INDIE FILM: Pagdadalaga nI Maximo Oliveros woot!

[doki]

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i wsh they make more movies about this.. simply because it shows how well/bad the condition of our country is...
PLUS! its the cheapest movie ive seen this year! hohohohoho
but more importantly nindot iyang substance..

[vanceloma]

I like how RAW the film was.

I am amazed by Nathan's performance.

The film story is nicely written, tight cya unya ni veer away sa usual mainstream cinema cliches.

i.e, kung naay mamatay, naay gyuy scene na gi lubong, or 5 minute na grabeg hinilakay na scene.

Idol nako si Ping Medina, kadtong long hair na kuya ni Maxi. mga barako kaayo ug igsuon si maxi, hehe.

also the film's theme is very universal, it's about growing up, you will be forced to make a decision on what matters to you.
it's about the first time you stuipidly loved someone, or the nice little details in life.

It's a reallly a very pinoy film, not overly dramatic and cheeky, that's why I think it deserved the many wards it has gained.
karon, pirmo nalng tag special effects especailly sa local film and TV, pero kani siya, walay gyud special effects pero tight and dynamic kaayo ug storytelling, mao nang pyter kaayo salidaha.

what's more amazing about the film is the INDIE-ness of it. it got it start from Cinemalaya, it was produced low-budgetly, trying to shoot a film out of passion, from their pockets., ngayo tabang sa community, sa friends.

As nathan Lopez would put it, "Para lang kaming pamilya sa set." (nathan's a really nice guy, ganahan cya sa naruto, hehe)

this is the type of film that mainstream would never produce, or if they do, they'd somehow ruin it.

what I didn't like though is the horrible audio, I hope they paid more special attention to that, also I didn't like some of the rough camera work. but damn, the long takes ROCK!!!

so this film can perhaps be good example to would be filmmakers or wirters.

So with the Film's success, are we Filipinos ready for more Indie Digital Films? Or is the furute of our local film iindustry will all be about fantasy and special effects? *cough MMFF

(BTW, up to Dec. 16 ang extension sa Maxi sa SM cebu.)

[Flame alchemist]

I totally forgot about this, oh well, better late than never

http://kaftig.multiply.com/video
^
trailer

[tin2x_angel]

hehehehhehe !!!!!!!!! di gani ko bayot!!!! ^_^ sus baya ......

[diem]

Mind if I post this column from today's issue of the Manila Standard which shares generally my sentiments and declares my opinions about this awardwinning digital film almost accurately.....

Pretty pink silly ‘Maxi’ fantasy

By Iskho F. Lopez

Seeing this coming-of-age fantasy from standard rhinestone-rimmed rose-colored glasses can be downright silly. The story is far from poignant. A 12-year-old boy flaunting his potential for femininity to the approving amusement of an entire neighborhood as well as his family is to romanticize a rather serious social issue. To suggest that Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros is not a gay movie is disturbing, to say the least, if not hypocritical. At worst, its misleading claim to be evocative of what is “tunay na Pelikulang Pilipino (real Filipino movie)� is the height of presumption.

On one hand though, there are a number of young blatant and brazen Maxis in the Pinoy community who are far from being innocent. Their behavior is indicative of an abnormal mindset that is not associated with naiveté as the movie vainly tries to suggest in the case of the young Maximo. It is the sad consequence of a society that tolerates transvestites as TV hosts as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Talk show hosts who don’t think twice about liberally displaying their homosexuality are not exactly ideal role-models, yet Pinoy TV gives us the impression that they are born every day, sashaying out of their mother’s womb.

At the outset, the movie provides a visual metaphor that appropriately situates this gay fantasy—an orchid floating in a nearby murky estero. From his introduction, Nathan Lopez easily establishes the challenge he confronted in playing a gay character, setting the movie’s make-believe premise. It is bothersome that his good looks should bring to mind a handsome version of Serena Darlymple considering that the storyline may have been cut out for the young teen actress herself.

As the story unfolds, the suspension of disbelief becomes increasingly problematic. Maximo’s father and two obviously macho brothers are bonded by very strong family ties. Considering the cramp surrounding that serves as their domicile, the three think nothing of lounging together, or watching television.

There is this routine involving the pronunciation of “schemer,â€� the movie title indicated on a DVD carrier conspicuously lying around, noticeable in two or three sequences. Meurtre Ã* Montmartre, a 1957 film by French director , was released as The Schemer for American television. That The Schemer is about a father and his son involved in selling Gauguin forgeries is an interesting footnote to Maxi’s family of crooks but expect that to be lost to local viewers let alone the characters in this movie. Maxi’s father and brothers as petty criminals seemingly believe that a family, who steals together, stays together.

