Inferno

DIRECTOR: Ron Howard  LEAD CAST: Tom Hanks, Felicity Jones, Irrfan Khan, Ben Foster, Sidse Babett Knudsen  SCREENWRITER: David Koepp  PRODUCER:  Brian Grazer, Ron Howard  EDITOR:  Tom Elkins, Daniel P. Hanley  MUSICAL DIRECTOR:  Hans Zimmer  GENRE: Mystery and Suspense  CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Salvatore Totino  DISTRIBUTOR: Sony Pictures  LOCATION:  Turkey (Istanbul); Italy (Florence, Tuscany, Venice, Veneto); Hungary (Budapest)  RUNNING TIME:   122  minutes

Technical assessment: 3.5

Moral assessment: 2.5 

CINEMA rating:  V14

MTRCB rating:  PG

Geneticist billionaire Bertrand Zobrist (Ben Foster) in his well-attended lectures blames the evils in the world to overpopulation.  Subscribing to the idea that the Black Plague that thinned out the world’s population eventually opened the way to the Renaissance, he creates a poison-bomb that will kill half the world’s population in order to save the other half.  Instead of detonating it to release the virus, Zobrist hides the virus, embeds a trail of clues in Sandro Boticelli’s painting of La Mappa dell’inferno, then kills himself.  The bomb’s location is what symbologist Dr. Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) and Dr. Sienna Brooks (Felicity Jones) are out to find despite threats to life and limb from other entities in pursuit of the bomb.  Just who the bad guys are, you’ll know towards the end.

Based on Dan Brown’s novel “Inferno”, the movie does not purport to be a faithful copy of the book.  It’s the third of Brown’s Robert Langdon series (Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons), and because the novelty is wearing off, a fourth just might strike viewers as an Easter egg hunt for adults.  This is not to say there’s nothing interesting in Inferno.  Actors did their parts well, notably Khan; Hanks is true to character and arouses sympathy, while the women are convincing in their toughie roles. Production design is excellent; lighting, sound and music enhance the emotional quality of the scenes; good editing pulls the movie into a coherent whole.  It’s obvious that Brown has a penchant for puzzles but screenwriter David Koepp and director Ron Howard must have deemed it smarter to give Inferno their own twist by liberally changing some vital elements in the story.  Also, they may have avoided offending a chunk of the market by totally cutting off the book’s reference to Manila as “the gates of hell.”

Inferno is another good-vs-evil movie that shows how good humans can be at being bad.  The theory that over-population is the sole cause of human misery is championed by a scientist with questionable ethics.  (In real life, scientists with questionable ethics are joined by misguided legislators who push a misleading “reproductive health” agenda on behalf of big pharmaceutical companies. It’s complicated.)  In this movie, the issue becomes almost simplistic: there is an extended confrontation between two lead characters wherein one says that saving the lives of some cannot be justified by extinguishing the lives of many.  That might pass for being Inferno’s statement but it leaves to older viewers the responsibility of explaining it to younger ones.  Not such an odious job, considering that watching Inferno means a trip pass to the interiors of museums and churches in the gorgeous cities of Venice, Florence, and Budapest. 

Ang Babaeng Humayo

DIRECTOR: Lav Diaz  LEAD CAST: Charo Santos-Concio, John Lloyd Cruz, Michael De Mesa  WRITERS: Lav Diaz (screenplay), PRODUCERS: Lav Diaz, Ronald Arguelles  EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Ronald Arguelles  FILM EDITOR: Lav Diaz  GENRE: Drama  CINEMATOGRAPHY: Lav Diaz  PRODUCTION DESIGN: Popo Diaz  COSTUME DESIGNERS: Kim Perez, Kyla Domingo  SOUND DESIGNERS: Che Villanueva, Corinne de San Jose  PRODUCTON COMPANY: Cinema One Originals, Sine Olivia Pilipinas  DISTRIBUTED BY: Star Cinema  LOCATION: Mindoro, Philippines  COUNTRY: Philippines  LANGUAGE: Filipino, English  RUNNING TIME: 226 minutes

