cinematography.

This film also boast of excellent performances – with Cesar Montano a strong contender for best actor (even Sunshine Cruz does very well her best after Inang Yaya). If he gets lucky, he can also win best screenplay (along with co-writer Willy Laconsay) and best director.

As director, Montano has done about half a dozen films. Although Panaghoy sa Suba is his best, his work here in Ligalig isn’t really that much far behind because he is so meticulous in this film. Ligalig is one of the most polished films I have seen in recent years. Its only setback is the fact it has a bit of too much Hollywood influence in it (I think it is inspired by The Secret Window) – although Montano is clever enough to have given it local color and flavor. Generally, however, its sensibilities aren’t all that Pinoy – so there goes the Gatpuno Antonio J. Villegas Cultural Award.

But Ligalig has a lot of other qualities that make it one of the best films not only in the ongoing film festival, but also for the entire year. What I like about Montano’s work is that he is very thorough in the way he creates his every scene and you can never fault him for being sloppy (that’s something I cannot stand with some of our local directors). Best of all, he makes the viewers think. But my question is: Is the local movie audience – the masses especially – ready for that?

Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo – My strongest bet for best picture. It has all the elements to make it First Best Picture – plus the Gatpuno Antonio J. Villegas Cultural Award because it espouses the right family values and very Filipino at that.

Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo is also highly entertaining – thanks to a very good material and dialogues that are crisp but real (every day spoken language – nothing phony). What make this Jose Javier Reyes film even more successful are the spectacular performances of the cast members: Judy Ann Santos (unbeatable in the best actress competition), Ryan Agoncillo (a natural actor, who has great on screen chemistry with Judy Ann), Gina Pareño (a strong bet for best supporting actress), Ariel Ureta and Tuesday Vargas.

In my hurry to meet the early deadline for my Tuesday column, I failed to include Soliman Cruz as one of my bets in the best supporting category. As the father of Judy Ann, Soliman is also outstanding (as always) and he, too, should be in the running, except that his role is a bit short. His best scene is the part where the family of Ryan Agoncillo goes through the traditional pamamanhikan in the Nueva Ecija hometown of Judy Ann Santos. Over dinner, Soliman tactlessly asks the very no-no question to Gloria Diaz (as Ryan’s mom): How old are you? He brings the house down in that part and it helps, too, that Gloria gives the right reaction (so hilariously awkward) to that forbidden question.

Speaking of Gloria Diaz, this beauty queen who eventually developed into a really fine actress (with awards to show for them) also shines in Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo. A fine comedienne (aside from being good at drama), she succeeds in most of her comedic scenes. Her only problem is that she is eclipsed by Gina Pareño, whose part is showier – and even lengthier.

Juliana Palermo as the tart Ryan Agoncillo plays fire with also delivers a fine performance. It is short but remarkable. In the confrontation scene with the several months on the way Judy Ann, she doesn’t speak, but she reacts correctly… quietly – knowing that she cannot fight back because 1) She doesn’t have the legal and moral right to do so and 2) You don’t quarrel with a pregnant woman.

Actually, everything is correct in this movie – well, almost, except for the part where Judy Ann and Ryan get married hastily at the break of dawn because I think there are bureaucratic requirements before two people can wed these days. But we should give them the poetic license and that shouldn’t stop the judges from selecting Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo as first best picture.

Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah – If the judges want something new — for a change – in the film festival, maybe they can push for this Joel Lamangan movie to win best picture.

As of this writing, however, I don’t know the figures at the box-office yet and that counts for so much now in the selection of best picture because for a movie to win, it has to be commercially viable. (40 percent) of the total score I think will be based on how much it has earned at the tills before the awards night – something I don’t agree with.)

Producing Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah is a gamble because it is partly musical and Filipino moviegoers don’t exactly go for that (they want foreign musicals – like Chicago and Moulin Rouge). It’s a mistake for you, however, not to see it because the songs are beautiful and the song numbers are creatively staged. (The musical numbers with the zombies at the cemetery is the best – who would ever think of that?)

As a comedy (that originated in komiks and later made into a very successful stage play), it works mainly because Rustom Padilla is brilliant in the film. Zsa Zsa Padilla as the alter ego suffers in comparison in the beginning, but her performance grows on you eventually and you realize she isn’t bad at all. She is good, in fact – and fully!

The special effects, of course, leave much to be desired, but the rest of the elements in the film will compensate for that. If you want total entertainment – musical, comedy, drama and action – Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah is ze best.