Ah, it's Christmas once again! And in this festivity-mad country, that means the ubiquitous Christmas lanterns, "noche buena," carolers, and - tada! - the Mother Lily Film Carnival, er, Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF). The Philippines has held onto a long tradition of this year-ender film festival, most of which revolve around mediocre fantasy and horror films, much to the dismay of many local film pundits, although in recent years the burgeoning of alternative indie film festivals has somehow made it easy taking MMFF with a grain of salt. As it is, as far as MMFF is concerned, film-making per se is only a junior-grade objective compared to marketability, lending further credibility that the festival has transformed along with the season it is held as one that succumbed to crass and commercialism. But to be fair, some recent MMFF had seen some fair share of decent, if not remarkably good, movies.
"Ligalig," by director/co-writer/co-producer/star Cesar Montano (best known in the circuit as the director/co-writer/co-producer/star of 2004 MMFF entry "Panaghoy sa Suba"), falls somewhere in this category. Although experienced movie-goers will probably figure out the ambivalent story's twist from a mile away (which is similar to a number of foreign films, Hollywood and otherwise), and that Montano's camera-work tend to be distracting at a few points (honestly the revolving camera during the car scenes get to you after a while), much of the film is dominated by a morbidly thoughtful and stylish atmospherics.
The movie tells the story of Junior (Montano), a taxi driver who goes to the countryside one day with his girlfriend (Montano's real-life wife Sunshine Cruz) and her sister (Katya Santos) amidst news that a serial killer (Johnny Delgado) has been rampaging around Manila. Junior meets the woman who could be his mother-in-law (Celia Rodriguez) and she certainly doesn't like him for her daughter. Soon, for some reasons the killer reaches where Junior is and shortly begins to off the folks in the area.
Viewing "Ligalig" gives an apparent sense of the director's eagerness in creating a visually arresting if somewhat pokey topic of discourse. The style is so deviant of mainstream Filipino films that it feels more at home with digital film festivals (the cinematography in some parts reminds me of Ron Bryant's "Rotonda") where the gritty quality of the digital camera aids in giving the film its quasi-noir look. But there are times the film feels dilatory and a pruned script could have provided the attempt in ambiguity with more impact.
*STATEMENT OF PLOT TWIST FOLLOWS*
It probably doesn't help either that the film's posters give much of the nature of the story as we see Montano wearing the outfit of the serial killer. So from there, if you've seen enough films from Hollywood tackling the same theme, it's easy to deduce the ending. Schizophrenia or possession of an avenging ghost? Take your pick.
*STATEMENT OF PLOT TWIST ENDS*
Besides the ever-reliable Montano and Delgado, the performances are pretty much competent throughout. Cruz (in her second CEB A-rated film this year after "Inang Yaya") is good as Junior's girlfriend (try as I may, I can't recall her name), as is Rodriguez as a woman with something who may or may not hold something up her sleeve. Santos provides extra pull for the male demography but her presence is mostly on-off where her longest scene involves taking a bath in lingerie with John Regala (don't get any ideas; it's an R-13 movie). Fellow Viva Hot Babe Gwen Garci has a love scene with Montano during the opening credits but it's heavily grained and in black-and-white.
Released in a period that has virtually become this country's excuse for creating mainstream movies, I don't think "Ligalig" would be the film most Filipino viewers are willing to give a chance to this season. However, it could find its audience in those who can overlook the movie's weaknesses in favor of Montano's strong and refined narrative style. For that, I'm looking forward to brighter (or darker, for that matter) things from him in the future.
