Just a week ago, I was able to catch
two (2) Pinoy Films, OTJ: On The Job and Lihis. Meaning, this post may
have come a little too delayed. ;)
Directed by Erik Matti, starring
Piolo Pascual, Gerald Anderson, Joel Torre, Joey Marquez and many more, OTJ
which was distributed by star cinema, is a film that tackles high
crimes in the country that involves government officials, military men and prisoners.
The story is about murder cases
committed by hired killers from prison, Tatang (Joel Torre) and apprentice Daniel
(Gerald Anderson). These cases were first handled by a police officer, Sgt. Acosta (Joey
Marquez) which was then transferred to NBI, and was passionately attended by Atty. Francis
Coronel (Piolo Pascual). As these two law enforcers tried to search for answers
and the murderers, they found out that it was the job and business of a
high ranking military man, Gen. Pacheco (Leo Martinez) and with the knowledge
of a corrupt government official, Cong. Manrique (Micheal De Mesa).
I think the actors played well the
whole time during the film as they were able to convince me with their
characters. There is no doubt that Mr. Torre may receive awards from his
portrayal as Tatang. It was unusual, but it was good to see Gerald Anderson
played a dark character as a hired killer. Although full of emotions, Joey
Marquez as the police officer gave some hilarious scenes which lightens the
movie. Piolo Pascual the NBI agent being trained to do dirty jobs by his
father-in-law, played by Micheal de Mesa, provided the sex appeal of a man fighting
to do what is right.
What I dislike about the film are
the scenes that don’t seem to be important but were included; like those sex
scenes which I thought took so much time as to what it was supposed to be. The
texture was already close to or can already be compared to a commercial movie. As
a whole, the film deserves all the recognition that it has been getting.
I find the story relevant as it
seems to depict a real life situation in our country that we, Filipinos, may
not have knowledge about. It seems that the makers of the film are trying to convey a message about the illegal system of some government officials that are not divulged to us. I hope this serves as an eye opener for everyone to
become vigilant in terms of what are happening I our country.
The
other movie, Lihis, is an indie film which stars Jake Cuenca, Joem Bascon, Lovi
Poe, Isabelle Daza and Gloria Diaz.
The story is about the struggles and
acceptance of a forbidden love – gay relationship in a rebel or communist group
during the 1980s. The story of the gay couple was brought up by a history
teacher/journalist, Ada (Isabelle Daza), the daughter of Ka Jasmine (Gloria
Diaz, Lovi Poe) and Ka Domeng (Joem Bascon) as she searched for the truth about
a massacre in an old town during the rebellion in Marcos’ regime. It was later
revealed that her father had an affair with his comrade, Ka Jimmy (Jake
Cuenca), which he later chose over her mother (Lovi Poe).
While I thought it was just focusing
on the LGBT theme, I believe it also shows the cruelty of the government towards
media people and trying to hide the truth among nation’s people nowadays. The
movie also illustrates the great effort of those rebels to survive while hiding
in the mountains as they show their resistance against the government during
the 80s.
As gay couple, Jake and Joem played
well with their characters and in their intimate scenes. There were no signs of
hesitations as they exposed so much flesh. Lovi Poe perfectly fits to play as a
strong willed woman and showed her sexiness with her intimate scenes with Joem.
Even as a newbie, I think Isabelle Daza’s acting was already satisfactory. What
I just didn’t like about the film was some irrelevant scenes, like Isabelle’s
sexy scene with Alex Castro, which were included in the movie.
Overall, I think the film was good,
it was okay. I like the fact that it imparts the message of acceptance among
gays or same-sex affairs even during the time of rebellion and what love can do
to protect your people.
