Deep in the heart of Manila, a graphic arts novelist, Mario/Galogo, begins to examine his life, which is at a crossroads. Elwood Perez has directed a film that is all at once jarring, charming, bizarre, campy, laced with shticks and conceits, full of wry humor, but fascinating and riveting. The major characters are played by newcomers and the support by non-marquee names, with Perez deigning to cast some familiar names in key roles.
Ronnie Liang is like one of those handsome 1920s Hollywood stars – beautiful, glamorous, a fine specimen women would rave about (until such actors spoke, with the coming of the "talkie" movies). Immediately bombarding us with a bizarre opening scene, Mario, a cook in a Chinese restaurant, sautées pig's brains into an omelet. His girlfriend (the only real girl in his romantic life) visits him, voices her disgust at such culinary fare, and proceeds to have hot sex with him. Although I had an inkling that Liang would bare skin, I had no idea he would be given a lot of sexy scenes! But... that is the Elwood Perez touch!
Donato (Federico Olbés) is an old-wealth art collector who has somehow squandered his fortunes but enjoys a (very tenuous) relationship with Raul, a young, handsome artist. Donato and Raul seem to be working a "con" on rich matrons, producers, promoters and gallery owners.
Raul (Vince Tañada) is handsome, ambitious, compulsive, conflicted, and, later, a forlorn has-been and a full-blown junkie. He feels his life has been dissipated, ruined, by being Donato's kept boy.
Mona (Adelle Aura) is the widow of the wealthy Conrado Soriano. And Mona is ripe for the picking as Donato/Raul/Mario work their "con" on her, jointly and separately. Mona's identity, revealed slowly by the film, is akin to Jaye Davidson's "Dil" in THE CRYING GAME (1993).
Solita (Solita del Sol) is a beautiful trans-gender (very timely of Perez to have written such a character, given the controversial Jennifer Laude murder) whom our hero meets on a train ride. Del Sol has a very surprising "exposure" scene as Mario keeps stalking her and fantasizing about marriage with "her."
OJ Mariano plays Solita's "husband."
Guillermo Gómez plays a priest who gives advice to Mario -- advice on same-sex marriage, as the naïve Mario cannot distinguish between real women and trans-gender women.
Cecile Guidote-Alvarez plays Mario's "grandmother," and their meeting scene is bizarre yet touching.
Ms Boots Anson-Roa plays, amusingly, a socialite named "Gilda" who accepts Mona Soriano into her inner circle. Her flair for comedy is a hidden gem.
Tesa Martinez and Carlos Celdran play themselves, with the bizarre touch of vampire fangs. The symbolism of vampirism and homosexuality/bisexuality (as Tesa dn Carlos threaten to consume the hapless Mario) is obvious and very ripe
quite easy to form the idea that "it" swallows you whole; the idea that it will infect you like a contagious disorder; the idea that (pardon my French) gay sex drains a man of energy.
Jessica Zafra plays herself in a very amusing cameo, dispensing advice during a book-signing at Solidaridad Bookshop, with chagrin and befuddlement, to the up-and-coming novelist Mario. Garrulous Tessa Prieto-Valdes plays herself in a ho-hum cameo. (The art event with Tessa and Ms Boots Anson-Roa is peppered with socialites' faces).
Snooky Serna, Lance Raymundo, Jon Hall, Wig Tysmans, Justin de Leon, Jordan Ladra, Cindy Liper and a host of indie talents are peppered throughout the film.
As the lives of the first girlfriend, of Mona, Solita, two brothers (who are "cousins" of Mario) intersect Mario's, Manila is presented in all its glory and, for lack of a better word, grime. Manila is all at once exciting, colorful, beauteous, dangerous, glamorous, pathetic, seedy, slick, hellish, yet a paradise for others... The very paradox of Manila underscores the dichotomy of the character that is Mario (will he tread this path? that path? will he follow in Raul's careless footsteps? will he allow Donato to run, and possibly ruin, his life?), and Elwood very interestingly contrasts Mario with Raul. Physically, both men are handsome but Liang is taller than Tañada. The latter's face is like the way my favorite author Ian Fleming described his creation, James Bond: hard, chiseled face, cruel mouth, etc. And the camera loves Ronnie! In his odd, bizarre scenes, in his steamy scenes, in his comic scenes, Ronnie Liang is made love to not just by a host of oddball characters but also by the obsessive lens.
Alas, being surrounded by theater and veteran actors, Liang's voice- over narration leaves a lot to be desired; it belies his strength as a natural singer (but poor speaker). It came across as too singsong- y, almost Forrest Gump-like. Perez must have like the mere innocence of his voice. (Fantasy: Had Perez made this in the 1970s/1980s, he would have ostensibly cast Alfie Anido, Miguel Rodríguez or even Maja Salvador's father, Ross Rival). There's still time for the hunky Liang to harness his acting chops, but he looks the part and acts the part (but work on your elocution and diction, man!).
ESOTERIKA: MANILA examines Metro Manila campily (for it is a campy place), and what makes it tick. The dichotomy between Mario and Raul seem to underscore the theory that it's really just one person -- Elwood himself, who based this on his actual personal experiences, especially when he was penning the 1989 film BAGWIS. Leave it to the naughty minds to imagine what really happened in Elwood's youth, but Perez is one filmmaker who can shoot sexy scenes without resorting to tackiness, vulgarity or gratuitousness. We should really thank Perez for making such a brazen film, for tackling such a brazen subject matter (and there really are very few non-indie movies that tackle LGBT themes). I heartily applaud Perez for his latest oeuvre, a film so brazen, bizarre, charming, campy, garrulous and definitely entertaining!
