More lessons from 2017 MMFF

Our recent analysis of the 2017 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) entries’ individual grosses has prompted some film buffs to weigh in with their own takes on the subject.

In general, they were vastly impressed that Vice Ganda’s starrer, “The Revenger Squad,” trounced the rest of the pack by such a wide margin. What was his secret, they asked?

It isn’t rocket science: The yearender, Yuletide fest is for children, and Vice’s fantasticating screen romps are right up their viewing alley.

It may not be a big secret, but Vice’s frontrunner feat is still a remarkable achievement—that also says a lot about how “accepting” local viewers have become when it comes to gays in entertainment.

In some other cinematic climes, parents would hesitate to take their children to a gay romp, but there’s little such hesitation or compunction here.

Is it because Pinoy parents think “pink fantasy” is just harmless fun? Some quarters may disagree, but Vice’s film’s top grosses prove that, for many Pinoy folks, “there’s no such problem.”

Now, is this an admirably liberal attitude, or injudicious cluelessness on their part, stemming from a lack of awareness of psychological roots and consequences? What do you think?

The MMFF grosses also showed that Coco Martin’s “Ang Panday” fell short of the expected popularity mark. Was this partly because he was overexposed on the continually reextended “Ang Probinsyano” on TV, which is still running, or has the “Ang Panday” legend just lost steam—or both?

Remember that its version topbilling Jericho Rosales similarly did not set the TV screen on fire—so, what’s the “verifying” verdict?

“Ang Panday’s” fumble also weakens Coco’s clout and impact as a first-time director, with some people thinking that he bit off more than he could chew. Better preparation and self-evaluation next time?

Finally, many film buffs were bummed out to learn that the fest’s best picture winner, “Ang Larawan,” made only P29 million at the tills, compared to Vice’s film’s P540 million.

How could viewers be so unsupportive of what was clearly an artistically superior film?

Some analysts opine that the period drama made some viewers feel “distanced” from it, despite its virtues. But, other historical movies have fared much better, so historicity is not the issue here, but a perceived lack of pertinence and relevance.

On the other hand, some film buffs don’t think that P29 million is such a debacle. The way they see it, it indicates that perhaps 150,000 people did watch a quality film like “Ang Larawan,” which is cause for celebration, not recrimination.

They see it as “a good start”—because first-time viewers of “quality” who loved the experience, could watch other artistic movies, thus slowly but surely building up an appreciative audience for them.

Our last word on the 2017 MMFF: The four “more commercial” entries that got in on the basis of script alone did raise the fest’s grosses to a billion pesos—but, it was an unfair advantage that should not be allowed for 2018.

Films in competition should be judged in their completed form, not on their promised best efforts. If the “preferred” commercial films’ proviso and exception to the rule is retained, producers left out in the cold should take a strong and collective stand, and refuse to participate.