Interestingly, in the absence of their mother, it is young Maxi who provides the household its feminine touch, attending to household chores and slaving for his family of petty thieves. Everything with Maxi is ideal had he been a young girl, which is precisely when Serena Darlymple comes to mind. On the part of his family, they are kind and caring, and attentive to Maxi’s needs, treating him just like the daughter/sister the family doesn’t have.

Sampaloc, director Aureaus Solitos’ own neighborhood, turns out to be a picturesque locale from cinematographer Nap Jamir’s visuals, which is the movie’s saving grace. The place and its residents, coupled with Jamir’s photographic sense provide a breath of authenticity to the production, and sparing it the quality of a home movie.

But the narrative structure of Maximo Oliveros plods painfully slow despite dramatic highlights, a pacing dictated by Nathan Lopez’ tentative gay characterization. Thus, a scene with Maxi and his friends playfully spoofing a beauty pageant complete with costumes and makeup could be singled out as the only genuinely fun moment in the movie, thanks to Little Miss Venezuela.

When Maxi, the gay teen, falls prey to an attempt of molestation, the dramatic moment leads to his meeting his knight in shining armor, a good-looking gentleman in police uniform. JR Valentin, as Victor, in his first major screen appearance, is not your typical policeman. He appears to be soft-spoken, gentle mannered, and everything a gay would consider as “papa-ble,� which in gay lingo means boyfriend material. Though for a rookie policeman, Victor is made to behave like a barangay tanod.

In establishing the relationship between Maxi and his policeman dreamboat, the movie gets lost in romance and takes itself a bit way too seriously. While suggesting that just about everybody may be rooting for the cop to transform into the frog prince in the gay confusion of this fairytale gay romance, a conflict with family develops. Maxi is torn between falling in love and being devoted to his family. Hello?

To say that this love story is no different from what normally comes between a boy and girl, except for Maxi’s attraction to another man is precisely its weakness. Maximo Oliveros intended to take its audience on a gay ride and it does just that. A limp suggestion in the end that Victor, the gentleman cop, regrets losing Maxi’s affection is pathetically delusional.

In Ma Vie en Rose, a French cinema co-production with Belgian director Alain Berliner, the young cross-dressing boy, Luduvic, is in a rush to become the woman he thinks and feels he is, and suffers the consequence of his make-believe.

In Maximo Oliveros, the boy-girl lead character comes to bloom in a society permissive of gays and tolerant of their scandalous behavior, which is something that the closet cultures of the west would readily find novel, appealing, even liberating. It is easy to succumb to the call of aesthetic profundities in viewing Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros but in a matter of time expect all to be forgotten. All repressed gays only need to realize that we live in a straight world. That the truth will set us free is a certainty even with gays.

The export of gay-themed independent movies is kind of disconcerting; as we give the impression that local filmmakers are incapable of making quality movies other than those focused on angst-ridden homosexuals against a depressing backdrop of Third World reality, lurking in dark alleys in search of masseurs or macho dancers.

Can Pinoy filmmakers take pride with the distinction of being the Miss Venezuela of gay international film festivals?

[Flame alchemist]

toink! ka taas, pero worth the point.

to each his own.

[anniepetilla]

ouch!
ang anghang naman non...i bet he thinks he's super brilliant to be lambasting something that is universally liked.
huhn...yeah, i guess to each his own huh.
...or maybe he's a homophobe

[brian_d]

To each his own allright. But he sure is one big homophobe

[diem]

@anniepetilla and brian_d
OT: in defense of the writer Iskho Lopez, i don't think that he's that BAD or close-minded to be called a homophobe--

He's just a guy who feels strongly of his own convictions just as homosexuals feel when they have gaypride--

So let's be fair people and cut everyone their own piece of slack, homos and heteros alike...


added as an afterthought, you know, Iskho Lopez does have a point-- Serena Dalrymple would have made a good Maximo...

[Flame alchemist]

yeah, pero not all man sad mga ciritcally accalimed films from the phils. kay naay gay themes,

just because, softcore "gay" porn masahista won, then comes this, Phil. cinema is then labeled gayness? that's just two films pa.

of course, there are naysayers as always, but that's a good thing! that's what makes the world go round.

pero personally, believe gyud ko sa production crew ani, coz they were able to shoot a feature length film ,then it all paid off, all that trouble and worry over schedules and budget etc. unya cool ug buotan gyud kaayo sila.
ug biased pud ko na friend ni nathan

it is up to other filmmakers out there, if they disagree, then they should do something about it.
like what Jerrold-sama would say, "the only way to criticize a film, is to make another film".

but still, everyone is entitled to their own opinions.

suway nya ko pangutana sa Sociology and Antrhopology college depts. na gi patanaw ani on what there take about this "gay issue" though.