[Click here (recommended) for desktop mode.]
Pila-Balde
English Translation: Queue of Pails
English Title: Fetch a Pail of Water
Year of Release: 1999
Director: Jeffrey Jeturian
Screenwriter: Armando Lao
Producer: Good Harvest Productions
Cast: Ana Capri, Marcus Madrigal, Harold Pineda, Allen Dizon, Estrella Kuenzler, Becky Misa, Jess Evardone, Engelbert de Ramos, Darylynn Dajao, Amaya Meynard, Rina Rosal, Lawrence Roxas, Cris Corpuz, Edwin Amado, Rosemarie Cane, Erica Masinam
Gina lives in the slums with her laundrywoman grandmother Cion and her younger siblings, Boyet and Maria. In hopes of a better life, Gina rejects Nonoy—a fellow slum dweller who truly loves her—in favor of Jimboy, the playboy son of one of Cion’s better-off patrons, Mrs. Alano. Jimboy gets Gina pregnant, but problems arise when Mrs. Alano forbids her son from consorting with the slum folk.
The folly of declaring Golden Ages is exposed by works of this type, one that draws from the strengths of two opposed masters—Lino Brocka’s proletarian sympathies and Ishmael Bernal’s sardonic irreverence—and outdoes either option by combining both qualities. Produced after the end of the so-called Second Golden Age (roughly mid-1970s to the end of the Marcos era in 1986), the film can best be read as an update of the First Golden Age’s Malvarosa (1958, dir. Gregorio Fernandez), this time deploying the carnal allure of the sex-comedy to explore the complexities and paradoxes of class and gender politics. When exploitation threatens to become the norm even among the movie’s heroic proletariat, the narrative pulls them back from the abyss and provides them with a well-earned shot at redemption, a rare instance of an upbeat closure perfectly complementing a hard-core realist text.
Back to top
Return to Canon Decampment contents
Go to alphabetized filmmakers list
Tuhog
English Translation: Skewered; Long Take (film production parlance)
English Title: Larger than Life
Additional Language: English
Year of Release: 2001
Director: Jeffrey Jeturian
Screenwriter: Armando Lao
Producers: Available Light Productions, Regal Films
Cast: Ina Raymundo, Klaudia Koronel, Jaclyn Jose, Irma Adlawan, Dante Rivero, Nante Montreal, Raymond Nieva, Eric Parilla, Crispin Pineda, Frank Rivera, Desi Rivera, Celeste Lumasac, Albert Zialcita, Jessette Prospero, Russell Zamora, Rhett Romero, Menggie Cobarrubias
Perla endures her father’s attempts at incestuous rape. But when he takes an interest in his granddaughter Floring (Perla’s daughter by a lover who had abandoned her), Perla’s moral outrage leads to her killing her own father. An enterprising director and scriptwriter interview mother and daughter in order to make an exploitation movie titled Hayok sa Laman (Lust for Flesh), where a mother, Violeta, melodramatically seeks to protect her concupiscent daughter, Hasmin, from the depraved attentions of her father even while the girl makes out at every opportunity with her boyfriend Adan. Perla and Floring attend a screening with their friends and neighbors, and are appalled by how their narrative is trivilialized and sensationalized onscreen.
The last scriptwriting contest of the Experimental Cinema of the Philippines declared two co-equal winners, but the agency shut down before it could find producers willing to finance the projects. One of the winners, Armando Lao, managed to make a name for himself as an outstanding practitioner. His ECP-winning entry, Pinilakan (Silvered or Silvery), was updated and released during the period of unrest building up to the massive demonstrations attempting to (unsuccessfully) reinstall deposed President Joseph Estrada. One may be tempted to draw a parallel between the people-power events aimed at “correcting” the anomaly of having unpopular and dysfunctional Chief Executives—Ferdinand Marcos in 1986’s original EDSA uprising, Estrada in 2001’s EDSA II—and the parodic and cynical replication of people power subsequently labeled EDSA III. Viewed from a historical distance, Tuhog demonstrates an ability to interrogate the machinations of urban, capitalist, male gaze-dominated cinema and its disregard for the interests of its polar opposites—the rural, agricultural, feminized world of the Third-World subject. It refuses the moral streamlining that renders the typical reflexive treatment sanctimonious and predictable, and makes understandable how media exploitation manages to thrive even while it cannibalizes the misery and suffering of its sources of material. The contrasts between the cinematic polish of the film-within-a-film and the documentary plainness of the real-life narrative, as well as the generic performances of the “fictional” characters, all come to a head when the two stories’ violent resolutions lead to distressing excesses, with the Hayok sa Laman film-within-a-film characters provided with a pornographic equivalent of their real-life counterparts’ domestic happy ending. In this manner, Tuhog implicates not so much its exploitative (fictional and real-life) filmmakers as its (fictional and real-life) audience: who can resist the titillation in the three-dimensional characters’ situation, and the carnal attractions of their onscreen representations?
