Respeto

It was a great disappointment watching this film in Power Plant Mall with my actor friends. We thought it was a good film according to the film reviewers like Dy and Cruz but it was one of the worst films for 2017. I will never trust again reading film reviewers articles. Respeto did not convince us, poorly made by many deciding directors. The screenplay is awfully bad like the direction. You can check below, most who made the good reviews of this film on Click the City are all producers and relatives of this film. See initials MC, JJ, KR and many more. So funny to review your own produced film. So sad the film did not deliver.

I was surprised by this film! Thank you to everyone who made this possible-- for sharing your talent and working so so hard. May this continue to spread to Filipinos who are oblivious of the reality of our country.

An excellent film that shows life in Manila without relying on overdramatic poverty porn or stereotypical love stories with the mestiza crush. Characters are layered and relatable. It has nothing to do with 8 mile and people saying that make zero sense. Hip hop is the background to a story about systemic corruption and a system that tells young, poor manileños that they are not valuable. In that sense, it reminded me more of Finding Forrester but it is by no means a copy

We attached it at UP Diliman special screening, boring at all time. I see a movie like this before in Hollywood. If I could not be mistaken, this is like the Filipino version of hip hop 8 Mile film. My friends and I had the same reaction to this film, too ambitious but dragging in all scenes. The direction is awfully worst. Supporting actors are good but the lead actor acted like he is still rapping. The direction is terrible, there are scenes are not believable. Waste of money and time. In short this movie is copycut with no identity.

A fair warning. If you're going to watch Respeto thinking it's all about hiphop and fliptop, please reset your expectation (so people comparing it to 8Mile, just stop). It's first and foremost a political movie, and depending on which side of history you stand, you'd either love it or get offended. I've already read some negative reviews, and believe me it's not about the photography or the quality of production (because both are outstanding given the tight budget used. Cinemalaya hello?!). I think it's definitely because of the theme. It attempted to be neutral, but its partiality is obvious, and that's good because the movie has bayagbag (double balls. You'll get it when you watch it). The theme is very timely as it bravely exposes the culture of violence in our country, how it's cyclic and embedded in our nation's psyche. It's also about poetry. And the poetry is beautiful. The script is excellent. Abra is a revelation. I really loved his performance considering that he had no previous acting experience. He was raw and natural. The supporting cast is just as good. Chai Fonacier is ❤️.