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)