2 films rated ‘A’ by cinema board

ALVIN Yapan Photo by RAFFY Lerma

Two independently produced films, Alvin Yapan’s “Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa” and Joel Lamangan’s “Patikul,” received the grade of “A” from the Cinema Evaluation Board (CEB), its chairperson, Christine Dayrit, has announced.

The CEB members described “Sayaw” as “radical, short of being subversive. [It is] an almost seamless fusion of poetry, dance and cinema. [It is] culturally rooted [and has] an unconventional way of storytelling perhaps meant to open people’s minds.”

The film’s dialogue employed “lines of poetry by feminist poets. [This] may, at the outset, seem rather presumptuous, but in the long run integrates well in this art film. Only a poet filmmaker could make this sound natural, which in other hands could turn out stilted,” a reviewer said.

“Sayaw” features dance interpretations of the works of feminist poets Rebecca Añonuevo, Belinda Santos, Merlinda Bobis, Joi Barrios, Ruth Elynia Mabanglo and the late Ophelia Dimalanta.

The film tells the story of Marlon (Paulo Avelino), who is secretly in love with his literature professor Karen (Jean Garcia). Marlon stalks Karen and discovers that she also works as a choreographer. He then asks help from his classmate Dennis (Rocco Nacino) to teach him how to dance.

Jean Garcia is “a convincing dancer, who might be tailor-made for this role, or is it the other way around?” asked one reviewer. “It is as if you are dreaming when watching her portrayal.”

“For sure ‘Sayaw’ will get its fair share of screenings abroad,” one CEB member observed, “where the audience may be better attuned for the thoughtful, underwritten, brave script.” The film brought home the best cinematography and best original sound in the 2011 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival.

‘Patikul’

Meanwhile, the Board said “Patikul” director Lamangan “has created a masterpiece that educates, enlightens and inspires.”

His direction “is excellent. He manages to create tension amidst relative calm, and was able to make his actors perform brilliantly,” commented one reviewer. Lamangan was also “admirably consistent with the story and theme without being too conspicuous in utilizing the instruments of the film medium.”

“Patikul,” an Xponential International Trading Inc. production, focuses on the problem of illiteracy in the Sulu town. It tells of the struggles of Amman (Allen Dizon), an illiterate Muslim coffee farmer in the fictional town of Kan-Age, to bring back teachers and students to a school terrorized by bandits.

The film is “still typically Lamangan in his socio-political commentaries,” a CEB member added, “but in this movie, he is more controlled and more focused.”