SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION FROM LILIA CUNTAPAY (Antoinette Jadaone, 2011)

-

Like any other mockumentary, Antoinette Jadaone's SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION FROM LILIA CUNTAPAY intends to flesh out a bitter truth out of its subject matter, in this case the role of bit players in local cinema, as represented by one particular bit player, whose presence in film and on TV for about 30 years is extremely underrated. However, unlike any other mockumentaries (Christopher Guest and Jerrold Tarog conveniently come into mind), SIX DEGREES breathes striking vigor to the film medium because the actor is actually playing herself! And not just as a means for comedy, but rather as an echo for her own life story.

Jadaone and her crew made a research on Cuntapay's life, located where she lives, and out of it she wrote a performance art that is to become Cuntapay's crowning glory, sort of a retrospective cum tribute to her "non-existent" presence in the movies.

In its ultimate, SIX DEGREES is able to achieve a sense of recognition for Cuntapay that she rightfully deserves, making us, the audience know who she is and what her contributions to Philippine cinema are. Jadaone made us realize the fundamental and integral part of Cuntapay's identity: her name. We all know Cuntapay when we see her onscreen, or when we are given a photo of her, but we really did not know her name (at least, most of us); we just cared that she looked scary, is a regular of the now-defunct Magandang Gabi Bayan, and always plays either a witch, a white lady, or a vampire in movies. That's why you will hear Lilia Cuntapay repeteadly mentioning her name in this mockumentary, because Jadaone wants us to remember her name.

The structure itself is impressive- Lilia Cuntapay after 30 years in show business, is finally earning an acting nod, alongside established actresses Rio Locsin, Raquel Villavicencio, and Mercedes Cabral. This excites Lilia, and Jadaone, playing herself in the background in a staged character relative to the nature of mockumentaries sets aim to document Lilia's journey as she prepares the perfect speech should she win. Along the way, Jadaone's camera, and our eyes as well catch Lilia's life in passing: getting early for location shoots, being pushed aside in anonymity, and even the misery that comes from an underdog in the industry and in life (the scene where they created a makeshift premiere night in Lilia's house starts out funny then turns poignant). 

But Lilia Cuntapay is a strong woman. She is a sweet lady with unlimited supply of humility. Her passion for the movies and for her craft as a bit player excites me, and reminds me that stories like hers is why we love going to the movies. Giving a lead role for Lilia Cuntapay is brave and noble enough; to have her play herself and spill her guts out and make it beautiful and inspiring is something else- it is beyond comparison. 

Interviews from filmmakers Peque Gallaga and Lore Reyes, the first two people who gave Lilia her big break in the movies help give the film a credible stance. Lilia's own stories of her experiences filming horror films intercut with footages of those movies result to show-stopping hilarity.

The equation itself, based on the premise that anybody can be connected to actor Kevin Bacon in six degrees or less, is amusing and fits the occasion. To say that Lilia Cuntapay is the Philippines' answer to Kevin Bacon seems appropriate, but as Jadaone and Lilia herself puts it, "Kevin Bacon is six degrees of separation from Lilia Cuntapay" would be the rightful statement.

RATING: 5/5    

The trailer can be viewed here:

Comments

  1. CherDecember 4, 2011 at 9:08 PM

    Hindi siya naging vampire. Wala siyang ngipin. lol

    ReplyDelete
  2. Macky MacarayanDecember 5, 2011 at 3:43 AM

    E ano pala role nya sa Shake Rattle and Roll yung susugurin nila si Manilyn???

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownNovember 3, 2012 at 7:24 PM

    nice review. the new look is good :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

TUHOG (Jeffrey Jeturian)

-
Image
Film within a film-structured movies are always interesting watch. Not only do they provide a much-needed deconstruction of form and content of cinema itself, but also that much-needed emotional punch a cinephile would surely love.  Like in BAD EDUCATION (Almodovar, 2004), we witness the characters tell the back story via montage, as if we are part of the cast of characters watching an actual movie. The form was successful in evoking pain and regret, and also of empathy. In TUHOG, Jeffrey Jeturian and screenwriter Bing Lao tackles sensational media in the Philippines, especially in cinema. The film opens as a film producer hears a pitch for a possible movie- a story of a grandfather who rapes his own granddaughter.  The director of the film soon after visits the victim of the crime, Floring (Ina Raymundo). Coercing both she and her mother, Perla (Irma Adlawan) to sell them the movie rights to their story, we witness as exploitation cinema unfolds. To think of it, capitalizing on ta
Read more

ANINO SA LIKOD NG BUWAN (Jun Lana, 2015)

-
Image
* English title "Shadow behind the Moon" The best term to describe Jun Lana's latest film would be a cinematic charade- a game of identities, of motives, of suppressed passions, and of uncertainty. Or the film equivalent of a Russian doll, if you will. "Anino sa Likod ng Buwan" only has three characters- husband and wife Nando (Anthony Falcon) and Emma (LJ Reyes) and military man Joel (Luis Alandy). What started as a seemingly routine banter among friends gradually and intensely escalated into an examination of society, where the definition of immorality is blurred during a time of insurgency.  And in fact, the film does discuss the subject of immorality from various paradigms. When does adultery become acceptable, and to whom? Is sexual liberation more heinous than murder? Why is immorality always a double standard? The film plays out the ideas in endless games. Or are they really games at all? Lana could have stopped there, but he didn'
Read more

A study of spaces in Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit's 'Happy Old Year'

-
Image
Space is both an overarching theme and visual signifier in Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit's Happy Old Year . Its protagonist, Jean (Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying) comes home from a lengthy stay abroad, determined to declutter her life, and along with it, old things that belong to a past she is desperately running away from. As we watch Jean plan the redesign of their family house into a more spacious and minimalist residential office, we also witness the transformation of the persons that inhabit the house, as well as their connection to other people, most of them absent from the frame. Jean the destroyer Millennials have often been criticized for being rash with their actions, and for having their way, no matter what. The filmmaker, a millennial himself, understands this stigma, and subliminally argues that millennials are the way they are because of a multitude of factors: rising cost of living, the evolution of discourse as a result of technology (such as film streaming se
Read more