The quality of a movie depends on the partnership of two people: the producer and the director. Assuming of course the cast is also first rate which really depends on the producer because she is the one paying everybody!
BLUE MOON is one such work. Lily Monteverde is the producer, Joel Lamangan is the director and the film was based on a Palanca award winning screenplay. Once in a blue moon I get to enjoy a Filipino movie like this one which starred Christopher de Leon, Boots Anson Roa, Dennis Trillio, Eddie Garcia, Jennylyn Mercado, Mark Herras and Pauleen Luna. Of the above cast, I can tell only a few facts (based on memory) on just three of them. Christopher de Leon is the son of Gil de Leon and Lilia Dizon. Boots is the daughter of Oscar Moreno ( another '50s movie star ) and Eddie Garcia, well this super star has been around ever since I was still in high school. I saw many of his movies in Urdaneta.The rest of the cast and supporting cast are young but equally talented.Only the younger generation of Filipino movie goers ( especially those who reside in Manila ) would know them better!
The central figure of the story is an aging man who was diagnosed with cancer ( lymphoma ). "Do what you want to do now, before time runs out.." suggested the doctor. The first thing he wanted was to look for a lady named Corazon whom he REALLY loved and with whom he was separated years and years ago. Since he is already living alone ( his only son Christopher has a family) Christopher has also a son who lost his mother years ago . Christopher is a "bonafide" widower. Eddie packed his bags and started an oddysey that brought him to many places in Luzon: Laoag, Baguio, Albay and finally back to Manila. He was accompanied by his son and his grandson. They were using the grandson's car which is not really in top running condition. So when it breaks down and the young man swears, well he uses the F word instead of the P word!
All the house addresses and leads he got yielded zippo. And to complicate things, Eddie was so secretive with his son about his past life. His son Christopher de Leon grew apathetic to his dad too. So there was this strained Father-Son relationship which is so common in Filipino families.
Telling more of the story would spoil your movie viewing. But know that this movie could be rated 5 out 5 by L. Maltin, the well known American film critic if he can only understand Tagalog. Flashbacksof World War 2 in the Philippines were believable. A digitally created airplane fight ( short segment due to logistic reasons ) was quite realistic. We can not tell whether this clip was made in the Philippines or in the USA.The DVD version I saw had a Dolby Digital soundtrack but not processed in Surround Sound. But again, in Filipino film making, especially now-a-days, every peso counts. When push comes to shove, special effects ( that includes the sound track ) would be the first one to go.
The DVD version which Regal said is distributed Internationally except in the Philippines ( why? ) has English subtitles, special features, trailers, pictorials and a bonus Concert performed at the Glorrieta on its opening day in January 2006. Unfortunately the quality of the feature presentation ( at least of the copy I bought ) was very inferior . The sound was okay. But the colour of the movie even in DVD is so washed out even on an LCD screen. But the trailers were in pristine condition. ( Again, why?)
That other movie which I bought in the same store was very clear: image and sound. It is entitled DUBAI..I wonder how the banketa copies of BLUE MOON would appear when played in our entertainment centres.. I will shoot my head if these pirated copies would be very good! I will be using a water pistol, of course!
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