Shooli upgrades a classic

The members of the press braved the rains that day to attend the special screening of Ibong Adarna, The Pinoy Adventure at the Mowelfund Theater. Despite bad weather, we spotted representatives from The STAR and other broadsheets, bloggers, columnists, TV hosts, etc., etc. There was quite a number of them which we felt would make director Jun Urbano happy. This, after all, was his first attempt at directing Ibong Adarna, one of his father’s most popular works, Jun told his audience.

Well-known by his pen name of Mr. Shooli, Jun had long wanted to pay homage to his dad by directing this classic everyone is familiar with. Ibong Adarna tells the story of a husband and wife who ruled a tribe during the 18th century. Director Jun explained to the crowd that he had updated the legend, giving it a Filipino flavor. He had done away with the Kings and Queens who ruled the kingdom of Berbanya. They are now Sultan Mabait (Joel Torre), Sultana Mabunyi (Angel Aquino) and their sole son Prinsipe Sigasig (Rocco Nacino). Main villain is Datu Maimbot (Leo Martinez). The cast is a conglomeration of witches, guardians, chieftains, advisers and other imaginary beings created through modern-day computer graphic effects. Others in the cast are Benjie Paras, Lilia Cuntapay, Gary Lising, Pat Fernandez, Karen Gallman and Ronnie Lazaro.

One night, their leader, the Hari, dreamt that two traitors had been conspiring against his entire family after which he fell so ill with no one in the kingdom knowing of a cure. Rocco Nacino seeks the help of a magical singing bird, the Adarna that restores the Hari to his former health.

We noticed everyone coming out of the theater wearing smiles on their faces. Clearly, they were happy and impressed by what they had watched. We also noticed a young girl and her mom coming out. The mom introduced herself to us, saying she was Sandra Sanares and the girl with her was Summer Sanares, who was asked to cover the Adarna event for a newspaper. We promised to get in touch since we were most interested in what this 11-year-old writer had to say. We sent her some standard questions like what she liked in the story, what was missing, her favorite character, who was most believable and why she would recommend the movie. After a day, this is what Summer had to say:

“What I liked in the story of Ibong Adarna is the originality. I think the director, actors and writers who participated in the movie are very talented in making the well-known legend come to life. Personally, I don’t find anything missing in Ibong Adarna. It had everything enjoyable: Colorful costumes, witty lines, funny characters and most of all, a good story. My favorite character would probably be Sipsipayo (Benjie Paras), Datu Maimbot’s ditzy and dull-brained advisor. He made the whole movie funny and made me laugh, chuckle and giggle all throughout. On the other hand, my least favorite character is Datu Maimbot. He was very selfish especially because he wanted his own half-brother killed.”

In terms of acting, Summer found most believable Joel Torre’s character of Sultan Mabait, especially during the scene when he contracts an unknown disease. Summer added she would recommend the movie for its educational and moral values, excellent acting, beautiful scenery and authentic costumes.

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