Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Review of WHISTLEBLOWER: Fiction From Facts

April 12, 2016




More than ever these days, a new Nora Aunor film is always an event. Local cinephiles will watch it, no matter what. Her latest film in local theaters this week is a collaboration with prolific indie director Adolf Alix, the political drama "Whistleblower."

Zeny Roblado (Nora Aunor), an accountant was rescued by the NBI when she was illegally detained by her boss Lorna Valera (Cherrie Pie Picache). Roblado revealed that Valera's "business" were bogus NGOs which siphoned huge amounts of money from the government only to wind up in the greedy hands of politicians and Valera herself. As Roblado blows the whistle in Senate hearings, the lives of everyone involved in the drama are put through a dangerous wringer.

The movie lasted less than an hour and a half only. The first hour are all familiar events played out like they did on television in the past two years. We were just treated to the sight of these esteemed local actors reinterpreting these events for us again. There was absolutely no doubt that Picache was channeling a certain Madam we all recognize because of the daily showing of her face in the news. The last thirty minutes or so deviated from fact into fiction, seemingly in a hurry to wind things down, yet still end in an open manner. 

What made this film more interesting than the news was because director Alix did not shirk from showing the story we do not see in the news -- the intense political machinations behind the scenes everyone suspected but no one actually documented. Laurice Guillen, herself an award-winning actress, slyly played a corrupt senator who knew how to clean up her tracks. Ricky Davao, Yul Servo, Celeste Legaspi and purposely (?) hammy Lloyd Sammartino played her fellow Senators. Theater veteran Leo Rialp played her seemingly noble collaborator in Congress. 

Of course, we know Ms. Nora Aunor can play any underdog, disheveled, unkempt, mousy character with her eyes closed, and the Zeny character was again all of these. Admittedly, La Aunor was as good as always, but this role did not exactly look like a big challenge for her talents. On the other hand, she owned this role so deeply that it looked so deceptively and effortlessly easy. Her fellow whistleblowers were played by Ina Feleo and Bernardo Bernardo. Zeny's family members were played by Anita Linda and Carlo Aquino. All of them are also recognized for their acting excellence. 

The third angle of this triumvirate is the reporter character played by Angelica Panganiban. She played this role straightforwardly and was not exactly given any moment to shine until the final act when she realizes that her life was also in grave danger. Too bad this aspect was not more thoroughly explored. 

In the end, there was a sense of hurry which made the film feel incomplete. For such a short running time, there were so many interesting angles that had been squeezed in but were not fully developed. You somehow feel that there were opportunities which were opened but were ultimately wasted. As an acting showcase, again we are seeing the best actors here, most of them award-winning. In all the rush of the storytelling though, these actors were hardly given adequate scenes for their talents to be highlighted, Nora Aunor included. 6/10.


14 comments:

  1. After reading your post i think Nora Aunor drama is very nice and worth to watch.
    Thanks for the post.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It is more difficult to make shorter movies than longer ones. Sometimes the open ends of the movies are intriguing. Sad it isn't so here!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I thought it was a promising film the way you described it at first. I think story lines as elaborate as this should have more screen time.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I think actors and actresses should take roles that showcase and enhance their acting talent. They could have just made the movie longer instead of rushing it at the end.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Interesting. I was expecting a more fictionalized version, but with your critique, it actually sounds pretty good.

    ReplyDelete
  6. It's definitely Napoles Story. I'm sure Nora Aunor can play the underdog very well.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wasn't aware of this movie and I'm totally intrigued! Nora Aunor is such a gem :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I m not really into this kind of movie, I only like Nora Amour. Might skip this.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love when directors keep it real and don't down play movies. I would love to see this. I don't know the full story behind it but it does sound rather interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I normally don't watch Tagalog films. I normally only watch them when I'm with my parents. I think they'd like this movie. They do watch a lot of Nora's films. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  11. ive not heard of this as I'm guessing this is a tagalog film? its not something id watch myself

    ReplyDelete
  12. We all should watch and appreciate these kind of movies. They really contain some real good storylines and acting.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I feel that it is not easier to make a shorter film and at the same time keeping viewers engaged in it.

    ReplyDelete
  14. The tempo of a film is usually very important for the audience to feel engage or disengaged. Having it rushed out will be bad.

    ReplyDelete