Arts & Leisure
Posted on February 15, 2016 04:55:00 PM
Tandem: Noir with a heart
UNDERNEATH the cuss words, rough sex scenes, and noir setting, the new indie film Tandem -- opening in cinemas on Feb. 17 -- is a poignant story of brothers, played by actors Nico Antonio and JM de Guzman (who bagged the New Wave Best Actor award in last year’s Metro Manila Film Festival).
THE INDIE FILM Tandem follows two brothers -- played by Nico Antonio and JM de Guzman -- who make a living by robbing people while riding in tandem on a motorcycle.
The brothers are opposites: the elder Roman is more cautious because he has a family to protect (his wife Cha, played by Rochelle Pangilinan is pregnant with their first child); Rex, on the other hand, is more reckless, a daredevil.
Holding a mirror to today’s society, the movie tries to humanize the criminals, while never venerating them.
“It’s up to the audience to interpret. We’re not glorifying criminals, we’re not judging them… but it’s good to see different points of view,” said the film’s director Mr. Palisoc at a press preview on Feb. 11.
Tandem is produced by three production houses: Quantum Films, which produced the hits English Only Please, Walang Forever, and Buy Now Die Later; Tuko Film Productions; and Buchi Boy Films, a subsidiary of Artikulo Uno Productions, the makers of Heneral Luna.
Heneral Luna’s E. A. Rocha and Fernando Ortigas are the film’s executive producers.
On a Facebook note, the executive producers pleaded for support and asked the audience to watch the movie on its opening day -- Feb. 17 -- to guarantee its theatrical run.
“We’re not expecting a Heneral Luna level [of attendance], but having to fill a 300-seater cinema is more than enough,” said Mr. Palisoc in a mix of English and Filipino.
“Heneral Luna is different. For one, they had a bigger budget and longer time to prepare and market it. We’re shorter. The goal is to have as much people as possible, because we are drawn with setbacks. One, we’re R-16 and we have Hollywood film competitors,” he said of the film’s obstacles.
He added: “Perhaps, it might have a chance to become mainstream because its story is simple. Hindi pa lang ganon kadami ang wide release (We don’t have a wide theater release). I think the audience will always be smarter than the makers, it’s up to them whether they like it or not.”
INTERNATIONAL SCREENINGS
After the film’s local showing, Tandem will join the Fantasporto International Film Festival in Porto, Portugal, screening on March 3.
“It’s our first genre festival… I’m excited. I want to show that we can do something in genre films. We can represent the genre filmmaking,” said Mr. Palisoc.
The film written by Zig Marasigan has already been seen in film festivals abroad: it was shown at the Montreal International Film Festival, Vancouver International Film Festival, and Cairo International Film Festival last year.
“The reaction was the same as the collective gasp from tonight’s audience. They were very surprise with this kind of milieu in the Philippines,” said the director.
No comments:
Post a Comment