A film I watched as a prelude to May December.
Tuhog (or Larger than Life) tells the story of a family riddled by incest and a exploitative film company who wants to remake their past lives into film. When the film was released, the screen becomes closer to life and mixes their realities with the medium's predilection for earthly delights.
I think it was a huge mistake to watch this before May December because all of the things I had expected May December will do, was done here extremely well.
A pointed satire and a well acted drama, Tuhog really rises with its wonderful script from Armando Lao that smartly uses the film within the film premise. Using a very vivid interview section and pointed 'exploitation' film section. Everything about it is so witty and deliciously comedic yet encapsulate the darkness of their situation. I also love how it points out how films demonize mother-daughter or female-on-female relationships often times, which is a nice touch.
Also kudos to Adlawan and Raymundo in their respective roles. Adlawan has been a stalwart of Philippine Television. Playing mostly loving mother roles AND I think this is possibly the best material she'd had been given. She is both a loving mother but also trapped in her situation. Then Raymundo is the perfect mix youthful innocence and like her mother's trapped knowingness. They perfectly raises the bar for the film.
I do give it some minus points for being to on the nose with how these movie's affect people's perception of the real stories. This was a pointed satire of popular Softcore films in the Philippines at time, and those never really had the critical clamor or was highly respected for the most parts. The commentary on those do not stick. I also wished the film went full on visually BUT that is too much to asked for Philippine cinema.
Otherwise, Highly recommended.
