Audience Member
The slums of Manila are alive.....(you can score this movie at Astrovision for a measly P90 bucks)
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/24/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Excellent portrayal of chaos and poverty. A reality slap on our faces.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/15/23
Full Review
Audience Member
really tiring and realistic movie. love the part when the girl's false teeth fell into the drainage pipe! hehehehe
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
02/19/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Dante made another interesting film.
Its one more docu style fiction film.
I liked it but it is not something that i can watch over and over...
PLUS: Directing
CONS: Very shaky camera, pace, editing
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/12/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Just imagine putting yourself into the shoes of even one of the characters in this film. It was an atrocious pattern of never-ending sufferings, a test for survival, and an equivocal expose of lives in desperate situation; hopeless, unrelenting cries for the rights, stymied bliss, and a lot more to be unraveled. This film tackles people's lives in the present-day Philippines. The locus although surreal, but the subject it conveys can be experienced in reality. "Tirador" is a very timely and relevant film.
The film starts with a raid in a slum backdrop in Manila, near the Quiapo area. There is a raid, and every male (or should I say everyone) in the slums are afraid of being caught. Why do they hide? Because everyone is guilty of committing several counts of crime? Rather, they don't know exactly what the authorities are thinking; will they be caught? The patrolmen keep on harassing every male that they see. Handheld shots let us follow the tracks of every character, male, female, children, teenager, it doesn't matter. Wherever they go, the camera is always there. The Sepia effect in the video color scheme makes it more dramatic. A lot of low and ambient lights are utilized for the more natural feel. The use of eerie background scoring gives us the more action and thrill. From the background, we hear heavy steps of people running away from the given peril; unyielding shouts, foul words, and excuses. It exhibits a commiserating scenario. Yet, it is funny and sardonic.
From the action-filled introduction, we finally get to know the main characters involved that may be in some ways interconnected, but are really not. Caloy (Coco Martin) is a pedicab driver that lives with his parents and brother Diego (Julio Diaz) and sister in-law Zeny (Jaclyn Jose). Their quarrelsome family leads them into several catfights especially between Caloy and Diego who both have clandestine bitterness.
Odie (Jiro Manio) is a teenage boy, without schooling, and often spends his time gambling. We see him most often in "video-carera" house or with other grown-ups playing "cara/cruz".
For many reasons, my favorite characters in this film are Rod (Harold Montano) and Tess (Angela Ruiz). They are a couple whom we see for the first time having sex in the midst of the raid. When Rod is asked forcefully to come with the policemen, Tess was shouting angrily, "Don't you see we're having sex?" There, they are established to be quite a funny couple. We also see them sneaking and bagging DVD players in Raon. Part of their modus operandi is, Rod will speak to the owner of the appliance shop and Tess will bag an item secretly. Because of that, Tess was able to produce money for a new denture; and after that, an instant celebrity in the slums because of her new kind of smile. But things go hilariously wrong when Tess accidentally drops the denture into a filthy ditch while brushing her teeth. What does that mean? It means that material things bought with evil money will go nowhere but the ditch, in this case, literally went into the ditch.
Rex (Kristofer King) is a family guy, who spends most of his time outside their house, snorting drugs and doing different illegal activities. He snatches others' belongings mostly within the Quiapo church vicinity and sells those for another gram of enjoyment. Instead of making money for his family, he has always been that egocentric, never regarding whether his family has food to eat or not.
One of the reviews I have read about this film says that the ending does not suggest any resolution at all. For that, I agree. But I think "resolution" is not needed at all. Why? Because the film is just a mere "expose" of what is happening. The problems in this film are the problems of many different individuals. And those are the problems of the entire Philippines. Poverty is such a powerful word to stereotype people around. The film tells us the story of people below the poverty line. We cannot fully understand why they do this or those without even putting our steps in their shoes. So, try to suffice the first query. The people in these films are not criminals. They are victims of fate, and what they do is just their own convenient treatment for the growing sickness of a land of promises, but little done to fulfill those.
<img src="http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm180/rayld/tirador6.jpg" width="300">
The film is satirical in form. A lot of Philippine personalities are employed to add extra conflict for the rising action in the plot. There are the contumelious police officials, the opportunistic Mayor who pays voters in the slums, and there are the main characters, all egotistic, self-centered, and immature. We can't blame them actually. They have grown in a culture full of hard-headed individuals and they always go with the flow. Where there is opportunity for convenience, there they are. That's survival, like a plant following the light in our elementary school experiments, remember?
"Tirador" is equiupped with seriously fine elements, construed to enable a big unraveling of great facts about life. The satire is valuable. The containment of shots that observe the natural expression of the actors, NOT the "acting" is commendable. Handheld, tracking, queasy camera shots; with added horrifying sounds of scoring, the ambient noise of baby crying, running shoes, or the clamor of busy streets of the city itself, they all are superb. We hear the characters talk, and it's all that there is to hear. They contain so much experience, gathered painstaking challenges. These are real people set in a real drama.
Another good film I could suggest is Ramin Bahrani's 2008 film "Chop Shop". It is a story of a boy named Ale much more comparable to Nathan Lopez' character in "Tirador". Roger Ebert put the film in his "Great Movies" collection. Another good film I suggest is the classic Francois Truffaut's 1959 "The 400 Blows". "Tirador" is a true marvel of Filipino artistry.
<img src="http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm180/rayld/tirador4.jpg" width="300">
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
02/27/23
Full Review
Audience Member
A visceral portrait of the urban poor and the political hypocrisy in the Philippines, told through a series of vignettes masterfully shot by Brillante Mendoza. The second half is very slow compared to the fast-paced, and comic-natured first. Brocka inspirations scattered throughout, including the musical score.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/12/23
Full Review
Read all reviews
>
