2017’s best lead performances on film

MANILA, Philippines -  2017 can be considered as a particularly strong year for women on film. Female lead characters dominated some of the local film festivals, and although truly exceptional movies were just a handful, the harvest for brilliant performances is so evident in this list of the 2017’s best lead female performances in Philippine cinema:

Angeli Bayani in Bagahe

In Bagahe, Zig Dulay’s cinematic critique of social institutions, the central character is Mercy, a woman accused of leaving her unwanted baby in an airplane lavatory. Angeli Bayani is magnanimous in the role, her performance shockingly committed. She effortlessly provided it with emotional restraint and naked honesty.

Dexter Doria in Paki

As the matriarch who at way past 60 suddenly decides to separate from her perennially philandering husband, veteran actress Dexter Doria delivers the performance of a lifetime. It is her first lead role ever in a storied career as a reliable thespian and Doria attacks it with a grit and spunk that simply astonishes. Throughout the beautifully written and directed film by Giancarlo Abrahan, Doria never shed a single tear but we feel every emotion that her character felt. That, for us, is superb acting.

Eula Valdes in NeoManila

Eula Valdes is faultless as the pest control business owner by day, assassin by night in Mikhail Red’s noir-ish Neomanila. She is both tough and vulnerable, femme fatale and maternal, with the actress carefully navigating the extremes to come up with an unforgettable out-of-the-box portrayal. We give Valdes five stars.

Jana Agoncillo in Nervous Translation

There were more stares than long dialogues but child actor Jana Agoncillo was consistent throughout the beautiful film of Shireen Seno. We felt her fragility and followed her small movements, whether she was caught up in her small world of miniature kitchens or her brief interactions with her mother. Agoncillo’s performance is completely guileless and compellingly honest.

Angeli Bayani in Maestra

One of Bayani’s remarkable gifts as an actress is to transform into the character she delineates, and in Lem Lorca’s Maestra, she does it again. One doesn’t see the actress but the struggling Aeta teacher. Bayani’s ability to elicit sympathy without playing to the gallery but through the merest gestures and those eyes that speak volumes, she certainly deserves more than just our applause.    

Angel Aquino in Sa Gabing Nanahimik Ang Mga Kuliglig

Angel Aquino makes murder sultry and surprisingly, almost forgivable, in Iar Arondaing’s debut feature Sa Gabing Nanahimik Ang Mga Kuliglig. A stunning piece of character work that makes you sympathize with someone who did what she did in the name of love and heartbreak. It’s a tricky chore and Aquino lives up to the challenge.

Mary Joy Apostol in Birdshot

In the gripping police procedural-cum-coming-of-age drama Birdshot, Mary Joy Apostol plays a farm girl who unwittingly kills a protected bird and delivers a performance that is hard to turn your gaze from. The newcomer doesn’t act like a tyro at all, exhibiting amazing control and subtlety as a performer.  

Joanna Ampil in Ang Larawan

International musical theater actress Joanna Ampil makes an auspicious debut as Candida, the tougher of the two Marasigan spinster sisters in the film adaptation of Ang Larawan, the musical which is, in turn, based on the Nick Joaquin elegiac play Portrait of An Artist as Filipino. Ampil’s singing is splendid but she also pulled off the difficult task of actually making her character stand out in the non-singing parts. 

Iza Calzado in Bliss

As Jane Ciego, the confused superstar pining for respectability as an actress, Iza Calzado delivers a trenchant performance in Jerrold Tarog’s baffling Bliss. It is not the kind of role and genre, a hybrid of thriller and satire, for which actors win popular acclaim but Calzado nonetheless turns in a completely involving portrayal. 

Agot Isidro in Changing Partners

Agot Isidro paints a riveting portrait of heartbreak and desperation as Alex, a singing part, in Dan Villegas’ intelligent handling of a musical theater piece. Isidro makes pain palpable, like a gaping wound tingling at the merest touch.

Meanwhile, 2017 was also a year that had some tremendous performances by newcomers and veterans alike, especially in the category of lead male actors. These names will certainly figure prominently when the award-giving organizations start to announce their rosters of nominees and winners as the months roll by.

Nonie Buencamino in Smaller and Smaller Circles

In Raya Martin’s Smaller and Smaller Circles, seasoned actor Nonie Buencamino delivers a performance that is as razor-sharp as the weapon used by the serial killer in the film adaptation of F. H. Batacan’s acclaimed crime novel. Buencamino inhabits his part completely, and the scene where he figures in a quietly powerful exchange with the grandmother of one of the child victims has already become sacred. Buencamino’s sensitive, restrained and textured performance lives on far beyond the screening hours of the beautiful film.

Bembol Roco in What Home Feels Like

As the seafarer father who goes home for good to a family who hardly knows him anymore, Bembol Roco comes up with a miracle of a performance  — forceful yet controlled. His lined face serves as a canvas where emotions flit by in glorious succession. Roco is one of the few actors who doesn’t need chunks of dialogue to convey feelings and realizations.  After 40 years, he continues to redefine masterclass acting.

Jojit Lorenzo in Changing Partners

An adaptation of Vince de Jesus’ musical about the pains of maintaining May-December romances across gender settings, Jojit Lorenzo comes into his own with a nuanced performance as different versions of Alex, the older lover. It’s Lorenzo’s career best to date.

Noel Comia Jr. in Kiko Boksingero

As the boy who tries to establish a bond with his long-estranged father, child actor Noel Comia Jr. delivers a knockout performance in Thop Nazareno’s Kiko Boksingero. Despite his theater background, Comia’s performance is devoid of histrionics and grand gestures. What you witness instead is like the work of someone who has had a long history with cinema — delicate, charming, confident.

Timothy Castillo in NeoManila

As the orphan who becomes a surrogate son to a female assassin, relative unknown Timothy Castillo is impressive enough to be able to hold his own against an excellent Eula Valdes. Castillo effectively portrays his character’s transition from an ordinary streetsmart to someone who gets to see things boys his age aren’t supposed to see. Castillo’s performance is one that is both raw and riveting.

Rocky Salumbides in Those Long-Haired Nights

Largely underrated, former international model Rocky Salumbides is like to acting born. He has that admirable instinct to inhabit every character that lands on his lap and make his performance seem very natural and free of unnecessary embellishments. The same can be said of the reluctant actor’s portrayal of Barbie, a transgender who appears like a tough cookie. It deserves praise for being funny, heartwarming, and heartbreaking all in the same breath. What an utterly luminous performance.

Justine Samson in Balangiga: Howling Wilderness

Plucked out of anonymity, Justine Samson’s inexperience worked to his advantage. In the controversial instant classic Balangiga: Howling Wilderness from Khavn Dela Cruz, Samson is outstanding as a young boy fleeing the madness of war with his grandfather. He is the face of innocence at a time of irrational strife.

Sandino Martin in Changing Partners

It is to Sandino Martin’s credit that his singing voice and acting are both fluid and intense, making it an integral part of what makes Changing Partners a memorable movie experience. Martin plays Chris, the younger lover, with a potent mix of youthful intelligence and an unabashed vulnerability.

Edgar Allan Guzman and Joross Gamboa in Deadma Walking

In the uneven roster of this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival entries, Deadma Walking easily emerged as the latest edition’s runaway underdog. Much of the drama-comedy’s success is largely due to the beautiful chemistry between Edgar Allan Guzman and Joross Gamboa. Guzman is flamboyant without being shrill while Gamboa is subdued without being stoic. The result is an acting duet alternately funny and affecting.