Kid Kulafu

The acting is worst at its best. It is either the scripwriter's or the derictors' fault for not sending the actors to an acting seminar.

Storylines on real events draw me... I enjoy a good biography! These writers: Medina, Pacquiao, Soriano proved that foul language and displaced "f" bombs are needless with good writing. An appreciative audience can enjoy without it!

Robert "Buboy" Villar Jr. immediately pulled me in to his story and I wasn't planning nor prepared for subtitles tonight. GREAT ACTING by Villar. I would like to learn more on Emmanuel's life. I was interested to see more of his experiences in US boxing and the issue match between he and Meriweather--I think there is research in my future-LOL

The latest Paul Soriano movie chronicles the early life and humble beginnings of Manny Pacquiao, who for many, is a hero. The mere mention of the name is compelling enough to ignite interest among curious audience, but this movie isn't about the hero Manny has become today, it's about KID KULAFU, the zero he once was.

KID KULAFU feeds on the tragedies and sacrifices of the young Manny Pacquiao and his family, to deliver its message with utmost effectivity. The spine of the whole narrative alone, is haunting enough, but it struggles to construct a coherent and fluid storyline. The real problem here is that so many things are happening but almost nothing gets resolved—one dramatic moment looms up and shifts abruptly to another, killing the excitement before it could even hit home, like a potentially strong blow that never landed on the face. Such lack of congruence takes away the heat and ceases the momentum, and leaves the critical audience wondering if the rest of the movie has still something left that could be of any sense.

Yet, no matter how messed up and terribly flawed KID KULAFU's script is, it does what it is designed to accomplish: highlight Manny Pacquiao, sell his name and earn further respect and recognition. That seems the very point of dotting the entire narrative with dramatic expositions—regardless of how more often than not they felt unnecessary—that enumerates Manny's endless string of struggles. Working against this scarcely-written material, are brilliant actors who are left with nothing but to do their job. Alessandra de Rossi is an effective Mommy Dionisia here, forget her forced visayan accent, and she's perfect, as is Cesar Montano for his role. But most strikingly, is Buboy Villar, who for most part, effectively portrayed Manny. To forget the beautiful and crisp cinematography, and the effective musical scoring doesn't sound forgivable, too. For a maindie production, the visual drama is quite superb, and together with a timely inserted score, somehow and often not sustained, the movie is able to tug at the heartstrings.

KID KULAFU throws as many punches as it can to impress its audience, yet only a few are precise enough to hit its targets. Yet again, on those few moments where it does, the movie delivers exactly what it is supposed to offer: a front seat view to the young life of one of the greatest boxers of our time, a glimpse of an icon's rough and rocky road to success, and a message of courage and determination to those who are on the same path as Manny. If this is a big boxing event, there's no denying in Manny ending up being victorious, only not unanimously, and certainly, not by knockout

The film begins with a shot of feet walking barefoot in the mud and rain while men are watching a bloody brawl as nightly entertainment. These were very artistically and aesthetically shot with innovative camera angles. We knew by then that we are going to watch a Filipino film of outstanding quality. The opening sequence alone already portends that this is not going to be an ordinary biopic.

Coming into the film, we already knew that this film was going to be about the "National Fist" Manny Pacquiao and his rise from abject poverty in a war-torn Mindanao to a world-renowned multi-billionaire champion boxer. Back in 2006, there was once a biopic by Joel Lamangan which starred Jericho Rosales as Pacquiao. Just last year, we witnessed an excellent documentary "Manny" where the actual real-life characters told their stories. We already have an idea about his inspiring story of hurdling incredible odds to achieve impossible dreams. This film tells the familiar life story again, but Director Paul Soriano manages to tell it again in a gritty and realistic style which will connect with most audiences.

The grittiness and realism of this film is rooted in the casting of an relatively unknown young actor Buboy Villar, who actually looks like one of those lean sinewy amateur pugilists we see in undercard fights. Villar's acting skills were impressive as they have a raw unforced quality. His athletic ability was also evident in those shadow boxing scenes, hauntingly executed so that it looked as if we were watching Pacquiao himself. He was also excellent in those recreations of Pacquiao's early fights -- very excitingly choreographed and edited.

Alessandra de Rossi continues to impress with her acting prowess. Fresh from her award-winning performance in "Bambanti", de Rossi takes on the character of Pacquiao's equally iconic mother, Dionisia. Though this may fall into caricature in the hands of a lesser actress, de Rossi was more subtly funny as we see in her young Dionisia the beginnings of the brash and feisty Dionisia we all know now. And you know how de Rossi can really kill those dramatic scenes.

Alex Medina plays Pacquiao's negligent father Rosalio. Cesar Montano plays Sardo, Pacquiao's uncle and first boxing coach and manager. Jake Macapagal plays Dizon, Pacquiao's trainer who helped him win bigger local competitions. These actors make the most of their screen time in effective and nuanced performances. Teen star Khalil Ramos plays Eugene, another promising boxer and Pacquiao's friend. I felt though that his matinée idol looks somehow distracted from the realism of his performance, especially beside Villar's vivid performance.

The corny-sounding title may be a little off-putting for those who do not know that this was actually Pacquiao's first fighting alias. The name comes from his uncle's favorite drink Vino Kulafu, which was a very popular Chinese wine in Mindanao, a contemporary of Sioktong. However, this film should not be judged by its title alone. This is actually a very well-made, first-rate inspirational sports movie that is well-worth the price of its admission. It will move you. 8/10.

If you've got the slightest interest in boxing you'll know there's a highly anticipated match coming up featuring Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jnr and this is a throwback to the good old days of boxing when we had boxing Gods such as Hearns , Hagler , Leonard and Duran all fighting one another to be crowned undisputed greatest pound for pound champion on the planet . If you're not a boxing fan - and why would you visit this page if you're not ? - Manny first became world champion at flyweight in 1998 . Over the next 17 years he won several more world titles in different weights including light middleweight . So what ? you ask . Well the difference in weight between a flyweight and a light middleweight is just over forty pounds . It is possible to put this type of weight on but not if you're a supreme athlete with very little fat on your body . It's virtually unknown for a boxer to start off in one division and be fighting 20 years later with a duration of eight weight classes . In fact it's also rare for a boxer to have a professional career lasting this long so twenty years after an unknown flyweight makes his professional debut he's involved in one of the most eagerly anticipated fights in sporting history gives you a small hint of the superhuman achievement of Manny . This film KID KULAFU shows the early steps Manny took to sporting immortality

KID KALAFU is an obvious love letter to its subject and don't mean this in a negative way . You can tell Manny is a genuinely decent man and his fight with Timothy Bradley where he lost a split decision in the worst points decision in the history of the sport was met by him by almost saintly polite disbelief which says so much about him as a person . The film also concentrates on a feelgood factor and looking at screenwriter Froi Medina previous credits he did write a previous film called VOICES which involved a music teacher trying to find redemption via a street child . This type of real life feel good story keeps many Hollywood workers in a job but screenwriter Medina and director Paul Soriano do make a film that does have does have sad bits and happy bits but never over does the manipulation of emotion . Shooting the film in the Filipino language does help a lot as does using a native cast who will be absolutely unknown to an English speaking audience and it was good to see a film that states no matter how hard life punches you in the mouth you can succeed if you've got it in you

As for the fight coming up at the weekend the head says Mayweather and the heart says Manny . Let's hope the heart wins out in the end !

Update 3rd May 2015 . Hardlines Manny