film spoiler: lihim ni antonio

yesterday, me, sandy and zig went to the up film institute to get our regular indie film dose. it was lihim ni antonio that was showing. the film was from the same creator of lalaki sa parola, which we've seen months ago in robinson's galleria.

when we went there, we were surprised about the number of people who were loitering in front of the building. because normally, there would be just a handful of regular viewers that go there every week. we were actually having second thoughts if we were on the correct play date. but the woman who was selling tickets, confirmed us that it is lihim ni antonio that was going to be shown. i never saw the building this jam packed ever since i've started going here. it seemed like there was a grand eye ball meeting to joke with, although i haven't been into one.

honestly speaking, i didn't really like the prior movie, lalaki sa parola. the direction and script play were actually good. but i think they have a very poor actor casts. i don't have any qualms against sexy stars. but for me, actors who can show their genitals or do "extreme sex" scenes don't mean that they are good actors. nonetheless, it seemd like the creators have already recognized this loop hole and kept this on my mind when they mounted their latest film, lihim ni antonio.

we were intrigued on the fact that veteran theater, movie, and tv actress sharmaine buencamino, which happens to have the next seat from jackilyn jose on my top philippine actresses, is going to act on the said movie. not to mention jiro manio, who made me cry when he portrayed magnifico. despite such names, i was surprise to know that they will not going to act for the lead character. instead, the character of antonio was given to kenjie garcia. although, i haven't knew him or watched any of his works. i got interested on how he will be able to portray the big character with such actors.

the film is a story of a 15-year old boy named antonio. it depicts how he handled the breaking up of what he thought was his " happy family" and how he satisfied his sexual urges considering it was the peak of his 'pagbibinata' aside from the fact that he fancies the same sex.

sharmaine buencamino's outstanding performance on the film was full of energy regardless of whatever emotion she radiates. nonetheless, there were just some minor things that i think she has to work on regarding shifting from theater acting to film acting. because sometimes there is the tendency that she might exagerrate her character that actually slipped into some of the scenes of the movie. but in general, she was able to bring over the emotion of her character effectively. i even felt she was indeed my mother, in a way.

on the other hand, jiro manio attacked his character in a very spontaneous way. in which, you'll never even feel that he was acting, which i find very rare among child actors, nowadays. watching the film with him on the scene seemed like watching friends talking with one another in a park or inside an internet shop. you won't even realize that he was actually picking his nose on most of his scenes because of the spontaneity of his character. it also became very advantageous on his part in delivering most of his funny punchlines at first, i was really dismayed when i knew that he was not going to play the lead part. but after watching the film, i couldn't find any other lead characters that would fit the excellence of his acting part.

although this film might be his first launching movie, kenjie garcia was able to pick the "relatively" best emotions to use for the diversity of the scenes his character has. what i like about him on this film was the intensity of the emotion that he gave on the latter part of. somehow, he reminded me of monica belluci on one of her films, irreversible. probably one of the things i hate about dramatic films is whenever the lead character began shouting. its like when you are in a singing contest and singers have the tendency to go with the hit high notes just to impress there audiences. but in reality they don't. usually, actors have the same tendencies as well. but for kenjie, it was different. he has the correct timing, modulated scream that basically controlled the intensity of his emotions. he left me speechless and moveless on my seat for a while.

in addition, there were also quite bold but very aesthetically creative scenes that would make you ask yourself how old really is this actor? at the end of the film, kenjie garcia succeeded in exceeding my expectations.

indeed, redemption is always the sweetest thing to have for every fall we made and probably joselito alterajos and lex bonifed might already feasting on it as of the moment. i couldn't think of any criticisms with regard to their casts anymore. while the story was outstandingly created. in which its twist, plots and climax were very witful and realistic that it leaves this sensation that you thought that the film was already done. then as you walk yourself home, you'll just realized that the film was just beginning in your self.