Stories about the abuse being suffered by the Filipina diaspora at the hands of non-Filipino men could have had more potency had it been presented in a non-fiction news-and-public-affairs format, or if these fictionalizations have instead followed by the cue set by documentaries, just like Soderberg's Traffic. But Filipina-sploitation films have it's roots from Gil Portes' movie Miss X one done in the '80s that is set and filmed in Amsterdam. Though I must say that the blue-eyed Fil-Am comedian Rob Schneider has since made (what I consider) penance for that with his Razzie-honored trash that is Deuce Bigalow Part 2. I salute him for such stupid bravery.
Traversing the route of fictionalizion or melodramatizations of such narrative is justfied by the two scenes shot in the film: the wedding reception party hosted by the protagonist Intoy for the interracial May-December couple and his family's rushed meeting with the Finnish government official. The characterizations might be tad too theatrical given Rono is a veteran and a stalwart of Filipino motion pic industry, he's definitely in his element here but the thing that remains deliberately unspoken manifests in its most subtlest of forms, such thing that would have been harder to capture in a non-fiction setting. Although it could not have hurt if the filmmakers borrowed some characters from the Euro-auteur Lars von Trier. There's no shame in doing so I should stress. All in good intentions paved in beach sand.
A few words to describe what this movie is about, it's a sort of pyramid scheme where monies only play secondary role and one that focuses on those unfortunate who are relegated to the bottom. Though the paths traversed to commit fraud is detailed, such are unimportant given permutations are always a plenty for one to arrive to the intended result. Also one could view this as a flip-side of Ulrich Seidl's Paradise: Love though one that opted for a tad sweeter ending, and missed the opportunityin showcasing the gravity of the situation, a much more needed despair to keep this cinematic work grounded.
A gamma.
Traversing the route of fictionalizion or melodramatizations of such narrative is justfied by the two scenes shot in the film: the wedding reception party hosted by the protagonist Intoy for the interracial May-December couple and his family's rushed meeting with the Finnish government official. The characterizations might be tad too theatrical given Rono is a veteran and a stalwart of Filipino motion pic industry, he's definitely in his element here but the thing that remains deliberately unspoken manifests in its most subtlest of forms, such thing that would have been harder to capture in a non-fiction setting. Although it could not have hurt if the filmmakers borrowed some characters from the Euro-auteur Lars von Trier. There's no shame in doing so I should stress. All in good intentions paved in beach sand.
A few words to describe what this movie is about, it's a sort of pyramid scheme where monies only play secondary role and one that focuses on those unfortunate who are relegated to the bottom. Though the paths traversed to commit fraud is detailed, such are unimportant given permutations are always a plenty for one to arrive to the intended result. Also one could view this as a flip-side of Ulrich Seidl's Paradise: Love though one that opted for a tad sweeter ending, and missed the opportunityin showcasing the gravity of the situation, a much more needed despair to keep this cinematic work grounded.
A gamma.