The horror of real life

Last Tuesday, I wrote about how it is always a guessing game for us whenever we show up at the Cinema Evaluation Board (CEB) screenings where we determine if the film submitted deserves to be given a tax rebate and how much. They don’t tell us the title of the movie to be screened because we would surely be coming up with all sorts of excuses not to show up if the film to be graded is obviously garbage. So each day is a surprise for us.

The other Tuesday, we were treated to a back-to-back screening of films about fortune telling. The first one was Jun Lana’s Tarot, starring Marian Rivera and produced by Regal Films. I already came up with a glowing review of that the last time and if you like horror — well-made horror that is — then try to catch this film in movie theaters where it is still showing.

The other film on fortune telling is called Ang Manghuhula and it is set for public exhibition on Sept. 9. Although the tarot cards are important elements in both Tarot and Ang Manghuhula, the two films are totally different from each other. Tarot, to begin with, is a horror film, while Ang Manghuhula is not. It is about the horror of real life and the horror of surviving in this harsh universe.

In the story, Eula Valdez comes from a family of fortune tellers. Her mother, Chanda Romero, was one — a pioneer in the trade. I say was because she had died in the movie, but we still see her from time to time in a lot of scenes — although not as a scary ghost because, as I said, this is not a horror film.

Eula’s daughter, Glaiza de Castro, is also being developed into a card reader, but the mother is doing her best to take her away from the world of fortune telling — and for good reason: The field is being controlled by a syndicate (headed by Emilio Garcia — with Pinky Amador as her assistant) and Eula naturally wants freedom from this bondage.

The trade of fortune telling — as depicted in Ang Manghuhula — is very interesting: It has become a neighborhood business. But instead of selling slippers like they do in Liliw, Laguna or wood carvings in Paete in the same province, the people in the setting of this story tell you what’s in store for you in the future — for a fee, of course. But like most businesses in this country, they also need to shell out protection money. It is in this neighborhood of seers that we see the cruelties of society — how the weak is controlled and oppressed by the powerful.

Ang Manghuhula is the third film of young director Paolo Herras. Unfortunately, I never got to see his first movie, Lambanog. But I saw his second, project, Recados, which is about three generations of women who make a living using their culinary skills. Recados is fairly impressive and has a good narrative.

In Ang Manghuhula, Herras once more displays his best trait as a director: His ability to capture on screen the ambience of the film’s setting in the most realistic manner possible and the angst trapped inside the very soul of each and every major character. In Recados, you can practically savor the pancit bihon cooked and vended by Meryll Soriano, while at the same time relating to her station in life — her frustrations, her problems regarding her day-to-day existence.

The characters suffer more, however, in Ang Manghuhula and you feel for them. Eula and Glaiza are both captives in the movie and you suffer with them. You feel their suffocation, especially in that stiflingly-hot house where they are virtual prisoners.

Like in Recados, Herras motivates his actors well. Eula is excellent as the second generation fortune teller trying to get away from the syndicate group. When I say excellent, I am not exaggerating because that is the best way to describe her performance here in Ang Manghuhula. Trained in soap operas on television where she is very much respected as an actress, I hope she gets more roles in the movies because her kind of talent is really for the big screen.

Glaiza, on her part, also delivers another fine performance and this doesn’t surprise today’s viewers anymore because she is truly one of the best in her generation.

Chanda, of course, no longer needs to prove anything because even when she was just starting in her career, she was already the toast of the critics — being one of the early Gawad Urian winners.

Another performer in Ang Manghuhula who has won the Manunuri’s nod is Emilio (he is due to turn over his crown as Best Supporting Actor during the Gawad Urian on Sept. 19). Under Herras’ guidance, he shows that his Urian win (for Selda) was no fluke. He has truly developed into a fine and reliable actor in both movies and television.

A delight to watch in this film is Bella Flores as another one of the fortune tellers in that neighborhood of psychics. Already an institution when it comes to over-the-top acting, Ms. Flores delivers an even-tempered performance and there are no shrills for a change (the last time I saw her like this was in Boatman way back in 1984).

As for the rest of the cast members (with several cameo appearances of various showbiz personalities), they, too, come up with above-average acting jobs. CEB member Mitch Valdes, in fact, couldn’t help but exclaim after the screening that “at last, here’s a film where the actors do not act.”

Ang Manghuhula is definitely Paolo Herras’ best among his three films. Aside from eliciting credible performances from his actors, he also shows masterful orchestration when it comes to the film’s technical elements. The lighting and cinematography are superior — and so is the music that always remains unobtrusive.

The CEB members may not have been able to guess that they were in for a tandem of films about fortune-tellers during that marathon screening, but surely it was a lucky day for us. To our relief, both Tarot and Ang Manghuhula turned out to be enjoyable and creative films and were rewarded with an A grade.