| | Jologs - Gilbert Perez
The screenplay for Filipino hit film Jologs won first prize in a contest initiated by film producer Star Cinema. The award-winning screenplay was supposedly darker, more biting than what we have now. Also, the screenplay was supposed to be directed by Jeffrey Jeturian, one of the country's leading directors. But like almost everything that lands on the laps of ABS-CBN and its film producing arm Star Cinema, it's bound to be rewrapped, repackaged, regurgitated faux-Hollywood style to please the millions of eager fans who'd be willing to let go of their hard-earned peso to get a glimpse of not one, but a whole stable, of these manufactured stars strut it out in the big screen. Luckily, the factory-manufactured film is light enough to enjoy, entertaining enough to withstand, and pretty enough to look at.
The film is a mixture of different storylines interweaving in a neighborhood coffeeshop. Literary misgivings abound this youth-oriented tale and despite the fact of it being labeled as fashionably original, nothing is really new with this teen flick. Ruben (John Prats) works as a cashier for the coffee shop, while struggling to find money for his schooling, money that he has to beg from his estranged rich father leading him to plan a small-time heist. Mando (Diether Ocampo) is the security guard for the cafe, who is also the understanding boyfriend to a japayuki (a dancer who works in Japan) who would leave both Mando and her infant to work abroad. Cher (Baron Geisler) is a transvestite who is chanced upon by mean and sinister cafe-owner Trigger (OneMig Bondoc). Iza (Assunta de Rossi) is loud and sexy and has a secret crush on super-religious student, who surprisingly, takes the independent woman for a date. Kulas (Vhong Navarro) is in love with taekwondo fighter and is ready with an engagement ring, but is unready for rejection. Lastly, Dino (Patrick Garcia) is former seminarian who is about to engage in premarital sex with his longtime girlfriend Faith (Jodie Sta. Maria).
There are too many plots in this youth-oriented flick - too many plots with very little to say. Screenwriter Ned Trespeces' solution to that is to replicate the oft-used Hollywood conceit, the interweaving storylines. The problem here is that despite the fact that these storylines and characters connect, the focal point is pretty much pointless. Why a cafe? Why an explosion? Like a true Filipino film, such had to be explained and in a revalatory scene leading to the expected climax, Trespeces does. It is that lack of confidence with his work or his acknowledgement that he has very little to say that keeps Jologs from standing out. The little stories are your typical angst-driven drivels that are just magnified a dozen times by witty filmmaking and overuse of visual gimmickry. True, there are very interesting moments in the film, but in a film that has to spend some more time with a multitude of other storylines, a few interesting moments will not make a truly good Filipino film. The filmmaking mimmicks of P. T. Anderson rather than the true master of ensemble filmmaking Robert Altman. The result stinks of gimmickry than real filmmaking. Replicating Anderson turned the film a dozen notches below Anderson's Magnolia, a far more liberating and adventurous piece of work. Funnily, Perez decided to end Jologs with a clear borrowing of Magnolia's song number - only this time the result is cheese and schmultz, instead of hairraising wonderment.
The filmmaking is very much standard but it's nice to imagine how Jeffrey Jeturian would handle the screenplay. He'd probably defend the original screenplay and keep Star Cinema's sugarcoating paws from morphing it off of its relevance. Jeturian's finest traits as a filmmaker is his utmost respect for his screenwriters. His opus Minsan Pa bore screenwriter Armando Lao's name above its title rather than the traditional way of labeling it as a director's work. If Jeturian did get a hold of this script (and yes, Jeturian is good with teens and non-actors), it would've probably been more relevant instead of being your everyday teen angst film the Philippines hasn't gotten rid of since the 80's. |
| | Posted 7/13/2006 9:35 AM - 253 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
- recommend
  - recs0
- share
- email
 - sent0
|