Technical assessment:  3

Moral assessment:  2.5

MTRCB rating:  R16

CINEMA rating:  V18

Taon 1997, sa ika-30 taon ng pagkakakulong ng gurong si Horacia Somorostro (Charo Santos), matatanggap niya ang balita ng pagpapawalang sala sa kanya at ng kanyang ganap na paglaya. Pagbabasehan ng utos na ito ang pag-amin ng tunay na salarin, si Petra (Shamaine Buencamino) na pinakamalapit niyang kaibigan sa correctional. Mapapag-alaman ni Horacia na ang utak ng kanyang pagkakasakdal ay ang dati niyang kasintahang si Rodrigo Trinidad (Michael De Mesa), ang maimpluwensya at mayaman sa kanilang lugar, na gusto siyang paghigantihan dahil sa pagpapakasal niya sa iba. Sa kanyang paglaya ay babalikan ni Horacia ang kanilang bahay sa Bataan.  Makikipagkita siya sa anak na si Minerva at malalaman niyang pumanaw na ang kanyang asawa, at nawawala naman ang panganay niyang anak, isang lalaki. Tatanggihan ni Horacia ang hiling ni Minerva na magkasama na sila pagkat balak niyang hanapin ang nawawalang anak at maghiganti  kay Rodrigo.  Sa pamumuhay mag-isa ni Horacia ay may mga taong kapus-palad na gagawan niya ng kabutihan tulad ng baklang may epilepsya na si Hollanda (John Lloyd Cruz), ang muret na Mameng (Judith Javier), ang magbabalot na si Kuba (Nonie Buencamino), at ang may karinderia na si Nena (Maven Estanero).

Nanalo ng pangunahing gantimpala na Golden Lion Award sa 2016 Venice Film Festival ang pelikulang ito na binigyang inspirasyon ng “God Sees the Truth But Waits” isang maikling kuwento ni Leo Tolstoy. Madaling sundan ang kwento ng Ang Babaeng Humayo.  Malinaw na maipapakita sa pamamagitan ng voice over ang mga kaganapan sa malawak na lipunan noong 1997, kasabay ng mga kaganapan sa buhay ni Horacia—isang papel na buong husay na ginampanan ni Santos.  Naging epektibo ang paggamit ng black and white sa pagsasalamin ng mga nakalulungkot na realidad ng kalagayang sosyo-politikal ng lipunan.  Mahaba sa karaniwan ang pelikula, halos apat na oras na walang makikitang kulay; halatang sadyang hinabaan ng direktor ang mga kuha ng kamera upang bigyan-diin ang mga mensahe na nais nyang ipahatid. Dalawang bagay ang maaaring maging resulta nito sa manonood—makapag-nilaynilay sa isinasaad na mensahe, o kaya ay mainip at tuluyang makatulog. Sa kabila ng kawalan ng kulay ay mahusay ang mga komposisyon. Long shots at madidilim ang karamihan sa mga ito pero dama ang emosyon. May hatid na suspense ang mga kilos ni Horacia para makapaghiganti at kaabang-abang kung maisasakatuparan niya ito kaalinsabay ng mga kabutihang loob niya sa mga kapus-palad. Nakaaaliw ang mga inilapat na tunog na natural ang mga dating tulad ng mga motor, huni ng ibon, paglalaba, paghahalungkat, mga daing at pighati. Ang lalong panalo ay ang lighting o pag-iilaw lalo na ang mga eksena na kailangang magpakita ng literal na ilaw o bombilya. Sa isang black and white na pelikula ay sa lighting talaga maaaring maglaro ang direktor at epektibong nagawa ito ni Diaz.

Nakababahala ang kawalan ng katarungan katulad ng nangyari kay Horacia, na biktima ng saliwang hustisya, bagama’t pinakita sa pelikula na naging mabuting preso siya dahil ipinagpatuloy niya sa loob ng piitan ang kanyang propesyon sa pamamagitan ng pagtuturo sa mga kapwa preso. Nakababahala rin na inabot ng 30 taon bago makonsyensya at umamin si Petra, at sa halip na humingi ng tawad sa matalik na kaibigan ay minabuti pa nitong magpakamatay. Higit pang nakababahala na sa kanyang paglaya at pagharap sa bagong buhay, ay mas pinili pa ni Horacia na maghiganti kay Rodrigo. Bagamat tila likas ang kabutihan sa kanya at naipakita yon sa mga kawanggawa niya sa mga kapus-palad na nakilala niya at naging kaibigan sa kanyang paglaya, ay di maiwasang lumutang din ang angulo na pakana lamang ni Horacia ang mga iyon para makakuha ng impormasyon tungkol kay Rodrigo at lalong makadiskarte kung paano niya mapapatay ito. Sa bandang huli ay naitulak pa niya ang walang kinalaman na si Hollanda na isakatuparan ang balak niya at maging dahilan upang tuluyang mawalan ng tirahan ang mga mahihirap. Nagpakita ba naman ng ispiritualidad ang pelikula? Mula sa mga presong sama-samang nagdarasal, maraming eksena sa simbahan, pagsisikap ng kontrabida na magtapat sa pari, at mga pagbabahagi ng magbabalot tungkol sa kanyang pananampalataya—sa mga ito’y pinahiwatig ng pelikula na mayroong Diyos. Subalit sa kabila nito, walang ipinakitang transformation sa lipunan man o sa mga tauhan sa pelikul, bagkus puro paghihiganti lamang ang hangad—si Rodrigo na masayang umamin na di siya nagsisisi sa ginawa niya kay Horacia, si Horacia na mangdadawit pa ng iba makaganti lamang kay Rodrigo, at ang magbabalot na sumumpang maghiganti sa mga pumatay sa ama niya.  Sa pagtatapos, nauwi pa ang pelikula sa isa pang murder, sa pagkakadakip sa isang taong pumatay sa biktimang wala namang kasalanan sa kanya.  Pagka’t patay na si Rodrigo, humayo na si Horacia, malaya, hinahanap naman ang nawawalang anak.  Nakakahinayang na gugulin ang mahabang oras at dobleng halaga ng tiket sa temang ito ng pelikula. 

