Monday, September 20, 2010

Two Funerals

LEAD CAST: Tessie Tomas, Benjie Felipe, Xtian Lim, Robert Arevalo, Epy Quizon, Mon Confiado. DIRECTOR: Gil Portes. SCREENWRITER: Eric Ramos. PRODUCER: Teamwork Productions. GENRE: Drama, Social/Political Commentary. DISTRIBUTOR: Cinemalaya RUNNING TIME: 80 minutes. LOCATION: Tuguegarao, Nueva Ecija, Bicol Region

Technical: 3 Moral: 2 Rating: For viewers aged 14 and above

Following a fatal bust accident, a funeral home mixes up two of the bodies, sending them to the wrong places. In Nueva Ecija, the Buensuceso family receives the body of criminal Dodong. Meanwhile in Sorsogon, Mulong Buenviaje (Benjie Felipe) receives the body of the Buensuceso daughter, Charm. Charm’s fiancĂ©e Gerry (Xtian Lim) and her mother, Pilar (Tessie Tomas) take the road trip to Sorsogon, rushing to get Charm’s body back before the Holy Week is over. Mulong, on the other hand, has been convinced by his con man buddy that they can use the body as a means to make money.

Two Funerals caricatures our country’s ills: corrupt policemen, warring politicians and philandering priests, but neither develops nor suggests solution to societal problems. Perhaps it merely wants to call attention certain practices like our lack of solemnity in the observance of Holy Week, our disrespect for the dead, etc.