I want to shut up about this (I do not want to be "panira") but I will express myself nonetheless because I believe this needs to be shared.
Last Saturday, October 29, I took Mama to the cinema to watch the Filipino independent film "Apocalypse Child," which was first shown last year at the QCinema film festival. That was amidst a majority of cinemagoers rooting for "Doctor Strange," the major Marvel movie starring Benedict Cumberbatch! Mr. Cumberbatch's match, Sid Lucero who I daresay is as believable and as effective as an actor.
And so, there we were, lined up at the senior citizen lane (Mama perks haha). I clearly told the SM Megamall box office attendant, "Two tickets for 'Apocalypse Child.'"
"For 7:40 (p.m.) po?" she asked back.
"Uh, 7:50." I said coz the screening time for Apocalypse Child at Cinema 1 indicated so.
"Pili na po kayong seats."
I looked at the screen and I thought to myself, WHOA!
Out of 600 seats, more than half are already occupied. Namromlema pa ako dahil hindi na maganda seats namin ni Mama.
Could it be true that "Apocalypse Child's" online marketing worked? Could it be possible that the little child actually gave the Marvel giant a good fight? And could it be really, really happening: Filipinos now cared about locally produced films, the ones that actually made sense?
No, no and a big NO!
The box office attendant apparently assumed that I came to see "Doctor Strange" because, obviously, everybody was! (If I remembered correctly, 8 out of Megamall's 12 cinemas were screening the Marvel film.) So, she got us tickets to the 7:40 p.m. showing of "Doctor Strange." Kaya pala!
OK, I admit. I was also stupid for not looking at the tickets handed to me. (Food was the next thing in my mind, haha). I only realized the mistake when Mama and I were already entrance of Cinema 1, "Apocalypse Child" to play in 5 minutes.
As I inserted the automated cards that came with the tickets, it got churned out so naturally, I asked the entrance personnel, "Ate bakit nilabas?"
She looked at my tickets and answered, "Ma'am 'Doctor Strange' po ang tickets nyo."
"Ha! Hindi, sabi ko 'Apocalypse Child' e!"
A woman beside her, who was wearing a Sinag Maynila T-shirt (which made me assume she was there for 'Apocalypse Child'), then told the personnel: "Papalitan mo na lang."
"Sige," I agreed and then before the confused SM Megamall employee left to the ticket booths, "Paano yong seat number namin?"
"Ma'am kahit saan, konti lang naman ang tao."
Upon entering the cinema, all my hopes were shattered. I could count in my fingers the few Filipinos watching "Apocalypse Child."
What was I imagining really when I saw that half-filled cinema in the ticket booth screen? By then I should've already noticed something was wrong.
Of course, Filipinos would choose a well-budgeted foreign film over an independently produced film even if it was their OWN.
I'm not saying don't watch Marvel films. I myself will be watching "Doctor Strange" in the big screen.
All I'm appealing is that, if you could spend P250 for a Hollywood movie that would surely rake millions of dollars, why not spare P250 for a Pinoy indie that would probably never even earn back half of its budget spent.
You'll be surprised, you'll also get your money's worth. Maybe not in entertainment value but in enlightenment value. And that is what we need badly today in our society!
(Willingly spending P250 over Star Cinema rom-coms are of another breed. I rather not go into that.)
As of this writing, "Apocalypse Child" would probably be pulled out from cinemas already after only a week-long slot, at the most! You can't blame the businessmen entirely. Sadyang Hindi sapat 'yong nanonood e. Parehong olats ang pelikula at ang sinehan.
Pero ang pinaka-talo, ang mga mamayang Pilipinong hindi marunong tumangkilik ng sariling likhang sining.
***
But here comes the panira part, which is now entirely my fault.
I expected too much from "Apocalypse Child" after seeing rave reviews from the likes of directors Erik Matti ("On the Job") and Jerrold Tarog ("Heneral Luna"). Also, it had won important awards namely Best Picture and Best Director for Mario Cornejo at QCinema awards last year.
I believe the film deserve all the love and trophies it had received so far. The film was a subtle kind of beautiful with nuanced acting close to perfection. Montejo brought out the best in his cast namely Sid Lucero, Annicka Dolonius (Best Supporting Actress, QCinema), Ana Abad-Santos (Best Supporting Actress, Gawad Urian), Gwen Zamora, RK Bagatsing and Archie Alemania. The acting, for me, really is the best part of the film.
But it is not enough. And I'm not being a critic here. I just want to be honest with my feelings or "lack" thereof. How so? I simply did not feel something new from "Apocalypse Child."
Sex, drugs, love and little politics are a tried and tested formula in the big screen. Only for this time, the formula is set among the crashing waves of Baler.
Unfortunately again, even Baler is not new to me. I've personally seen it's charm with my own two eyes.
And so for the verdict, let me recall what I told a friend who asked me if it's worth watching in the big screen.
50-50.
50 percent for "Apocalypse Child" and 50 percent for independent Philippine cinema.
So go watch it if its still miraculously showing after reading this.
P.S. Please don't hate me.
(All photos from Apocalypse Child on Facebook.)
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