JUST A THOUGHT: “Never tell the truth to people who are not worthy of it.” – Mark Twain
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SEPTIC TANK 2: Caught a screening of “Ang Babae sa Septic Tank 2 (Forever is Not Enough)” the day after Christmas at our favourite Quezon City mall.
We were happy to note that the theatre had a capacity crowd, not full, but sizeable.
The ticket lady earlier warned us that at least in their cineplex, the two strongest films running were horror-thriller “Seklusyon” and comedy-drama “Die Beautiful.”
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MOVIE WITHIN A MOVIE: Septic Tank is an in-depth look at modern-day filmmaking in the Philippines.
Set within the film industry wherein a team of filmmakers set up a date with an inactive actress for a possible new project, it captures the foibles and whimsies of stars, their attitudes and behaviour off-cam. The actress is played by Eugene Domingo, who scored a hit in the very first Septic Tank.
“Ang Babae sa Septic Tank 2” is an instructional material on how to understand local filmmaking in general. Between scenes in real life, it freely, seamlessly segues into ruminations in the screenwriter’s mind in the form of a live script. The audience is then treated to a first-hand, ringside view of what goes in the making, or unmaking, of a film.
Eugene Domingo hogs the film with an honest, tight grip on her character, a comebacking movie actress preparing for her new film. It seems the character has been written based on Eugene’s personal history as she hasn’t done a film in at least two years. At one point, the veteran actress announced she was ready to retire from show business, a decision that surprised many.
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CONNECTING WITH VIEWERS: In the second instalment of Septic Tank, Eugene and her director Marlon Rivera do not disappoint. The film easily connected with viewers, who cheered on and laughed in the right places. It isn’t true, ladies and gentlemen, that Filipino audiences are dumb and dumber.
Given the right material, executed with much thought and care, even respect, they know how to level up and go with the flow.
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GREAT PERFORMANCES: Worthy of mention are the performances of Kean Cipriano, Cai Cortez, Joel Torre and Jericho Rosales. They showed perfect timing, a good foil to the volatile, versatile Eugene Domingo whose various skills are showcased in the film.
Eugene gets to sing a song as she plays the ukulele, speaks Spanish, when she’s not being funny, outlandish or dramatic. What else could an actress ask for in her comeback film? (NESTOR CUARTERO)