Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story (2011)

The movie tells the story of Nicasio Salonga, alias Asyong Salonga who is a gang leader who ruled the streets of Tondo Manila in the late 1940's. The movie was a remake of the 1961 film Asiong Salonga which starred Joseph "Erap" Ejercito Estrada, the uncle of  Jeorge "E.R." Estregan. The film starts off with Asiong's men sharpening their blades in what it seems like a "cold and concealed dungeon". Asiong then enters the room asking his men to come follow him and prepare for a fight. Asiong attacks a notorious gangster Viray (Roi 

 Vinzon) and exacts revenge by shooting his right eye and killing off all his men. This was the start of Asiong's rise to fame as a gangster and this alarmed the other gang leaders who reside in Tondo. Asiong started stealing the other gang's supplies and weapons and this made his firepower even stronger. Totoy Golem (John Regala) who is also a Gangleader was furious of Asiong because he found out that his men was killed by Asiong's men and they were robbed off all of their supplies. Golem challenged Asiong to a fistfight which he lost eventually and after this the grudges between their gangs became more potent and treacherous. Asiong was Jailed because he was caught by the police fending off fellow gangster. He was saved for being not treated well in jail because of a fellow inmate whom he calls "Mayor" (Jay Manalo) who admires his courage and bravery as a gangster. Mayor helped  Asiong out of Jail twice and Asiong was then again back in notoriety. Later in the film he was betrayed and shot by his fellow gangster "Erning Toothpick" Reyes" (Baron Geisler) and this was Erning's initiation to Totoy Golem's gang. During Asiong's funeral parade, Totoy Golem's gang launched an all out attack to the gangsters of Asiong. It ended in a bloodbath leaving Asiong's Brother "Domeng Salonga"(Philip Salvador) and his henchmen "Bimbo" (Yul Servo) the ones left standing.

Salonga (1978)

Asiong Salonga: Hari ng Tondo (1990)

The film was a masterpiece and i am really honored that i have watched this film in its last viewing days in theaters. I commend the film for being able to do great even if its a period film with black and white view. The lighting used in the film were right on track and it kind of reminds me of an Orson Welles film. The technicality involved in the movie was terrific that i beseech the cinematographer's choose of angles in the film which it contained a neatly placed continuity in it. I was really hooked up because the gunfights were raining down hard to a number of sequences in the film. Although i am up for the technical side, there were some needed improvements in acting specially the protagonist's acting that somewhat did not penetrated my system. The costumes and props used were all excellent and it gives off a classy ambiance to it. The blocking of the characters were also in sync with the cinematography that it lifted some of the characters' acting stints. I really liked the "Scene Jump" situation that the director used in the film even if it sometimes confuses me as to which continuity does it belong. The plot was not as i expected it to be as it did not go in detail to who Asiong really was. The story of Asiong shown in the movie were all parts of what happened in the peak of his notoriety and it never really showed his roots before he became a renowned gangster. All-in-all the movie was great and i appreciate it solemnly that i was clapping my hands with a teary eye when the film ended.

Asiong Salonga (1961)

Salonga Brothers (1965)

There were four films that featured the life of  Asiong Salonga before this film. The first one was "Asiong Salonga"(1961),"Asiong Meets Alembong" (1963), "Salonga Brothers" (1965), "Salonga" (1978), and "Asiong Salonga: Hari ng Tondo" (1990). The Asiong Salonga movies inspired other filmmakers in making a movie that talks about a life of a notorious criminal. "Bitayin si... Baby Ama!" (1976), "Ben Tumbling" (1986), and "Nardong Putik" (1972) were some of the movies that starred criminals and gang leaders and i wonder how do criminals get so popular even if they did bad things? Though doing a film about a notorious criminal is nothing new in the united states, i still feel that a movie must show a redeeming value in the end or show its moral side. The film Asiong Salonga was vague of giving these details that I've only seen friendship and camaraderie as the concrete lesson in the movie. So far i am happy that the Philippine action genre is revived and it is reborn with flying colors but in black and white.

