Of Sinners and Saints

Yes. Finally. After watching Brillante's Mendoza films ( I liked a couple of them though) and the tedious work of Lav Diaz i bumped into this little gem on TubiTv. It was free and I gave it a try. After the first 15 minutes I was tempted to pass but I told myself to just wait 10 minutes more. And I did the right thing. It turned out to be, in my opinion, a well crafted and well directed film with good acting and a great interpretation of the lead actor which is also the director of this film. I can say that he has a great eye and can frame the scenes in a very engaging way. It's a religious film. I don't really watch that sort of film but I was attracted by the art work. A priest with a gun? Let's check it out. It's a surprising film with a surprising end, something you don't really expect and makes your blood freeze. I watch a few more film from this director Soriquez but this, is by far, his best work. Great musical score. If you are interested in the dilemma between human and celestial, this is a film not to be missed.

Acting is great mostly the performance of the lead Ruben Soriquez who played the Italian missionary. Plot is good, I appreciated it a lot. It's a film that's about relevant social issues such as poverty, violence against women and children. It makes you think a lot. I think the indie scene needs films like this. In the first half of the film there are scenes which are not really needed, and they make the flow a bit too slow, but the last 20 minutes and mostly the finale, makes you forget all the downs of this film and makes you love it. Thumbs up.

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.

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!

This film is a very rare example of a Filipino Independent film done with less than 200,000 USD but with an International appeal and standard of execution. The plot is well engineered and fills the gaps of a screenplay that could have been better. There is great acting in this film, starting from the actor/director Ruben Maria Soriquez that delivers a very good performance and ending with Raymond Bagatsing that gives prove of an uncommon intensity portraying Father Carlos, the head priest of a poor area in Manila. The music is superb, composed by the talented Italian musician Franco Eco as well as the cinematography by the upcoming cinematographer Apollo Anao. The film is full of pathos but not the cheap one found in tons of soap opera in the Philippine TV. It's not declared with tears and screams but subtle and whispered. Thumbs up for this film.