Friday, December 25, 2009

Mano Po 6: A Mother's Love (2009)



The Mano Po Story: God Have Mercy On Us
A Review of Joel Lamangan's Mano Po 6: A Mother's Story
by Francis Joseph A. Cruz

FLASHBACK: The year was 2002. Besieged by film pirates and imperialist Hollywood, film studios like Regal Entertainment look forward to the annual Metro Manila Film Festival, a two-week period during the moneyed Christmas season where all of the metropolis’ theaters are only allowed to screen festival entries, to field what supposedly are their best films. A movie, conceptualized as a film matriarch’s ode to her Chinese-Filipino roots, opened successfully. Directed by Joel Lamangan with as much opulence he can imagine and Regal can provide money for, the film received critical attention only because it feels like the best film in a year of duds.


Melinda (Sharon Cuneta, in a role that fits her like Arnold Schwarzenegger fitting into a ballerina’s tutu) is alone in her office room, deep in contemplation. Olive (ZsaZsa Padilla, in a role that has all the stereotypical traits of a villainous in-law) storms inside, shouting invectives at calm Melinda in Filipino, bastardized by a lousily obvious Chinese accent. Melinda asks Olive to leave, threatening her that if she does not do so within the five counts she generously grants her, she will wreak havoc. Olive shouts and shouts and before you know it, a catfight ensues, with Melinda slapping Olive’s face left and right, before releasing a close-fisted blow on Olive’s surprised mug. This is supposed to be the film’s crowning glory: the triumph of the underdog, the oppressed character’s sweet revenge against her frustrating oppressor. Sloppily conceived, directed with the bluntness of a troll, and terribly acted, the scene feels like it belongs in an afternoon comedy sketch than the big screen.

FLASHBACK: The year was 2003. Enthused by the buckets of cash earned by Mano Po, the matriarch decides to do a sequel. She hires Erik Matti, a maverick of a director who usually churns out handsome films for very little, and comes up with a story about a presidential daughter who ages to look like a cheated presidentiable’s wife. The film, since it was also released as an entry to the Metro Manila Film Fest, made money. While it was infinitely better than Lamangan’s film, it was essentially more of the same: convoluted plots, unnecessary characters, faked chinky eyes and bastardized Chinese.

Carol (Ciara Sotto, who looks, feels, and acts like a tree stump during the entire film), the eldest daughter of Melinda, and Stephanie (Heart Evangelista, who is so pretty I can forgive the slightness of her acting), the other daughter of Melinda who was brainwashed by evil Olive to spite her mother, are talking in a meeting room. Melinda enters and a confrontation with Stephanie ensues. Melinda pleads that Stephanie believe her, but the latter refuses. Carol, on the background, is silently crying. I feel nothing. Joel Lamangan, who industriously directs this Mano Po film notwithstanding the fact that for these kinds of stories that have innate visual potential, his films are drab, flat and plain soulless, is relentless in his mediocrity and relies primarily on a considerably witty interplay of dialogue to bring life to a scene that is otherwise as dull as an unused hollow block.

FLASHBACK: The year was 2004. Lamangan returns to helm the third installment to the series. It’s a love story between two middle-aged Chinese-Filipinos. The woman’s married and with children. The man is a widower. It’s nice to see Vilma Santos fall in love again, and that is basically the strength of the film. It’s the only Mano Po where it didn’t matter that the characters were Chinese.

Melinda is the daughter of a Chinese woman and a Filipino man and because of that, she is unlucky. She marries into a wealthy Chinese family, but since she’s only half-Chinese, the family disowns her husband (played with such unsurprising inconsequence by Christopher de Leon). Melinda, her husband, all of their children, and even Olive, who spites Melinda because of her not being a pure Chinese, all speak in broken Chinese. Daniel (Dennis Trillo), Stephanie’s fiancé who also speaks in broken Chinese despite being a pure Chinese, is an active participant in a human smuggling ring and becomes the impetus for much of the film’s blatant attempts to be current and pertinent. Lamangan doesn’t achieve pertinence but downright annoyance.

FLASHBACK: The fourth and fifth Mano Po films were blurs. Directed again by Lamangan with a lot less excitement than the first Mano Po and more of the “this is just a job” attitude of a corporate ant, the films resembled television productions because of how haphazardly they were conceived and executed. Banking primarily on star-power and the inevitable pull of the Metro Manila Film Festival, the films were moderate box-office successes, evidencing that the Filipino people have grown weary and wary of these incessant mechanisms of translating the richness of Filipino-Chinese culture as a mere fetish, a fad, an entertaining curiosity.