Asiong Meets Alembong (1963)

Himala (1982)

There hasn’t been any Filipino film in the 80’s that I have watched that made me think in awe like Himala . Surely, it is one of the greatest things that happened in the Philippine movie industry and will be remembered by the Filipino people for a lifetime. Himala tells the story of a girl named Elsa who claimed she has seen the Virgin Mary when visiting a hill. She then performed many miraculous healings in her barren town for free but during her journey in fulfilling what the Virgin Mary has told her, her talents was used by the people who reside in the town to earn money and raise fame for themselves. A film maker named “Orly” (Spanky Manican) ventured the town in search to find something no other film makers have ever stepped into. During his stay he met Elsa and filmed her ritual healings until he got the film he is talking about. He filmed Elsa and Chayong being raped on the hill were Elsa saw the Virgin Mary. After this, he seeks help to the town priest and told him that it’s his decision if he wants it to be exposed. Later in the film, Chayong committed suicide because she couldn’t take fact that she was raped and at the same time Pilo left her to go to Saudi Arabia. An outbreak of Cholera has begun terrorizing the children in the town and the villagers then seeks Elma’s healing but is already waning. Elma then reveals in the end to the villagers that there is no miracle and the miracle is in the hearts of the people, they are making their own miracles. Elsa was shot dead by an unknown person in the Miraculous Hill during her final statement to the towns’ people.

The film was great and it expressed the reality on what is happening on an underdeveloped town in a third world country. The realism that is shown by the characters in the film is superb. It brilliantly shows how one character acts when faced in certain situations. Just like when Pilo got involved in the killing of a Chinese millionaire (Mr. Chua) because he wants to escape the poverty he is in. the technicality shown in he film was not that spectacular but not poor either. Although the problem in the 80’s was the lights, it managed to pull out the scenes neatly and effectively. What I admire in Ishamel Bernal’s film is that the symbols shown in the film are expressed deeply like when Pilo stabbed Chua’s assistant and saw the Virgin Mary Necklace drenched with blood which clearly signifies he has made a mortal sin. Another symbol was when the blind father talks about the town being cursed and it will be only removed when the towns people welcomes the leper that they banished from a long time ago. He also said that the leper was the Virgin Mary in disguise and there will come a time that the leper will be replaced by a fraud Virgin Mary that will produce miracles for the people but is not the real Virgin Mary. It clearly says that the fraud Virgin Mary is Elsa and what she did to the town was not alleviate their pain instead she created evil among the hearts of many.

I can say that the film has something to do with the Marcos Regime. From what I have observed, it clearly shows the people believing in a miracle and thinking that their lives will be better are similar to the Filipino people at that time who believes that poverty will lessen and miracles will happen if Marcos is in power. It is a sign of protest and can be seen when Nimia told Orly she returned to the town because there is no life in Manila and only miseries befall her. This shows that ‘manila’ being the national capital, cannot do a damn thing about the people who reside in it. The film was really superb no wonder why it gathered many awards.

Kisapmata (1981)

Mike De Leon’s 1981 film, Kisapmata tells a true to life story of a newly married couple struggling to be on their own because they are hindered by a psychotic father (Vic Silayan). Milagros (Charo Santos-Concio) the wife of Roel (Jay Ilagan) embarks a dark path after their marriage. Their marriage ventures a painful journey through the clutches of Milagros's father Sgt. Diosdado Carandang (Vic Silayan). Diosdado is an unusually overprotective father to Milagros. He cannot accept the fact that his daughter got pregnant and is to be married to Noel. After the wedding of Noel and Milagros, Diosdado decides that Milagros and Noel stay at their house and live there. Because of Diosdado and the terrifying truth about the Carandang family, Milagros cannot decide if she will leave the house together with Noel. Milagros later then decides to leave the house and run away with Noel but they returned because they want to face what they have been afraid all along. Diosdado continues to pester Milagros and Noel upon their return and decides to never let the couple leave the house, ever again.   

First and foremost, the film for me was a craft doused by excellence. I’ve seen films from the 1980's and late 70's but most of it is action movies. I don't know if I’m just being overly amazed by the movie but it really got me. I cannot even believe that such movie like this is from the past, i really honored to be a Filipino. The film was a psychological suspense movie wherein it got some of its imagery on some classic films. I am to say that the movie's inspiration is from foreign suspense films and Mike De Leon did not fail to express the realness of the movie and not showing its cliché side at the same time. What I mean by this is that, Mike De Leon got an idea from another idea but created something better using the acquired idea making it original and outside the box. I noticed a lot of good technical work in the movie considering the fact that it was a 1981 movie. The transition wherein Milagros is writing on her diary and the ambience changing from sepia to a creepy black and white gives the audience a creepy and weird feeling. It was not clear to me if it was a dream unlike in the last part of the film wherein Milagros is shown wearing a bride gown and her seeing (what would turn out to be a premonition) herself being trapped in the house with his husband Noel inside a burning owner jeep. This showed great editing work because the effect was really noticeable and understandably creepy. The camera work on the film I can say is not that great but effective. A scene wherein the altar is shown as well as the stairway and the door gives a “Psycho” feel. The noticeable darkness when the characters speak at night also gives a mysterious ambience to the audience. The technicals of the film are considerably good but not that great.

