Sarong Banggi review #1
http://showbizandstyle.inq7.net/entertainment/entertainment/view_article.php?article_id=18648
REVIEW
Potent performers in ‘Sarong Banggi’
By Lito Zulueta
Inquirer
Last updated 09:48pm (Mla time) 09/02/2006
Published on page F3 of the September 3, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
IN “SARONG BANGGI,” A BAND OF teenagers on a carefree escapade downtown books a hooker for their friend Nyoy (Angelo Ilagan) on the eve of his birthday. But when they find out she’s not exactly the young flesh she has claimed to be in her SMS text messages, they drop the plan and spend the night elsewhere. But Nyoy in his wanderings easily gravitates back to the hooker’s table, and it’s only a matter of time before he and Jaclyn (Jaclyn Jose) find out that fate has in store for them something more than the casual encounter usually obtaining between strangers in the deep of night.
A finalist in the first Cinemalaya film festival last year, “Sarong Banggi,” seems to have been easily eclipsed by the competition’s most successful movie, “Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros.” That is understandable, since “Maximo” is the more flamboyant of the two: it tells the story of a gay adolescent from a criminal family in the slums falling in love with an honest young cop.
But “Sarong Banggi,” which will finally be shown commercially starting Sept. 6, has a charm of its own, including its rather ticklish take on a highly improbable love affair between a young man barely into puberty and an aging prostitute barely into menopause.
Story of awakening
It’s a moving story of awakening-a youngster’s initiation into manhood and an adult’s sudden discovery of the dark consequences of a choice she made back when she was younger.
The viewer initiated into the magic of “Maximo Oliveros” (which will be shown in theaters again this month in a reformatted version) should really look at “Sarong Banggi” as a companion piece. Both depict the joys and heartaches of the young and the wages of adulthood and compromises. Both have lovable boy-characters whose innocence seems to be the blank tablet on which life’s cruelties are painfully inscribed.
The Cinema Evaluation Board seems to believe that “Sarong Banggi” can hold out on its own as it has given the movie a B-rating, which means it will get a 65 percent rebate of its amusement tax.
Writer-director Emmanuel de la Cruz and his production team, led by writer-producer Raymond Lee (also the producer of “Maximo Oliveros”), have crafted a city-genre movie that, however, refers to the country’s tortuous pastoral roots. What instantly connects the movie to the audience is the hook of the Bicolano folk dirge that is the movie’s title. By insinuating the melody and lyrics of the song-which talks of a dream about a bird’s sad song one late night-the movie achieves a resonance that is embodied in Jaclyn, who has come from Sorsogon hoping for a better life in the city. She becomes the bird in the song, always in search of a nest in a place of perennial transience.
The cinematography of Miguel Fabie and the production design of Lena Cobangbang make of the city-especially the garish stretch of the refurbished Roxas Blvd.-a kitschy, deceptive row of nestings. Into the bright lights of the big city enter Nyoy and his “barkada,” eager for adventure and mindless of the human costs of thrill-seeking. In one corner, under a gaudy lamppost is a blind musician singing “Sarong Banggi” for alms.
The real picture
Jaclyn will sing the song to the naked Nyoy after their lovemaking. And she will later realize the import of singing the dirge as a lullaby to Nyoy fighting off sleep beside her, and she will see Nyoy for what he represents-not the carefree innocence of the young, but the revenge of the furies.
And we will realize soon enough the cosmic logic that connects the sightless to those who have eyes but do not see. “Sarong Banggi” has echoes of Sophocles.
Aside from its deep and striking meanings, “Sarong Banggi” works because of the beautiful performances. Angelo Ilagan looks like Bembol Roco, at least how Roco could have looked when he was younger and perhaps a tad fairer. (In fact, the afterglow scene looks pretty much like the famous motel scene between Roco and Hilda Koronel in “Maynila: Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag.”) But since Ilagan is younger and more delicate-looking, there’s more poignancy, and a little foreboding, in his looks and person. He capitalizes on these qualities to deliver a very touching performance.
Great actress
But the real pivot of the movie is Jaclyn Jose, who won the Gawad Urian as Best Actress this year for the role. Jose usually delivers competent performances, and it’s the mark of her greatness as an actress that not only has her confidence increased with every movie; her sense of timing and build-up has also become impeccable. In “Sarong Banggi,” the role calls for a steady welling up, and Jaclyn Jose does not disappoint. The audience will certainly share the shock and distress of her discovery.
