I tried to watch this film because of its reputation as an entry in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Despite this, I did not like this film at all. Not even with its Cannes pedigree. In fact, at first I did not even have plans to write anything about it because I barely sat through it without my finger on the fast forward button.
There was no distinct story. Seemingly random mundane things occur in a rural theater showing old porno flicks. The whole message of the movie seemed to be anchored on the boil that developed on the buttocks of lead actor Coco Martin. By now because of the disgust the scene caused among the Western press, everyone knows that Coco would, at the end, pop this darned boil with a soda bottle. The boil would seem to represent the depraved squalor in which the people who own, work and patronize this sordid theater festers in.
But this "message" could have been delivered in a more focused and meaningful manner. There were so many scenes that would have been better when simply implied. Instead we see them in graphic but unwanted detail, details which were meant to shock rather than push any story forward. Come on, did we really need to see Coco Martin's erection?
I decided to write about this film because it won the Gawad Urian for Best Picture of the past year. The Urian is known for being the most credible among the local award-giving bodies. So, was this it already? Was "Serbis" really the best film out there last year? In that case, I'm afraid this does not bode well for the ailing Filipino film industry. But of course, that is just my opinion.
There was no distinct story. Seemingly random mundane things occur in a rural theater showing old porno flicks. The whole message of the movie seemed to be anchored on the boil that developed on the buttocks of lead actor Coco Martin. By now because of the disgust the scene caused among the Western press, everyone knows that Coco would, at the end, pop this darned boil with a soda bottle. The boil would seem to represent the depraved squalor in which the people who own, work and patronize this sordid theater festers in.
But this "message" could have been delivered in a more focused and meaningful manner. There were so many scenes that would have been better when simply implied. Instead we see them in graphic but unwanted detail, details which were meant to shock rather than push any story forward. Come on, did we really need to see Coco Martin's erection?
I decided to write about this film because it won the Gawad Urian for Best Picture of the past year. The Urian is known for being the most credible among the local award-giving bodies. So, was this it already? Was "Serbis" really the best film out there last year? In that case, I'm afraid this does not bode well for the ailing Filipino film industry. But of course, that is just my opinion.