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Tatak ng Kriminal
English Translation: Mark of the Criminal
Year of Release: 1993
Director: Edgardo Vinarao [as Edgardo “Boy” Vinarao]
Screenwriter: Amado Lacuesta
(Based on Pablo S. Gomez’s same-titled komiks material)
Producer: FLT Films International
Cast: Eddie Garcia, Tetchie Agbayani, Johnny Delgado, Jean Saburit, Beth Tamayo, Berting Labra, Fred Moro, Manjo del Mundo, Romy Romulo, Edwin Reyes, Vangie Lablan, Rey Solo, Nonoy de Guzman, Eddie Tuazon, Herminio “Butch” Bautista, Ester Chavez, Jose “Kaka” Balagtas, Ding Concepcion, Tony Tacorda, Boy Sta. Maria, Bebeng Amora, Joe Baltazar, Eddie Samonte, Ben Rivera, Ben Malit, Buddy Salvador, Cesar Villanueva, Johnny Ramirez, Danny Labra, Boy Alano, Tom Calunsod, Freddie Roberto, Jimmy Flores, Robert Roncales, Rudy Vicdel, Tony Concepcion, Mario Cruz, Julito Nunez, Michael Manzano, Jun Tañajura, Rene Tanajura, Allan Ancieto, Ariel Henson, Ramon Fernandez, Marie Barbacui, Panchito
After his release from prison, Gojo confronts his mortal enemy Bito to ask if he might be aware of the whereabouts of his daughter Jessica, who’d be a teenager by this time. Bito’s henchpeople throw him out and he also gets thrown out of the people’s park by a police officer, for sleeping on a bench at night. He finally wanders into a taxi station, where the drivers befriend him and vow to help him find Jessica. As it turns out, Bito housed Laura after Gojo killed Bito’s brother; Bito beats up Laura everyday and takes an unhealthy interest in Jessica. After casing Bito’s house, Gojo is surprised when Laura emerges and boards his taxi. Laura confesses her regret in shacking up with Bito and tells him she entrusts Jessica to the care of a pragmatic but sympathetic dance instructor.
Close to the same year that Eddie Garcia broke out as renowned action star when his Andres Manambit: Angkan ng Matatapang (Clan of the Brave, dir. Ike Jarlego Jr., 1992) won major prizes at the Metro Manila Film Festival, he featured in a smaller-budgeted but fairly competently made action-spiced family melodrama. The fact that he was already elderly by then—in fact, he would die from an on-set accident while literally performing a millennium-era action role—would be his postmortem commemoration of his late-era specialization, when he lent his name after his passing, to the law meant to safeguard the safety of participants in film and TV productions. Tatak ng Kriminal though points to a less-observed problem in Garcia’s generational principles. One could never really automatically fault performers who accept and attempt to excel in roles for which they get hired by producers of all types; but Garcia’s parallel career as director began with Cold War secret-agent films as well as a defense for the convicted rapist of Annabelle Huggins (Ang Manananggol or The Advocate, 1963), peaking in the 1960s with the reelection biopic of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. (Pinagbuklod ng Langit or Bound by Heaven, 1969), before resuming late into the Second Golden Age with women-positive material for the major stars of the period. His final film performance was in an overt critique of the fascist dictatorship, Benedict Mique’s ML (2018), but one would be hard-put to find material remotely similar to his TnK role. We can argue that his Andres Manambit character, a righteous police officer, set a trend that was difficult for him to buck. Nevertheless he landed the TnK assignment and invested it with the pathos and humor that won him a following among action aficionados, with the character’s underclass identification helping to minimize the smugness of his smart-alecky persona. The cab driver’s long-sought reunion with his unsuspecting though endangered daughter, escorted by a golden-hearted madame (another of the material’s casual virtues), occasions a wordless set piece worthy of any of the age’s masters, and affirms Garcia’s mastery of film performance despite the technocratic approach he tended to prefer.
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