Back to top
Return to Canon Decampment contents
Go to alphabetized filmmakers list
1—Bridal Shower
Additional Language: English
Year of Release: 2004
Director: Jeffrey Jeturian
Screenwriter: Chris Martinez
From a story by Chris Martinez, with script supervision by Armando Lao
Producer: Seiko Films
Cast: Dina Bonnevie, Cherry Pie Picache, Francine Prieto, Christian Vazquez, Douglas Robinson, JR Valentin, Alfred Vargas, Pinky Marquez, Rodel Velayo, Gina Pareño, Boots Anson Roa, Lester Llansang, Angel Jacob, Gerald Lauron, Jacob Dionisio, Christine Carlos, flora Gasser, Yvette Marie Tagura, Pocholo Montes, Irma Adlawan, Bon Vibar, Grace Patricia Francisco, Basil Bolinao, Cynthia San Juan, Roher Tierra
Tates, Sonia, and Katie all work as fairly successful advertising executives under the benign supervision of Emily. It is their love lives, however, that prove problematic and potentially upsetting for their friendship. Mickey, an underachiever, is dismayed every time he bumps into one of Tates’s casual flings, although he relies on her contacts so he can annul his marriage to be able to wed her. Sonia enjoys having sex with the poor but passionate Bryan, but when she discovers she’s pregnant, she decides to settle with the wealthy but boring Juancho, despite being unsure which boy toy is the child’s father, just so she can fulfill her trophy-wife aspiration. From their superior vantage point, the two friends cast aspersions on overweight Katie’s choice of Joebert, a male stripper whom she tries to guide toward a more socially acceptable profession.
2—Minsan Pa
Additional Languages: Cebuano, Japanese, English, Korean
English Title: One Moment More
Year of Release: 2004
Director: Jeffrey Jeturian
Screenwriter: Armando Lao
Producer: MLR Films
Cast: Jomari Yllana, Ara Mina, Christian Vasquez, Tirso Cruz III, Rio Locsin, Dimples Romana, Criselda Volks, R.U. Miranda, Malu Barry, Dulce, Anna Fegi, Jonathan Badon, Marru Hadraki, R.R. Jacob, Natasha Denser, Ramon Villanueva, Sari Santillan, Nico Antonio, Jennifer Donaire, Kristopher Relucio, Ben Estur Jr., Gigette Reyes, Donnah Alcantarah, Ed Murillo, Dot Ramos-Gancayco, Kate Pamela Natividad, Igi Boy Flores, Adan Bolivar, Jacqueline Etulle, Roger Rayala, Teresa Tunay, Fonz, Kristopher Grundstrome, Malou Crisologo
Since his father abandoned their family, Jerry has had to play the role of sole breadwinner for his mother, brother, and sister. He earns a living as a tour guide for Japanese men who travel to Cebu for the sights as well as the women. When the influx of foreign tourists declines as a result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, he agrees to accommodate local tourists and falls for Luna, a well-off adopted Manileña who’s engaged to her companion Alex. Jerry’s pride makes him resist his father’s attempts to reconcile with them; he punishes his younger brother as well when he catches him gambling in a casino. When Luna drops her camera into the sea, Jerry sees an opportunity to win her affection away from Alex.
The teamup of Jeffrey Jeturian with script specialist Armando Lao is comparable to the Second Golden Age’s collaborations between their mentors Marilou Diaz-Abaya and Ricky Lee, with Jeturian taking an extensive break from film directing and Lao dying prematurely (both fates of which tragically befell Diaz-Abaya). In a millennial year whose exceptionality has never been adequately appreciated, much less explicated, they came up with a pair of works that seemed generically and structurally opposed, set in the country’s contending major cities. Yet the ready-made response to those willing to find fault with either release is surprisingly simple: watch both in succession and see how one ingeniously complements the other. Bridal Shower’s seemingly frivolous pursuits collapse (normally a disparagement) onto one character’s plot concerns and ends with an ambivalently conclusive coupling, in contrast with the other characters’ resolutions. Minsan Pa meanwhile extends the dilemma of the dispossessed male in Bridal Shower: it would be commonplace in the country to find young working-class hunks who decide to return to their rural roots in order to have a better shot at success. Their objectification by higher-stationed admirers persists nevertheless, whether they like it or not, so they live essentially feminized lives, assured of patriarchal privilege but with their notion of ideal happiness permanently suspended by their social limitations. After traversing the central character’s journey marked by the melancholia of mature acceptance, what awaits the expectant viewer is a quality unique in the works of both director and writer—a happy ending, as smartly disposed and emotionally well-earned as it would be possible for fully attuned affiliates to concoct.
