Movie Review: The Surprise - As One Contemplates Death, One Finds Love

If you're looking for a unique rom-com date movie this week, the Dutch movie, The Surprise, presents to you, a rather peculiar way of finding your "forever" - that is, if you don't mind reading subtitles.

This is to warn you though that this movie's director, Oscar winner Mike van Diem, does not use the same kilig tactics that the local directors' have used in the two successful local rom-coms, This Time and Just the 3 of Us.

First, the main characters are not a poster-picture pair - and they're not millennials. The movie also starts with the sombre themes of death and suicide, and only brightens up a bit as the movie transitions to boy-meets-girl.

In the end, it's the theme of "love conquers all" that lifts up the movie.

Life does become more meaningful when you find that person you can share your life experiences with.

Hungary's Son of Saul vs. Our Own Heneral Luna

One thing that I think can happen during my lifetime is for a Filipino film to finally get an Oscar nomination. With the wealth of directing talent we now have here locally, and the widespread support that is given to indie films, with the right story and perfect timing, we might just get it.

Although many of you watched Heneral Luna, and it's our entry to this year's Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film, one big problem is that the nominees which the National Board of Review voted for are already festival circuit favorites and have been doing the rounds since May this year.

Their winner, Son of Saul from Hungary, was in contention for the Palme D'Or and worse, it's a movie about the Holocaust! E ang dami kayang Jews sa Academy, shoo-in talaga siya to win for the award.

And interestingly, although I've seen many Holocaust movies during my lifetime, the treatment here, the story, and the scenes are original and just like my teacher in fashion design told me - all of us have a story to tell - like in this case, it's about the Holocaust - but each story would be different because we all come from different backgrounds and perspectives - and that would be the one that would differentiate our similar stories from all the rest.

Son of Saul though has been the top pick in many of the critics list for Best Foreign Film this year so Heneral Luna has a lot of PR and catching up to do just to make it to the shortlist and then the top five.

Another way to be noticed is to get an endorsement from an A-lister. It happened before with Elizabeth Taylor when she told everyone, "Oh watch this small movie Sling Blade" and voila, Billy Bob Thornton won an Oscar. Yun lang, that A-lister has to be very influential and he or she should really like your movie!

Frankly, our best chance can come from the Independent Spirit Awards which is given the day before the Oscars.

La Grande Bellezza: A Sumptuous Visual Feast with Philosophical and Political Overtones

If you're not doing anything important this weekend and you love art films, I strongly suggest you catch the screening (it's free!!) of La Grande Bellezza (The Great Beauty), the Italian movie that won this year's Oscar for Best Foreign Language FIlm, at the Italian Film Festival at the Shangri-la Mall!

I daresay it's the most beautifully photographed movie I've seen in years - Rome is just stunning - nganga talaga me in many scenes - especially that the movie brings out the best that Italy could offer the world in terms of history, artworks, fashion and natural beauty.

And that this movie has philosophical and political overtones makes it even more compelling, not that I understood all its philosophical musings or how the movie stands as a critic of the Berlusconi political era.  I was content to  just sit there and enjoy the delicious visual feast that this movie is!  

I also love the haunting music that director used - the first scene which featured an operatic aria sets you in the mood and the last scene where you feel like you're the one in the boat making its way along the Tiber river while a melancholy piano piece plays in the background made me want to stay in the movie theatre just a few minutes more.

The movie also has an acerbic sense of humor which sent the audience I was with last night laughing at the sarcasm and the absurdity of many of the scenes.  I especially enjoyed the scene where the half-naked actor finds the nun called "The Saint" sleeping on the floor of his bedroom!!

Plus, there are so many interesting characters in it!  There's a dwarf, an aging stripper, penniless aristocrats, dirty old men (ooopppsss), lots of beautiful women (and lots of breast exposure too!), pretentious performance artists, and lots of priests and nuns (this is Rome after all, where the Vatican is)!  Never a dull moment talaga.

The Filipino movie that most reminds me of this movie is the classic Richard Gomez - Dawn Zulueta movie Hihintayin Kita Sa Langit where the director used the stunning natural beauty of our country as the backdrop of his story. That's basically what Paolo Sorrentino (the film's director) does here in this movie - using Rome as the canvas of his story.