Philippine Entertainment News

It has its wow moments. The screen presence of Shamaine Buencamino–whether it is taking clothes off the sampayan, peeling camotes, or leading rosary in the family’s bomb shelter–is arresting. Burning the photo of her G.I. suitor, playing drawn piano keys on the ground, indie suki Meryll Soriano actually throws convincing lines. I also had to google Ynna Asistio just for her cuteness and good singing. As the stepping up elderly son, even Jay Aquitania keeps up with the well-casted actor lineup not only with his obviously well-rehearsed Japanese but also with his mischievous antics. Bind this up with an expectedly sophisticated musical score (classical piano, kundiman, and Rosas Pandan!), with the realistic although austere avoiding-the-panoramic production design, and with a “music unites all” theme and you have a chest-tingling number.

But it’s just OK. I don’t think it was unfairly snobbed like what some articles insinuate. Compared to this one, 100 and Jay really deserved the Cinemalaya awards for me. I’m more inclined to like a movie about a dying bitch (100) or a manipulative gay journalist (Jay) than an aaaw-inducing historical one. Don’t get me wrong; I fruitfully learned how Americanized and Japanized Philippines have already been in the past. But the filmmaker Paul Morales could only do so much with his historical material. It is about an upper class family, but its rebel son can’t take center stage. It’s entitled Concerto, it’s suppose to be mushy, it made me teary-eyed, but that’s about it for me. After all, if it is daring, it dares to be reconciliatory instead of fanning the flames of historical Phil-Jap tension. On the other hand, it’s most probably a better watch than A Very Special Love.

Images from Andre Cagawas, one of Concerto’s producers. Trailer and poster after the jump.