Back to top
Return to Canon Decampment contents
Go to alphabetized filmmakers list
Kubrador
English Title: The Bet Collector
Year of Release: 2006
Director: Jeffrey Jeturian
Screenwriter: Ralston Jover
Producer: MLR Films
Cast: Gina Pareño, Fons Deza, Nanding Josef, Soliman Cruz, Joe Gruta, Domingo Landicho, Neil Ryan Sese, Johnny Manahan, Miguel Castro, Nico Antonio, Jess Evardone
Despite her old age, Amy’s persuasiveness and her special way of recalling numbers boost her work as a bet collector for jueteng, an illegal game popular in her slum neighborhood. As she goes about her duties, she evades the cops, sits in for her boss at a rigged gambling draw, and even performs some good deeds for her community. All this leads Amy to a fateful encounter after a visit to her son’s grave on All Saints’ Day.
The early post-celluloid production that set hard-to-match standards in directorial style, with real-time storytelling, fluid long takes, and powerhouse performances demonstrating how the strengths of digital filmmaking, granting the participation of genuine talent, could be enhanced. The filmmakers allude to the limits of the medium by introducing a metaphysical element—the mother’s dead son, a reminder of dreams that will never come true—yet we only realize in retrospect how such a device, devoid of its usual tearjerker function, served to prepare us for the mother’s own near-death encounter. On Gina Pareño’s ravaged-yet-hopeful features, a rare mergence of life lessons and masterly performance, we find an epitomization of the hope and despair that the narrow, suspicious, and normativized slum spaces seek to conceal from outsiders.
Back to top
Return to Canon Decampment contents
Go to alphabetized filmmakers list
Ekstra
English Title: The Bit Player
Year of Release: 2013
Director: Jeffrey Jeturian
Screenwriters: Zig Madamba Dulay, Antoinette Jadaone, Jeffrey Jeturian
Producers: Cinemalaya Foundation & Quantum Films
Cast: Vilma Santos, Cherry Pie Picache, Richard Yap, Ruby Ruiz, Nenita Deonoso, Karen Leslie Dematera, Boobsie, Christopher Ad. Castillo, Raymund Ocampo, Abi Niesta, Zyrus Imperial, Ronaline Ronn Enriquez, Tart Carlos, Antonette Garcia, Erlinda Villalobos, Raymond Rinoza, Hazel Faith dela Cruz, Rex Lantano, Martha Comia, Jake Seneres, Ricky Pascua, Zachary Ezekiel Diaz, Angelica Luis, Mhel Seduco, Michael Bayot, Fatima Centena, Almira Alcid, Cris Garrido, Norberto Portales, Marlon Rivera, Sunshine Teodoro, Vincent de Jesus, Louie Kim Sedukis, Miguel Cruz, Bobby Contiga, Piolo Pascual, Marian Rivera, Cherie Gil, Nico Antonio, Orlando Marcos, Vida Masakayan, Marx Topacio, Afi Africa, Toni Lopengco, Eula Valdez, Rosejean Sevilla, Salvador Zapanta, Glen Elizalde
Even after becoming an unwed mother, Loida refuses to give up her pursuit of bit parts in movies, banking on the awareness that she has more talent than most of her work colleagues. Josie, their coordinator, herds them to out-of-town locales in order to work on a stressful and prolonged TV drama. The bit players maintain the camaraderie necessary for the mutual support they need at work, but Josie also awaits any opportunity for a break so she can raise the tuition money that her daughter tells her is already due.
Calibrating one’s expectation in approaching Ekstra will be the key to uncovering its reflexive charm and cultural circumspection. Vilma Santos had attained the underappreciated ability to maintain a personable presence in her films without upstaging any of her coplayers, in contrast with her rival Nora Aunor’s auteuristic skill in perceiving and seizing a work’s central mechanism in order to override it for the purpose of enhancing, if not bettering, the final product. Jeffrey Jeturian had over a decade’s worth of working through this type of material and demonstrates in Ekstra a delicacy that manages to salvage what could have easily been a devastating, melodramatic resolution. In-joke references to Aunor’s expertise, as well as spot-on parodies of TV-drama conventions, serve to enhance the affecting and all-knowing humiliation that Santos allows her character to endure. Fans of either or both stars—that is, of Philippine cinema in its contemporary entirety—need not hesitate: Ekstra will be more than enough to hold us over until its filmmaker manages to return to creative activity once more.
Back to top
Return to Canon Decampment contents
Go to alphabetized filmmakers list
Á!
ORCID ID 
Ámauteurish! 