The Cabading family

What I liked about the movie is that the characters expressed the truth about their selves. Milagros’s mother “Adelina” (Charito Solis) expressed herself showing no sympathy to her daughter and even showed jealousy to her daughter. Diosdado was quite vulgar in his words many times during the film and there were even times that he mocks Noel and says bad words. What I cannot understand is that why Noel is such a nice guy. He never refuses and always favored Milagros’s all the time. For me I think it can be real but it’s not really believable. Overall, the movie really is a shocker and it was shown in the final part of the film wherein Diosdado grabs a gun and silently shoots everyone dead (including himself). Milagros is still holding the cross when Diosdado shoots her and there was no voice heard except for the minimal struggle of the characters after being shot. The credits roll and a church sound are heard giving a creepy and weird feeling that is really shocking from my perspective.

The film was based on a true story.

To me the movie is saying that religion does not affect a screwed up family who doesn’t want a change. The Carandang family lies in hypocrisy and lived on a one track field. No one dared to escape the madness except for Noel but did not make it out alive. I’ve been questioning myself if Adelina and Milagros is still sane because they have been living like that for many years and I taught that if I wee to live like that it would be an everyday hell-fare for me. I also wondered why the father of Noel (Peping Manalansan) did not do anything after Diosdado made a ruckus in front of his house holding a gun. If it were me I would definitely not approach the person again because that person has some kind of psychopathic tendencies. I’m thinking of a possibility that they are all insane and they are all religious and religion doesn’t even play a part in all of the happenings yet it is shown most of the time. And what ever happened to Anyang?

Let Me In (2010)

“Let me in” is an American version of the 2008 Swedish film, “Let the right one in” by Tomas Alfredson.The film was based on the novel by John Avjide Lindqvist carrying the same title. The story revolves around a boy named Owen and mysterious girl named Abby. Owen was always bullied at school and during his torment because of his situation, he met Abby and there they shared their aloneness. Although they started as strangers at first, Owen became friendly to Abby when Abby told Owen that he should “fight back against the bullying and if all else fails she will help him fight the bullies”. Owen was a normal kid but conceals a deep sorrow inside him. His parents are getting a divorce and his longingness for fatherly love and her mother’s counseling including the usual bullying, made him think that his life is being ignored. Later, Owen found out that Abby is a vampire and needs blood to survive. In the end Owen still accepted Abby and they left Los Alamos, New Mexico on a train. 

Although I have seen the Swedish and American version of the film, I am comfortable to say that the American version is much better. I can say this because the American version expressed the much more darkness of the film. The minimal use words and conversations, expressed a more emotional and serious theme in the film. The cinematic approach matched the story making it better than its Swedish counterpart. The use of CGI may be a bit too much in the film, but I think it’s what Matt Reeves wants in his film. In the Swedish film, I did not see any computer animated effects at all instead of Eli’s distorted voice. The American version used lights that matched the mood to the scenes, like when the “Father” of Abby was in a car to get his victim and the dark ambience can be felt that did go in synch with the music played by the man that the “Father” will victimize. The greatest technical greatness (we’ll that’s my term for it) I’ve seen in the film is the scene wherein the “Father” fell down the slopes with a car. The camera was so still that it was like it looks really real. The 5 seconds of silence after the fall makes it more really great because it gave a reality feel. All in all I think Matt Reeves made a right decision about his approach on his film. There was no detailed explanation on how Abby came about. There was no historical explanation of her being a vampire. Owen saw the old puzzle toys of Abby including an old picture of a man with her that it seems to explain that the “Father” is not really her father but was not really mentioned in the film. The film left a lot of questions unanswered like “Where will Owen and Abby go?”, “Is it really normal for a kid like Owen to go together with a vampire not thinking of his parents?”, “Is Owen really a normal kid?”, “How really old is Abby and where did she come from?”, these are only a few questions that makes us wonder but it’s the things that made the film great. It makes you want to think and think again, and then believe.

I’ve watched a number of vampire movies and this movie to me is more like a fairy tale type. It attacks the audience psychologically and its novel roots can clearly be seen. I cannot say that there are no flaws in the movie, but to me it was a great film. It was expressive, somewhat dramatic, less terrifying, an inch of gore, majority of darkness, excellent cinematography and lots of questions equals great vampire movie. I recommend watching this movie to people that loves to read vampire novels. It extracts the elements needed for a vampire movie that is really interesting to watch.