Rigodon

I've seen this film in the recent Asian American Film Festival in San Francisco. Knowing only the synopsis and the actors in the film before watching it, I only had high expectations from it. Torre and Gutierrez are well-known thespian actors in the Philippines and all the films I've seen with them were nothing short of brilliant. However, this film does nothing but disappoint. The filmmakers overly focused on the cinematography at the expense of substantial and meaningful dialogue. The pacing was extremely slow, I thought it lasted forever, when the film only lasted for an hour. There were segments in the film that should not have been included as they only made the storyline more obscure than it already was. There was a lack of realism throughout the film - from where they lived (it almost depicted a typical squatter's area in Manila), from how they interacted with each other (more silence than words), from how they prayed, from the scene where the INS official arrested Torre...it's just awful. What a waste of good talent! I tried hard to like it. I love Filipino films..but this one just didn't make the cut.