Of Sinners and Saints

Well crafted independent film. Usually in the Philippines low budget indie are shaky camera, bad photography, not enough character development. This film is different. The camera is steady, sometimes almost too steady where I could have appreciated a good hand held one. The music is exceptional even though sometimes is too "Hans Zimmer like". I would have appreciated a much more minimalist score in some introspective scenes. As far as the content is concerned, I was really touched, as a woman, by how it deals with violence against women. It really makes you hate the"contrabida" (the tagalog word for "antagonist") Polo Ravales for how he treats women. Usually he plays macho and gwapo roles in pinoy movies and TV and I was really impressed seeing him as the bad guy. Regarding Soriquez, director and lead actor, what to say...good job! But if he wants to direct and act as a lead he has to make sure he has really good camera operator and DOP backing him. Just my thoughts....

This hidden gem is both inspiring and entertaining. The story is not that original but the way it is treated is really good also thanks to the good cinematic sensibility and good eye of the director. The film starts slow and ends fast paced and exciting with an excellent orchestral music the scores a unexpected ending. The acting is excellent as well. It's an inspiring film about faith, sacrifice and redemption without the intention of indoctrination.

This courageous Filipino indie film puts on the spot light the violence against the weakest members of our society, and just for this reason should be appreciated. Even though sometimes the directing suffers for the director being also the lead actor (and in a low budget film is really a lot of work) this film delivers solid storytelling, beautiful cinematography, great score and powerful acting. And it's a travel into the human soul. The only negative aspect, in my humble opinion, is that the women are too passive in this film and the film is told by a male point of view. I can't wait to watch the next work of this director, since the three films of his I had the pleasure to watch are all of different style and touch.

I came across this film on Amazon and since I travel yearly to the Philippines I decided to start watching. 100 minutes of my time well spent. Well shot by the good eyes of the director, this film is quite engaging even for those who are neither religious nor catholic. Faith is one of the major "character" of this film. Faith with its issues and difficulties. This film has a great deal of depth and social issues are dealt with great sensitivity. All the actors gave justice to their roles, mostly the lead actor who is the director himself. Good cinematography and production design, great music. I recommend it.

This movie was made on a low budget in Mandaluyong which is a very poor area in Manila. So the filming cost was low. The acting was very good with great shots. However Raymond Bagatsing was very hard to understand . It was like he was mumbling his lines. To bad as he is a very good actor and speaks American English. Ruben Maria Soriquez directed and stared in this which is not east to do, but he pulled off a great performance. The one thing that was excellent was the music! In general in the Philippines they skimp on the music, but not on this film. Great job!