Mano Po 6: A Mother’s Love is such a bland film. While most people would consider it a harmless piece of entertainment, its effects are actually more devastating than the unhindered spreading of a disjointed contentment for substandard filmmaking in the country. It is first and foremost advertised as a mirror of the Chinese culture. Its gorgeous poster, backgrounded by what looks like a Chinese painting, with its posing actors and actresses draped in traditional chiong sam in the center, and Chinese characters adorned everywhere, can be considered as an invitation for an immersion on the culture and history of the Filipino-Chinese community. Unfortunately, the film, or for that matter, the entire film series, is simply a parade of stereotypes that only furthers alienation instead of planting an accurate understanding of the Filipino-Chinese culture. Bad and careless populist filmmaking coupled with ruthless advertising has proven to be very dangerous. Whether or not the intentions are pure is immaterial because subversion may be unintended, and history has proven that even the most innocuous of media can be converted as harsh propaganda.

I digress. As previously stated, Mano Po 6: A Mother’s Love is a bland film. It could have been more than bland but it is what it is. It is a display of Lamangan’s indubitable incapacity to tell a story since the movie’s plot, as simple as it is, is made unbearably convoluted by a stubborn reliance on flashbacks, narration, and other frustrating clichés. While Mo Zee’s cinematography had promise, it was rendered inutile by a lack of any aesthetic integrity (Lamangan is unsure whether he wants to be stately, or hip; and in one scene where Lamangan nearly succeeds in creating authentic tension with a long take that follows characters into an abandoned warehouse for an illegal deal that mutates into a shoot-out, he proves himself to be incompetent with one incoherent cut). Von De Guzman’s music sticks out as the best thing that ever came out of the film or the series (his theme to the Mano Po series, a thunderous melody of clear Chinese influence, is probably the most recognizable Filipino movie theme; it is that music that plays the string that connects the films together: grandiose, well thought-of, and rich).

Where then does the failure lie, in the film’s overworking director, because of his failure to create something fantastic out of individually potent elements; in the film’s producers, for being nothing more than a factory of subpar movie while they have all the resources to be cultural powerhouses; in the present Metro Manila Film Festival, for being a festival that caters only to capitalist sensibilities instead of actual artistic merits; in the mainstream audience, because they couldn’t care less of what’s being produced outside thus, reinforcing the notion of all these directors and producers that mediocrity is lucrative; in the so-called movie press, for either being totally dishonest and parasitic in how they promote these movies, arrogantly displaying their utter lack of taste and in turn, infecting the country with their ignominious brand of idiocy?

FLASHBACK: The date was December 20, 2009. I watched a film entitled Mano Po 6: A Mother’s Love. It’s utterly miserable. It made me miserable. Nonetheless, almost everybody enjoyed it, enjoyed seeing their idols act in the big screen, enjoyed being in the same theaters as the idols who are acting in the big screen. We remain unaware of this cultural bamboozlement.

(Cross-published in ClickTheCity, 25 December 2009 and Philippine Free Press, 9 January 2010)

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

maybe instead of constantly writing bad reviews of bad films in a film blog, why don't u just write about legal cases that can educate the common man about the ways of the law and how it can help him in times of legal trouble.
you're supposed to be a lawyer, why are u forcing yourself into an industry you don't belong in?

Oggs Cruz said...

...coz I'm not only a lawyer. I'm also a man with other interests, and it's a free world.

Anonymous said...

to anonymous (da first): ano ba'ng paki mo?

anon 2

gibbs cadiz said...

nice review, oggs. but even better reply to the comment. bravo.meey xmas. :)

Anonymous said...

to anon 1,

joel lamangan, is that you?

anon 3

Noel Vera said...

I like the two anons talking to each other. Very po-mo.

leonel said...

Great review!

Anonymous said...

tama si anon2. pero may punto din si ano 1. Hindi ba't given na mediocre, at formulaic na ang mga commercial na pinoy film? Yun yata ang standard for easy consumption. At saka may tama yata si ano 1. Kasi mas maraming misteryo sa batas na pwedeng mag-benefit ang mga mamamayan kung ilalahad. katulad ng mga republic act na nagle-legalize ng land-grabbing o institutionalized corruption katulad ng mga benefits or budgets ng gov't officials. Hindi ba mas bagay kung ang isang lawyer ay mag talakay ng mga subject na ganun kesa nakikisiksik sa glamour ng showbiz?

Oggs Cruz said...

Gibbs: Thank you! Merry Christmas!

Leonel: Thank you, as well.

Noel: Hahaha... a critical analysis of commenting habits of my blog?

To the last Anonymous: Let the showbiz have their glamor. I really don't care. Writing about films is a personal decision of mine, and I'm sure the legal community has more than enough opinions to survive; Filipino film? not so much.

Anonymous said...

there is nothing more boring than a lawyer whose always been on the road expecting attention wherever he goes,obnoxious,uncreative and has a massive EGO! if you do not care about the glamor of showbiz.. why waste time to write such comment? pilipino ka diba... i used to be like you,MATALINO(kuno) very judgmental about pinoy movies..anything about pinoy culture i despised...but i realized hindi dapat.. kaya hindi umaasenso bayan natin...kse tayo tayo ang nagsisiraan..my friend ! if you want to reach that state of bliss...then go beyond your ego and the internal dialogue..i don't see any love in you!!!! sad.. but you are too full of yourself!!!!and please dont use the word FREE(world) as an excuse.. becoz you are not!... you are in bondage!

