User reviews

in contradiction to the other poster, i thought that the portrayal is very relatable to some Filipino Chinese in the Philippines including myself. when we used to live in the Philippines, most of what happened in the movie actually happened to us also. although many were exaggerated, in general, they were all very relatable to me and my family. with regards to the concubines, my father had a lot of it. although, they were always hidden from me, my mother and my brothers, we knew that he houses some of his "kabit." to make a long story short, it was quite accepted in my dad's side of the family as long as it remained a secret amongst the family. i went to a Chinese school and the school would always make announcements of the recent kidnappings to warn us to be extra careful. it was a big deal in our school. my dad was ambushed once and thankfully escaped from being kidnapped. i had a friend that got massacred by a theft in their own home. they later found out that the theft was a worker from their family's factory. if you were to make a movie about our family, it would be very similar, if not more interesting, to this movie. even if these movie was exaggerated in some areas like with all the crying and stuff, this movie was pretty good in showcasing a Filipino Chinese family. we've waited for so long to have a movie like these that opens up the door towards understanding and acknowledgment of the Filipino Chinese community as an integral part of the Filipino society.

Never have I seen such a film that had to enforce the fact that the characters are Chinese, as if they didn't already establish that by making the characters' eyes chinky through the magic of make-up or giving them surnames like Go or Lau. Of all the restaurants they had to dine in, it had to be a Chinese restaurant, and they wear red all the time. This was just too stereotypical that it could be labeled quite insulting to the Filipino-Chinese community.

To add to the over dramatic film (and having characters cry in movies does not always qualify it as a drama!), they had to have some suspense and so they had two of the daughters kidnapped. They are under the assumption that all Chinese-Filipinos are wealthy, and all their children are always being kidnapped, which of course is complete bull. Though it happens it doesn't happen to every Chinese-Filipino.

You would have thought that this movie would focus on the real customs and familial and day-to-day problems of Filipino-Chinese families and how it is different from Filipino families. But it was still your same telenovela with overused themes and over dramatic scenes, just using characters of a Filipino-Chinese background.

It's references and research must totally be weak because it even portrayed passe Chinese cultural practices such as having a concubine in the present time (which has long been unpracticed by many Chinese-Filipinos, and Chinese for that matter), which can be very misleading for the viewer.

What I'm trying to say is, for the moviegoer who was expecting something new, and not your typical drama with overused themes and over the top crying scenes, this is definitely the cheesiest and stereotypical movie I've ever seen. What made it successful was the hype over never having released a movie about Filipino-Chinese people, and the fact that it had popular stars (I prefer not to call them actors because they can't even act to save their lives, if you ask me) like Richard Gomez, Maricel Soriano and Kris Aquino in it.

And for the last time, we live in the modern times, so not all Filipino-Chinese OR Chinese for that matter go about wearing Chinese costumes everyday!

The first Mano Po film (there are 3, so far) is considered by many to be a uniquely Filipino story, of interest mostly to Filipinos. To that I say, nonsense. I'm a white American, grandchild of immigrants to America, and I found much to identify with. Plus, the elements of the story that were strange to me were absolutely fascinating in the way they illuminated the Chinese/Filipino experience of one family in the Philippines. It is well shot and exceptionally well written. Okay, it's been justly criticized as being "just a soap opera." But So what? "Gone With The Wind" can also be called a soap opera, but it is well worth seeing again and again. I liked Mano Po so much I bought it on DVD and have viewed it several times. However, remember this is Mano Po 1. It is superior to the sequels. I recommend it highly.