[Click here (recommended) for desktop mode.]
Eseng ng Tondo
English Translation: Eseng of Tondo
Year of Release: 1997
Directors: Fernando Poe Jr. [as Ronwaldo Reyes] & Augusto Salvador
Screenwriters: Pablo S. Gomez & Manny Buising
“Inspired by a true story” [opening credit title]
Producer: FPJ Productions
Cast: Fernando Poe Jr., Ina Raymundo, Jenny Syquia, Chuck Perez, Mandy Ochoa, Anita Linda, Zandro Zamora, Johnny Vicar, Bob Soler, Marita Zobel, Bing Davao, Eddie Arenas, Jose Romulo, Gerald Ejercito, Bong Francisco, Rudy Meyer, Tony Bernal, Tony Carreon, Nanding Fernandez, Robert Rivera, Bernard Atienza, Romy Diaz, Jimmy Reyes, Joey Padilla, Nonoy de Guzman, Robert Talby, Art Veloso, Lily Rose, Boy Sta. Maria, Steve Alcarado, Joone Ranillo, Dante Castro, Bert Vivar, Chanel Fernandez, Jaera Gomez, Joan Salazar, Paul Vivo, Ding Alvaro, Shiela Sanchez, Boy Diaz, Orlando Miguel, Zernan Manahan, Bon Vibar, Vic Varrion, Ernie David, Leo Gamboa, Richard Duran
Lt. Eusebio Natividad, nicknamed Eseng, is an officer in the police detachment of Manila’s Tondo district, known for its slum community and gangland activities. His brother Belo keeps attempting to take advantage of his good name by running gambling rackets, wearing down Eseng’s patience until he decides to arrest Belo himself. His wife Digna worries over Eseng’s late work hours—not only because of the dangers he faces but also because of the many temptations that come his way at night. Unknown to her, the school where she teaches is preyed on by the spoiled scion of Villafranca, a rich and influential crime boss; along with his friends, he entices a student of Digna to pose for model photos so they can gang-rape her. Eseng tracks them to a bar, where he makes the acquaintance of Elvie. He foils the latter’s fencing of stolen goods but winds up accepting her as his mistress. After Eseng raids Villafranca’s headquarters, the latter hires an assassin to get rid of him. The gang members then target Digna herself and succeed in abducting her, forcing Eseng to step up his investigation.
As the country’s top action-film star, Fernando Poe Jr. consolidated his status by relying on several impositions and performative quirks, to the point where his persona became an object of satire.[1] One could sense him trying to break free every so often—allowing news of the death of his character to overwhelm his family in Eddie Romero’s Aguila (1980), or opening another movie with his character’s actual death but enabling his twin brother to avenge him in the self-directed Ang Probinsyano (The Provincial Man, 1996, unsurprisingly spun off into the most successful series in local TV). With Eseng ng Tondo, he relinquished total control over his directorial function and toyed with narrative material that treated the flourishes beloved by his fans as throwaway or comic moments, even tacking on an open ending for good measure. The resultant product is as rewarding as any that can be reasonably expected from the major male auteur that Philippine cinema had endowed us with. Around this time, young turks were upping the ante as local action cinema’s final shot at significance, rendering the typical FPJ film as too stately paced to match. Yet Eseng ng Tondo manages to hold its own, partly because its relatively dignified approach complements its elderly performer, and also because its conscientious exploration of Tondo’s much-exploited territory, enhanced by the absence of FPJ’s usual aspirational tendency, confers on its denizens a stature and vibrance equal to the star of the picture. As if to confirm that its intentions are indeed forward-looking, it sets its climax in a distinctly working-class event, a so-called byucon (open-air beauty contest) that ends with cat-fighting participants, with Tondo imprinting itself by ensuring that the organizers and contestants comprise cross-dressers. [Tech note: Make sure to source an integral copy rather than the official distributor’s anomalously censored version.]
Note
[1] The standard imposition in any Fernando Poe Jr. movie is that the hero he plays should never be permitted to die, supposedly occasioned by Muslim fans rioting in theaters over the ending of Celso Ad. Castillo’s historical drama Asedillo (1971), as recounted by Nick Joaquin a.k.a. Quijano de Manila in Ronnie Poe & Other Silhouettes (National Book Store, 1977). His gender-progressivity is also generally acknowledged, although (as far as I know) never cited anywhere beyond a master’s thesis at the national university. The histrionic devices associated with his persona include: the exhalation in the delivery of final words to signify intense emotion—an affectation eventually adopted by his friendly rival Joseph Estrada; the slightly stooping stance (enhanced by signature low-waist denim jeans) to signal a more relaxed pose, in contrast with his enemies’ tensed-up posture; the quick-drawing of handguns with supreme sharpshooting skills, to ensure he always wins during showdowns; and the impressively swift delivery of abdominal punches (termed bara-bara) guaranteed to overpower any overconfident bully.
Back to top
Return to Canon Decampment contents
Go to alphabetized filmmakers list
Á!
ORCID ID 
Ámauteurish! 