Alyas Sakay said...

Excellent! Excellent review. I started seriously watching Filipino cinema in 2002 and it didn't take me long to recognize Joel Lamangan as an assembly-line director. Though I do wonder how he would do if he concentrated on one film a year?
Also, I need to ask, do you feel that the major actors in Philippines share some blame? Maybe Sharon Cuneta could use her Megastardom for good instead of evil, or should I say mediocrity?

Anonymous said...

Bravo. This review is well written. Why? Not because of the highfalutin way it was written but it dared to say what had to be said: that MANO PO 6 is a dangerous debris from a crumbling structure that we call Pinoy Movie Industry.

I wouldn't even call this review vitriolic. It only appears as such because he was reviewing a film which has no soul. This film is as valuable to Pinoy culture as Mystica is to popular music.

Anonymous said...

everybody is good at giving their opinions but not so much when action is required. The pinoy movie industry is machinery that is sputtering, but alas as the producers are doing what they can to keep it alive, know-it-alls do nothing but blabber away.Better to lead by example and start creating films that is good according to u're standards and making it commercially viable then lambasting what's out there, because talking is easy. Mediocre products(as u say) is necessary to keep the film industry's blood flowing. But then i guess the critics are economic masters as well. The audience may evolve over time, but it really doesn't begin with cinema but in the overall socio-economic strata that we're all under. The audience go into the theaters to enjoy the cinematic viewing experience( a magnified couch potato phenom) rather to engage themselves in highly deconstructive intellectual exercise. Come to think of it,or in layman's terms(kanto-think of it), there are far more suitable avenues for intellectual immersions elsewhere. people watch movies just to have a good time.

Fidel Antonio Medel said...

I had goosebumps reading the second to the last paragraph. Great review! Press people and showbiz writers should be as honest as you. This is why I read blogs, instead of newspapers.

I used to look forward to MMFF because it is the only time of the year when mainstream studios make good films. It is the only time of the year when they put their money to good use.

Anon, stop attacking the writer. Nahahalata ka tuloy. Tsk tsk…

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the article, almost ended up watching this movie. Buti na lang.

Anonymous said...

uy... nanalo si joel lamangan ng best director for this magnificent film. Joel lamangan-- he's the greatest! He's my idol!! I want to be as gay as he is in the future! Mabuhay ang federasyon!

Anonymous said...

aw gawd!! this film is raking in the awards!!! i'm swimming in tears of joy!!! Mabuhay ang pelikulang pilipino!

Anonymous said...

Love the review!

Mga sharonians ang nagalit sa'yo dahil hindi nila matanggap ang nakapalimitadong range ng kanilang idolo.

Love the second of the last paragraph!

Mga IDIOTA talaga ang mga movie press. Nanghuhuthot lang ng pera kala mo kung sino sa sila makapanulat sa tabloid at tawagin ang kanilang sarili na "movie" press.

Anonymous said...

Nakakatawa si anon 10:29p. Ipinagmamalaki ang isang award na wala namang kabuluhan at kakumpetensiya. LOL

Anonymous said...

sad but true

Oggs Cruz said...

Thanks Gibbs, Noel, Alyas Sakay, Fidel and all the anonymouses, Happy New Year!

ShatterShards said...

If only the Cinemalaya and the Cinema One festivals were given the funding, clout and exposure that the MMFF enjoys, maybe the movie industry would be in a much better state. And maybe the average pinoy viewer would be able to achieve higher states of consciousness, instead of being lambasted by brain-numbing and mind-sucking innanities currently produced today.

Anonymous said...

well i like to comment i never watch any of the festival i rather watch some pinoy indi film, they make more sense in presenting their material.

mother lily is a crappy producer for all i know.

kcatwoman said...

i dont think that just because he writes a bad review about mano po 6, means that he is an obnoxious critic of filipino film. why would you praise something if it is bad? it's just an honest review that i think movie fans like me are waiting to hear about for so long. in television, we always hear that mano po is a good movie franchise. but now, it's not anymore watchable. at least someone recognized the truth and aired it out. if people like this movie, then make a good review about it. there's no sense in leaving anonymous hate comments

Oggs Cruz said...

I concur. Just write.

Thad said...

even good blogs have trolls... how much more for mere mortals? haha

i'm sure you are unfazed of those obnoxious anonymous comments, keep on writing :-)

Anonymous said...

perfect! oggs just wrote an excellent review of a crappy movie.

ako i will berate the bitter anons. siensia na, ang sarap e. mga bobong sharonians! LOL