Audience Member
Not morally empty as many have labeled it -- it's really about the newlywed and his deciding not to act (note the focus on his shirt -- "Integrity Lost is Integrity Lost Forever" -- but the film's flaw is that much of it doesn't feel made by a skilled artisan. The cavernous interiors are often soundtracked by ominous dissonant music (ooh), the title has a sword cut through it, the film ends with a loud slam indicating its own self-importance.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
01/21/23
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Audience Member
It's rare for Philippine cinema to have this kind of stories, dark and brutal. Salvaging has always been out there but somehow Filipinos tend to overlook this horrible crimes. On another note, it is like 'training day' on a different kind. I didn't like the rookie as a cliche protagonist of the film. As well as the dragging scenes. This could just be a short film for all its worth.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/13/23
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Audience Member
More than the story's plot, you'd remember how you felt for Pepoy (Coco Martin) and how you felt almost the same feelings too. Although gruesome, you'd find it interesting that it doesn't hide the truth from you.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/20/23
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Audience Member
a very quiet but powerful thriller, not everyones taste for sure
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/19/23
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Audience Member
Brillante Mendoza se da un gusto con el Gore en este film, La dirección es casi perfecta, la paradoja presente desde el inicio llama bastante la atención es verdaderamente inteligente, ambientada en una ciudad muy desordenada, donde el crimen es cosa diaria y recuerda a Colombia, este film va desde la critica social hasta las problemáticas morales y sentimentales humanas, pasando por el significado de la familia y la vida y muchas otras cosas... La larga agonía de la victima del crimen y del protagonista, crean una tensón constante que sin dudas hace al film bastante ameno, así como las largas esperas lo pueden hacer tedioso por momentos, Coco Martin nuevamente hace una muy buena actuación y Brillante Mendoza la mejor dirección de su fructífera carrera...
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/22/23
Full Review
Audience Member
The film's emotional heart lies in the changes rung on Peping's face, from his carefree morning (he'd just been married in a lovely little civil ceremony to Cecille (Mercedes Cabral)) to his bored wait in the nightclub's parking lot, to his dawning realization that they're out on a snatch-n-salvage mission, where the person involved is a nightclub dancer and prostitute. It's a gradual process that mirrors within the length of the picture our own--how we hear faint rumors of vigilante executions; how these stories are repeated, with more detail and perhaps a more authoritative voice; how suspicions gave way to dismayed certainty; and how, after the epiphany, comes the knottiest question of all: what are you going to do about it? Perhaps some of the tensest moments in the film involve the choices Peping has to make--should he walk away, should he try help her, or should he stay for the ride? What do his decisions at these various points say about him as a human being--and us, since we are impicated by viewing the story through his eyes and ears? Even more than the possibility of the girl's survival (the film's title and details handed out by the film's canny publicity campaign (say, could all the negative reviews including Ebert's have been planted?) pretty much rule that out) we hope for some sign of resistance from Peping--an attempt to help the girl, comfort her somehow, some recognition on his part that she is a human being, a mother in fact, and that what is about to happen to her is monstrous beyond words.
Speaking of monsters--the police officers are not presented as complex characters capable of change; instead, they are presented the way they are: weary and so desensitized by this job they need to buy beer and boiled duck eggs along the way to keep themselves entertained (a horrifying detail, I thought, that sets this particular vigilante execution apart from those set in, say, Mexico). If we are to find their closest cinematic equivalent we'll find them not in the films of Fernando Meirelles but in those of Michael Mann--lonely professionals toiling away at demanding work, perhaps not as supercompetent, but certainly as burnt-out and inexpressive and tired. Mendoza may have made Peping the film's heart, but its soul definitely takes cue from the police officers, from their crude, off-the-cuff way of handling things, even emergencies.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/31/23
Full Review
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