Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Ploning: A tearjerker

Yes I cried, as always my tear gland was active when I watched Ploning, a movie shot entirely at the beautiful place of Cuyo, Palawan.

The movie is a fusion of timelines, the marrying of the past and present. Candidly showing the difference of the two eras were the changing colors and video textures reiterates the switching of time, the past is a colorful place while the present is plain scenery. Generally, the cinematography is superb, capturing vivid expressions from the performers and scenic beauty of the location.

Judy Ann is at her best once again; with spoken lines fewer than usual and delivered in a different dialect she was still able to reach my heart. Well its not only Judy Ann who should be commended everybody played their part well. The characters of Mylene, Merryl and Judy Ann entails different types of Filipinas, I for one see myself as Celeste (Mylene) who projected an intimidating persona, acting like no one can hurt her even if her heart is bruised.

It’s not only the superb acting and cinematography that should be commended, the story is simple but very imaginative not to mention that the movie garnered 11 votes as a rated A movie out of 16 jury’s.

Sad but viewers don’t go for Ploning; at least that’s my observation on the opening of the screening. Only fellow followers of Indie films and those who truly understand the art behind it were there to watch. I don’t know if it’s the marketing of SM that’s lacking or it’s the poor viewers choice. One couple even misread the font as Cloning rather than Ploning and mistook it as a horror film. What a Horror for a classic film.

Recently, the movie is catching up in the box office, raking viewers who watched because of the A rating, various movie reviews and the controversy between ABS and Juday. Quite a turn of events but good since it fell to Ploning’s advantage,

All in all I think more people should see the movie to again raise the bar of Philippine cinematic excellence.

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