UPCAT (spoilers ahead!)
No, this is not the exam itself. UPCAT is a movie, part of the annual Cinema One Originals festival, directed by Ramon Olivares and stars Felix Roco.
I watched this movie without reading any synopsis or review, or even seeing any trailer of some sort. I heard (not even "saw", take note, since I was doing something and the TV was on lang at the time) this on Cinema One not too long ago (last week, I think). And then, Cineastes people suddenly began texting and promoting the Cinema One Originals campus tour. Luckily, I was free at 5pm today, so I grabbed the chance and caught UPCAT.
I don't think anyone in the Philippines is unaware of the UPCAT. Maybe they just don't know that it's called such, but I'm sure everyone knows that an entrace exam to the University of the Philippines exists. And yes, everyone has his/her own UPCAT story - from the preparations they made before taking the exam to the exam day itself, and even upon learning about the results.
The movie UPCAT focused not on the examination itself, but more on the exam's impact on the lives of the characters. Lucas and Joaquin desperately want to pass the UPCAT and go to UP, but Lucas' parents, his father in particular, feel very strongly against this. This is the basic premise of the movie.
I have to say right now that this movie disappointed me very much.
But first, the good stuff. The technical aspects of the movie were okay. They were more than okay. The cinematography was great. Creative angles and coloring were used. There was some irregular panning, but it was okay.
Now. Here we go.
There was a story there. Definitely, there was. The problem was with the establishment. Ang bagal sobra! Connections between the characters took a long time to be established. Some connections were not properly established at all.
The sub-plots were very gasgas. Kung dumaan kay Sir Reuel ang kwento, rejected 'yun, sigurado ako. Very typical Filipino production.
The conflict took so long to establish. Grabe lang. I originally thought it was just us who were annoyed with the conflict, having taken up scriptwriting, but no. The entire audience was annoyed! Medyo funny 'yung reaksyon, actually.
Now we go to the things that irked me most about this movie.
One: the unrealistic time frame. The movie was set around Feb, established through the teacher's line that went, "Six months na lang, UPCAT na." (The UPCAT is always on the first weekend of August.) The characters were talking about high school graduation. Ano ba. They should actually already know if they passed the UPCAT or not by this time! If they wanted to set it around Feb, before the UPCAT, the characters should be in third year high school. Not graduating students.
Two: the hanging love story between Lucas and Jane. Sobrang pinagdiinan ang kwentong ito. But then, it suddenly disappeared. Poof. Naglahong parang bula. At the last part, Lucas mentions that he and Jane are "ancient history". The audience has no idea what the hell happened to Jane, and what in the world happened between them.
Three: the unnecessary build-ups. Putang inang buko pie at kropek 'yan! Sobrang pinagdiinan sila sa kwento, lalo na 'yung kropek. Maya't maya nang nabanggit. But they were not significant to the story in any way. Lumabas lang na paborito ng lahat ng tauhan ang lintik na kropek na 'yan. Pero wala siyang kahit anong simbolismo.
Four: Lucas' father's reason for not wanting him to take the UPCAT. This annoyed me in two ways. (DON'T GO ON READING IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED, I'M SERIOUS!) Apparently, Lucas' father passed the UPCAT and was a UP student (looked like Diliman to me). But his best friend was killed in a hazing incident. After which, he dropped out, went back to the province, and swore off UP. This is the "deep, dark secret" that he hid from Lucas, his son - his reason behind strongly disagreeing with Lucas' decision to take the UPCAT. But here's the weird thing: he used to tutor/review students for the UPCAT. He actually trained his best friend's brother for that exam! So if he's so hung up over the whole incident, bakit s'ya nag-review ng ibang tao para sa UPCAT, lalo na 'yung kapatid nung namatay, sabay ayaw n'ya pakuhanin ng UPCAT 'yung anak n'ya? Labo diba? It didn't make sense to me. So yeah, that's the first reason why this one annoyed me. Second reason - putang ina, napakababaw na dahilan nito para pigilan ang anak mong mag-UPCAT. Seriously.
Five: the way the movie worked based on stereotypes. From the students to the institution, the movie did not even bother breaking the stereotypes and tags that have been forcibly branded unto the university. Well, if to actually reinforce the stereotypes was their aim, then they were successful. The movie depicted UP as it is depicted and stereotyped in the news. Magulo. Talamak ang frat. Maraming namamatay. May hazing. Mga tibak. Mga komunista. They went as far as to make Joaquin an NPA member! Okay, sobrang halatang hindi taga-UP ang gumawa ng pelikulang ito. Dahil hindi niya pinakita ang totoong kulturang UP. UP is not just about violence and all that crap that the media make it out to be.
Cine Adarna was full practically to bursting. It's super cold in there usually, but a while ago, the cold was manageable. Gano'n karaming tao. S'yempre. The movie is entitled "UPCAT", for goodness' sake! Dudumugin talaga 'yon. But sadly, it disappointed me. Super.
Nakakainsulto 'yung movie, honestly. :|
Dude, kung gagawa ka ng pelikula, o kahit kwento man lang, tungkol sa isang lugar na hindi ka pamilyar, pwede mag-research ka muna nang bonggang-bongga tungkol do'n?