Copyright 2006 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
REVIEW
Potent performers in ‘Sarong Banggi’
By Lito Zulueta
Inquirer
Last updated 09:48pm (Mla time) 09/02/2006
Published on page F3 of the September 3, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
IN “SARONG BANGGI,” A BAND OF teenagers on a carefree escapade downtown books a hooker for their friend Nyoy (Angelo Ilagan) on the eve of his birthday. But when they find out she’s not exactly the young flesh she has claimed to be in her SMS text messages, they drop the plan and spend the night elsewhere. But Nyoy in his wanderings easily gravitates back to the hooker’s table, and it’s only a matter of time before he and Jaclyn (Jaclyn Jose) find out that fate has in store for them something more than the casual encounter usually obtaining between strangers in the deep of night.
A finalist in the first Cinemalaya film festival last year, “Sarong Banggi,” seems to have been easily eclipsed by the competition’s most successful movie, “Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros.” That is understandable, since “Maximo” is the more flamboyant of the two: it tells the story of a gay adolescent from a criminal family in the slums falling in love with an honest young cop.
But “Sarong Banggi,” which will finally be shown commercially starting Sept. 6, has a charm of its own, including its rather ticklish take on a highly improbable love affair between a young man barely into puberty and an aging prostitute barely into menopause.
Story of awakening
It’s a moving story of awakening-a youngster’s initiation into manhood and an adult’s sudden discovery of the dark consequences of a choice she made back when she was younger.
The viewer initiated into the magic of “Maximo Oliveros” (which will be shown in theaters again this month in a reformatted version) should really look at “Sarong Banggi” as a companion piece. Both depict the joys and heartaches of the young and the wages of adulthood and compromises. Both have lovable boy-characters whose innocence seems to be the blank tablet on which life’s cruelties are painfully inscribed.
The Cinema Evaluation Board seems to believe that “Sarong Banggi” can hold out on its own as it has given the movie a B-rating, which means it will get a 65 percent rebate of its amusement tax.
Writer-director Emmanuel de la Cruz and his production team, led by writer-producer Raymond Lee (also the producer of “Maximo Oliveros”), have crafted a city-genre movie that, however, refers to the country’s tortuous pastoral roots. What instantly connects the movie to the audience is the hook of the Bicolano folk dirge that is the movie’s title. By insinuating the melody and lyrics of the song-which talks of a dream about a bird’s sad song one late night-the movie achieves a resonance that is embodied in Jaclyn, who has come from Sorsogon hoping for a better life in the city. She becomes the bird in the song, always in search of a nest in a place of perennial transience.
The cinematography of Miguel Fabie and the production design of Lena Cobangbang make of the city-especially the garish stretch of the refurbished Roxas Blvd.-a kitschy, deceptive row of nestings. Into the bright lights of the big city enter Nyoy and his “barkada,” eager for adventure and mindless of the human costs of thrill-seeking. In one corner, under a gaudy lamppost is a blind musician singing “Sarong Banggi” for alms.
The real picture
Jaclyn will sing the song to the naked Nyoy after their lovemaking. And she will later realize the import of singing the dirge as a lullaby to Nyoy fighting off sleep beside her, and she will see Nyoy for what he represents-not the carefree innocence of the young, but the revenge of the furies.
And we will realize soon enough the cosmic logic that connects the sightless to those who have eyes but do not see. “Sarong Banggi” has echoes of Sophocles.
Aside from its deep and striking meanings, “Sarong Banggi” works because of the beautiful performances. Angelo Ilagan looks like Bembol Roco, at least how Roco could have looked when he was younger and perhaps a tad fairer. (In fact, the afterglow scene looks pretty much like the famous motel scene between Roco and Hilda Koronel in “Maynila: Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag.”) But since Ilagan is younger and more delicate-looking, there’s more poignancy, and a little foreboding, in his looks and person. He capitalizes on these qualities to deliver a very touching performance.
Great actress
But the real pivot of the movie is Jaclyn Jose, who won the Gawad Urian as Best Actress this year for the role. Jose usually delivers competent performances, and it’s the mark of her greatness as an actress that not only has her confidence increased with every movie; her sense of timing and build-up has also become impeccable. In “Sarong Banggi,” the role calls for a steady welling up, and Jaclyn Jose does not disappoint. The audience will certainly share the shock and distress of her discovery.
Copyright 2006 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.