Sausage Party

DIRECTOR:  Conrad Vernon, Greg Tiernan  LEAD CAST: Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Jonah Hill, Bill Hader, Michael Cera, James Franco, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson, Paul Rudd, Nick Kroll, David Krumholtz, Edward Norton, Salma Hayek  PRODUCER:  Megan Ellison, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Conrad Vernon  SCREENWRITER:  Kyle Hunter, Ariel Shaffir, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg  MUSIC:  Alan Menken, Christopher Lennertz  STORY:  Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Jonah Hill  EDITOR:  Kevin Pavlovic  GENRE:  Computer-Animation, Adult Comedy  PRODUCTION COMPANY:  Annapurna Pictures, Point Grey Pictures  DISTRIBUTOR: Columbia Pictures  COUNTRY:  United States  LANGUAGE: English  RUNNING TIME: 88 minutes

Technical assessment:  3.5

Moral assessment: 1.5

CINEMA rating:  V18

MTRCB:  R18

In this adult comedy, the products on the shelf of Shopwell supermarket have only one hope in life: that they be “chosen” and purchased by the gods (human shoppers) who will transport them to “the great beyond”.  A sausage, Frank (voiced by Seth Rogan) and his girlfriend, Brenda (voiced by Kristen Wiig), a comely hot dog bun, can hardly wait for the day they can break free from their packaging and be together happily-ever-after in “the great beyond”—meanwhile they are content touching fingertips when no one’s looking.  The products’ anticipation is heightened as the Fourth of July shoppers prepare for the holidays.  Then Honey-Mustard (voiced by Danny McBride) gets returned and, horrified by what he has seen in a god’s kitchen, warns the others that outside of the supermarket there is only death and consumption.  Nobody believes him, and when he gets chosen again, he commits suicide by jumping off the shopping cart, breaking his jar and spilling his guts on the floor.  This causes a collision and as all hell breaks loose the douche (voiced by Nick Kroll) breaks his nozzle; blaming Frank for it, he swears revenge.

Comedy being a very subjective medium, Sausage Party may be abhorred by some, adored by others, but its inventiveness cannot be denied.  Talking supermarket “citizens” are so cleverly conceived and utilized to highlight or poke fun at issues affecting humans and humanity.  One may not agree with what Sausage Party is saying but one must admit it’s driving its point home clearly and emphatically with humor, albeit potty at times.  Helping spice up the movie is not just one but four screenwriters putting their heads together and making a mouthpiece of supermarket objects to broadcast their views on, for instance, the Israel-Palestine conflict (using a bagel and a lavash), immigration problems (using smuggled canned goods from Mexico), the holocaust (using the German sauerkraut who wants to “exterminate the juice”), same-sex attraction (using an empty taco shell’s lust for a bun who rejects her in the belief that only a sausage can fulfill a bun), religion (using a native American character in a whisky bottle, Firewater, who admits he invented the idea of the gods and the great beyond), etc.

Being amused or entertained by Sausage Party does not necessarily mean buying what it sells.  Relentless in its profanity and shameless about its sex talk, the movie, although clad in cartoony satire, has an atheistic premise that can’t be missed: if we all but forget about our differences and then unite to defeat our common enemy, we will be victors; and our common enemy here is the gods who lie to us in order to use us, the gods we worship who feed us illusions to make us willingly do their bidding.  With “the great beyond” revealed as a hoax, a rebellion is staged by the products until all the gods are dead.  The movie champions its perception of tolerance and finding happiness here and now—which means orgiastic partying as if there’s no tomorrow.  Sausage Party’s makers attempt a sophisticated conclusion featuring Gum, a wad of chewing gum in a motorized wheelchair—obviously spoofing the genius Stephen Hawking—that tells the anthropomorphic grocery items they are mere cartoons and if they want to meet their creators and voice actors in another dimension they must go through this portal.  So—from disillusion to hope, from one “great beyond” to another?  If their intention was to inject some soul into the movie, they fail.  Sausage Party does not deserve a soul.