What is Tom Hardy's Fight in "Warrior?"

Ok. Ok. There you got me. Who would have thought I'd be crying my eyes out towards the end of the sports drama film "Warrior" by director Gavin O'Connor. Tom Hardy as Tommy Riordan charging with a broken shoulder at his brother Brendan Conlon (played by Joel Edgerton) just about did it for me. WTF, UFC with a story to boot! :)

For all the high testosterone running in the film, the film surprisingly sets you up for an honest-to-goodness tearjerking moments towards the end. And it is unabashedly unapologetic for it. And one is definitely won over because of it. One's initial reaction to it would be, oh no, not another Rocky film. But no, this is definitely richer in story. If you are going to be conscious about crying openly watching it, it is best advised to watch this alone. 
Mark Isham's scoring for this hits the mark. And director O'Connor has definitely made this film, despite its drama, an ode to joy.

Inception, Finally!

I was able to finally watch "Inception!" Christopher Nolan has definitely turned "The Matrix" on its head. This film definitely made me re-read, revisit Jorge Luis Borges' "The Circular Ruins."

Love of Siam (Rak Haeng Siam) in Cinemanila 2008

I just had to write this down. I was so taken by the film although it's all of two and a half hours running time. As part of the Cinemanila 2008 lineup of films, I watched Love of Siam (Rak Haeng Siam), a Thai film written and directed by Chukiat Sakveerakul. The last gay-themed film that I liked was Chansons d'Amour and now, I think, Love of Siam is going to be my all time favorite gay-themed film.

Love of Siam stars Mario Maurer (of German and Chinese descent and oh so heartachingly cute) who plays Tong and the equally charming Witwisit "Pitchy" Hiranyawongkul who plays pianist/composer/singer Mew.

I did some googling on Love of Siam and found out that the film is a first of sorts. At 150 minutes, the film is markedly longer than most Thai films, and another is that it is a drama film, which is rare in the Thai industry, which mainly produces horror, comedy, action and (heterosexual) teen romance films. And, of course, it is gay-themed though nothing hinted at that fact in its promotional posters in Thailand. Director Sakveerakul said that this was intentional as he did not want to limit the audience of the film to gay audiences. His instincts proved him right. Released in Thai cinemas on November 22, 2007, and opening on 146 screens, the film was a commercial hit earning a total of US$1,305,125 on its third week, and earned good reviews as well from the critics. It also dominated Thailand's 2007 film awards season, winning the Best Picture category in all major national film award events, including the Thailand National Film Association Awards, Starpics Magazine's Starpics Awards, the Bangkok Critics Assembly Awards, Star Entertainment Awards. And more importantly, Love of Siam is now also Thailand's official entry to the Best Foreign Language Film for the 81st Oscars Awards.

But to go back into why I sooo loved the film, I just had to say that director Chukiat Sakveerakul had such a good material in his hands, a great amount of sensibility both in dialogues and direction (showing Thai culture as it is today), and he was blessed with very good actors as well. He has shown not only the "young" love between two teenager males but also the love of a mother for her lost daughter, for her husband, showing as well an unrequited love...of a young girl falling for a gay friend, and of love on the friendship level. Sakveerakul's unraveling of the story is so much like the special gift giving style he showed at the onset of the film where Tong initially gave a piece of paper to Mew. Mew finds out that that piece of paper leads to another clue in a piece of paper that leads to a part of a gift, then another paper that has a clue that leads to another piece of the gift until one finds the gift itself.

At the end of watching the film, the Filipino viewers that night in Cinemanila 2008(which were all so openly appreciative and affected by the film judging by their reactions during the entire run of the film) were gifted with the beauty of the story of the film itself. And gays in the country, no matter how jaded or highly-sexed, I'm sure, would, in their hearts of hearts, find themselves awashed clean, remembering a special love in their lives, re-awakened anew by how strange and wonderful love could really be upon watching this beautiful beautiful gift of a film.


P.S.
My favorite part would be that bed scene where Mew explains the source of his loneliness to Tong-- about his fear of losing a loved one and the pain that goes with loving that person. At the same time, Mew has learned to accept that it is impossible for anyone to go through life without loving anyone. Then Tong enfolds Mew in his arms and lets Mew to rest partly on his chest.

Love Songs (Les Chansons d'Amour)

Sept. 11 - I was able to watch the opening film of the 11th Cine Europa with my friends (Myra, Amiya, Noee, Che, Rein and her friend Rod, Ms. Bubbles & her husband) at Shangri-La Mall in Shaw boulevard.

The film was "Love Songs" (Les Chansons d'Amour) by Christophe Honoré.

The Cine Europa booklet states:

"This modernist musical about love and loss in Paris centers around a young couple, Ismael (Louis Garrel) and Julie (Ludivine Sagnier), who in the hope of sparking their stalled relationship, enter a playful yet emotionally laced threesome with Alice (Clotilde Hesme). When tragedy strikes, these young Parisians are forced to deal with the fragility of life and love. For Ismael, this means (after the death) negotiating through the advances of Julies' sister and a young college student (Gregoire Leprince-Ringuet)--one of whom may offer him redemption."

It was a beautiful film. The singing was initially off putting but the direction was brilliantly. In my mind, I was imagining a film of my own, with a story strung together around the songs of the local band "Aegis" songs like "Halik" etc. sprinkled with, let's say, Jessa Zaragoza songs and a few ones from Noel Cabangon thrown in. But I digress. Seventy percent into the film and I felt, like the rest of the audience perhaps, that I could not really guess how the film would end, and it was exhiliratingly engaging towards the end. And when the closing scene came, I was absolutely smitten by the film.

This is a spoiler for those who haven't seen the film but I would say that the last words from Ismael were the ones which will be most quoted by the audience:
"Love me less but love me for a long time"
...words that were sealed by a kiss no less. (I wish I had the original french words).

Catch all the other films until Sept. 21. Check the screening schedule at www.delphl.ec.europa.eu or call Shangri-La cinema.