Baka dapat Dose na lang ang pinanood ko.
I watched this movie without reading any synopsis or review, or even seeing any trailer of some sort. I heard (not even "saw", take note, since I was doing something and the TV was on lang at the time) this on Cinema One not too long ago (last week, I think). And then, Cineastes people suddenly began texting and promoting the Cinema One Originals campus tour. Luckily, I was free at 5pm today, so I grabbed the chance and caught UPCAT.
I don't think anyone in the Philippines is unaware of the UPCAT. Maybe they just don't know that it's called such, but I'm sure everyone knows that an entrace exam to the University of the Philippines exists. And yes, everyone has his/her own UPCAT story - from the preparations they made before taking the exam to the exam day itself, and even upon learning about the results.
The movie UPCAT focused not on the examination itself, but more on the exam's impact on the lives of the characters. Lucas and Joaquin desperately want to pass the UPCAT and go to UP, but Lucas' parents, his father in particular, feel very strongly against this. This is the basic premise of the movie.
I have to say right now that this movie disappointed me very much.
But first, the good stuff. The technical aspects of the movie were okay. They were more than okay. The cinematography was great. Creative angles and coloring were used. There was some irregular panning, but it was okay.
Now. Here we go.
There was a story there. Definitely, there was. The problem was with the establishment. Ang bagal sobra! Connections between the characters took a long time to be established. Some connections were not properly established at all.
The sub-plots were very gasgas. Kung dumaan kay Sir Reuel ang kwento, rejected 'yun, sigurado ako. Very typical Filipino production.
The conflict took so long to establish. Grabe lang. I originally thought it was just us who were annoyed with the conflict, having taken up scriptwriting, but no. The entire audience was annoyed! Medyo funny 'yung reaksyon, actually.
Now we go to the things that irked me most about this movie.
One: the unrealistic time frame. The movie was set around Feb, established through the teacher's line that went, "Six months na lang, UPCAT na." (The UPCAT is always on the first weekend of August.) The characters were talking about high school graduation. Ano ba. They should actually already know if they passed the UPCAT or not by this time! If they wanted to set it around Feb, before the UPCAT, the characters should be in third year high school. Not graduating students.
Two: the hanging love story between Lucas and Jane. Sobrang pinagdiinan ang kwentong ito. But then, it suddenly disappeared. Poof. Naglahong parang bula. At the last part, Lucas mentions that he and Jane are "ancient history". The audience has no idea what the hell happened to Jane, and what in the world happened between them.
Three: the unnecessary build-ups. Putang inang buko pie at kropek 'yan! Sobrang pinagdiinan sila sa kwento, lalo na 'yung kropek. Maya't maya nang nabanggit. But they were not significant to the story in any way. Lumabas lang na paborito ng lahat ng tauhan ang lintik na kropek na 'yan. Pero wala siyang kahit anong simbolismo.
Four: Lucas' father's reason for not wanting him to take the UPCAT. This annoyed me in two ways. (DON'T GO ON READING IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED, I'M SERIOUS!) Apparently, Lucas' father passed the UPCAT and was a UP student (looked like Diliman to me). But his best friend was killed in a hazing incident. After which, he dropped out, went back to the province, and swore off UP. This is the "deep, dark secret" that he hid from Lucas, his son - his reason behind strongly disagreeing with Lucas' decision to take the UPCAT. But here's the weird thing: he used to tutor/review students for the UPCAT. He actually trained his best friend's brother for that exam! So if he's so hung up over the whole incident, bakit s'ya nag-review ng ibang tao para sa UPCAT, lalo na 'yung kapatid nung namatay, sabay ayaw n'ya pakuhanin ng UPCAT 'yung anak n'ya? Labo diba? It didn't make sense to me. So yeah, that's the first reason why this one annoyed me. Second reason - putang ina, napakababaw na dahilan nito para pigilan ang anak mong mag-UPCAT. Seriously.
Five: the way the movie worked based on stereotypes. From the students to the institution, the movie did not even bother breaking the stereotypes and tags that have been forcibly branded unto the university. Well, if to actually reinforce the stereotypes was their aim, then they were successful. The movie depicted UP as it is depicted and stereotyped in the news. Magulo. Talamak ang frat. Maraming namamatay. May hazing. Mga tibak. Mga komunista. They went as far as to make Joaquin an NPA member! Okay, sobrang halatang hindi taga-UP ang gumawa ng pelikulang ito. Dahil hindi niya pinakita ang totoong kulturang UP. UP is not just about violence and all that crap that the media make it out to be.
Cine Adarna was full practically to bursting. It's super cold in there usually, but a while ago, the cold was manageable. Gano'n karaming tao. S'yempre. The movie is entitled "UPCAT", for goodness' sake! Dudumugin talaga 'yon. But sadly, it disappointed me. Super.
Nakakainsulto 'yung movie, honestly. :|
Dude, kung gagawa ka ng pelikula, o kahit kwento man lang, tungkol sa isang lugar na hindi ka pamilyar, pwede mag-research ka muna nang bonggang-bongga tungkol do'n?
Baka dapat Dose na lang ang pinanood ko.