November112011
pelikula: Pessimism in Three Acts by Jansen Musico Anatomiya ng Korupsiyon (2011 )D: Dennis Marasigan C: Maricar Reyes, Sid Lucero, Ricky Davao, Eugene Domingo, Raquel Villavicencio There was one point during Anatomiya ng Korupsiyon where I felt the urge to throw up. It was that sickening feeling somewhat similar to the embarrassment you get when you’re reminded of something you’d much rather dismiss. The film is about graft and corruption, two things I, as a Filipino, am very familiar with. I see, hear, and experience it every day. The news constantly feeds me with heaps of reports about government officials and businessmen cheating their fellow citizens. It always leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and, quite frankly, I don’t want to have to taste it again. The film follows Cely (Maricar Reyes), an optimistic lawyer who’s determined to stick to her principles rather than get swayed in a law firm full of cheats. The movie’s environment is so bleak and so toxic that it makes the audience ponder whether Cely’s strength will be enough to stop her from crumbling under the pressure before the credits roll. The story, originally written as a stage play by Malou Jacob, is cynical, but it doesn’t diminish the fact that it’s well-crafted. Having seen a few of Jacob’s previous works on stage, I was confident that the story would survive its translation to film. Dennis Marasigan’s take on Anatomiya ng Korupsiyon has everything to make it an effective movie. He has a compelling story he is very familiar with. He’s backed by a stellar crew: Alemberg Ang as producer, Lawrence Fajardo as editor, and Lee Meily as cinematographer. Maricar Reyes and Sid Lucero are his leads. Despite very lukewarm performances in the film’s first act, both deliver in the end. He also has some of Philippine theater’s best at his disposal: Ricky Davao, Robert Sena, Isay Alvarez, and Eugene Domingo. It somehow seems ironic that even with this abundance of talented stage actors, Anatomiya severely lacks theatricality. Jacob’s play is a satire packed with so much wit. It needs to be funny or at least biting in order to deliver its intended effect. Marasigan’s storytelling feels fatigued. In his attempt to translate the material onto film, it loses a lot of its edge. The laughs are not sustained. The canned sound effects are jarring. The tiny subplots are all over the place and hardly ever gelled into the main narrative. And though the film tries to separate itself from its theater counterpart, some scenes, specifically car conversation, look as though they’re plucked from the stage. The film would have actually worked well if Marasigan stuck to his guns. Having already directed the play several times, Marasigan has all the know-how to pull off an over-the-top film version which could have been more memorable than we have now. But a good story is still a good story, though I’m not really sure people would like to hear this one all over again. It’s too familiar. And it’s too frustrating to be reminded of it. The gratuitous clip of a Jun Lozada fumbling for words during the ZTE trial at the end of the film is the final bitter pill. I needed mouthwash right after seeing it. Having stated all this, I hasten to add one good thing I got from Anatomiya. It made me want to watch the play.

pelikula:

Pessimism in Three Acts 
by Jansen Musico

Anatomiya ng Korupsiyon (2011 )
D: Dennis Marasigan
C: Maricar Reyes, Sid Lucero, Ricky Davao, Eugene Domingo, Raquel Villavicencio

There was one point during Anatomiya ng Korupsiyon where I felt the urge to throw up. It was that sickening feeling somewhat similar to the embarrassment you get when you’re reminded of something you’d much rather dismiss. The film is about graft and corruption, two things I, as a Filipino, am very familiar with. I see, hear, and experience it every day. The news constantly feeds me with heaps of reports about government officials and businessmen cheating their fellow citizens. It always leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and, quite frankly, I don’t want to have to taste it again.

The film follows Cely (Maricar Reyes), an optimistic lawyer who’s determined to stick to her principles rather than get swayed in a law firm full of cheats. The movie’s environment is so bleak and so toxic that it makes the audience ponder whether Cely’s strength will be enough to stop her from crumbling under the pressure before the credits roll. The story, originally written as a stage play by Malou Jacob, is cynical, but it doesn’t diminish the fact that it’s well-crafted. Having seen a few of Jacob’s previous works on stage, I was confident that the story would survive its translation to film.

Dennis Marasigan’s take on Anatomiya ng Korupsiyon has everything to make it an effective movie. He has a compelling story he is very familiar with. He’s backed by a stellar crew: Alemberg Ang as producer, Lawrence Fajardo as editor, and Lee Meily as cinematographer. Maricar Reyes and Sid Lucero are his leads. Despite very lukewarm performances in the film’s first act, both deliver in the end. He also has some of Philippine theater’s best at his disposal: Ricky Davao, Robert Sena, Isay Alvarez, and Eugene Domingo. It somehow seems ironic that even with this abundance of talented stage actors, Anatomiya severely lacks theatricality.

Jacob’s play is a satire packed with so much wit. It needs to be funny or at least biting in order to deliver its intended effect. Marasigan’s storytelling feels fatigued. In his attempt to translate the material onto film, it loses a lot of its edge. The laughs are not sustained. The canned sound effects are jarring. The tiny subplots are all over the place and hardly ever gelled into the main narrative. And though the film tries to separate itself from its theater counterpart, some scenes, specifically car conversation, look as though they’re plucked from the stage. The film would have actually worked well if Marasigan stuck to his guns. Having already directed the play several times, Marasigan has all the know-how to pull off an over-the-top film version which could have been more memorable than we have now.

But a good story is still a good story, though I’m not really sure people would like to hear this one all over again. It’s too familiar. And it’s too frustrating to be reminded of it. The gratuitous clip of a Jun Lozada fumbling for words during the ZTE trial at the end of the film is the final bitter pill. I needed mouthwash right after seeing it. Having stated all this, I hasten to add one good thing I got from Anatomiya. It made me want to watch the play.
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