Ang Babae sa Septic Tank

Ang Babae sa Septic Tank was released during the 7th year of Cinemalaya festival held at CCP.  I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to watch the film for it showcased the real status or situation of our country at present times. It is a story within a story and discussed about the worsening poverty here in the Philippines that resulted to human trafficking. Because of the extreme poverty that the Filipino is facing they think of other ways just to get out of the trash lives they have that’s why some turned to other illegal doings such as selling children to the people who are old just to make them a sex slaves and from that they will earn money and used it for their everyday living. Unfortunately, the movie might give a negative mental picture of our country since it exposed the kind of life we have here in the Philippines particularly in the squatter’s area but why would we be ashamed if that is the reality happening in our country? We need to show of all these to others so that the government will respond to the issues we are facing. The movie “Ang Babae sa Septic tank’ was even shown abroad and received awards from prestigious award giving bodies. For me, I think it has a greater impact when independent movies showcase the reality since  the audience can relate to it easily. 

On the other hand, Eugene Domingo as the main character in the movie for me portrayed the role very effectively. I can’t think of anyone else fit for that role aside from her. She was able to deliver the lines with conviction and it seems that she’s not really acting for it comes out to her naturally. In addition to the performance of the other characters, I definitely applaud the ones who chose the cast since Kean, Cai and JM also portrayed their roles effectively. The acts they made were very natural as well. I was surprised because I never thought that they could act that way especially Kean, I though he’s just a vocalist of the band but he was able to prove himself in that movie and no doubt why he had given projects now by ABS-CBN and TV5.  

Lastly, at the end of the movie I realized how lucky I am with the kind of life I have right now. Even though my parents were not with us anymore since they both passed away still I consider myself blessed and lucky  because they were able to raised me and my other siblings in a way every child wants to live. I'm not saying that I get everything I want in life but enough to say that I have the necessary things I need especially the most important of all- Education. :)  

The TV Set

The TV Set

The movie entitled The TV Set is all about the manipulation of the network to the story written by Mike Klein. Mike, being the main character in the movie is a script writer, he wrote the story for a television series with a title “The Wexler’s Chronicle” and it is about the story of a lawyer who can’t move on due to the incident that his brother did, his brother committed suicide. He was very inspired to do that story because it is based on his real life experiences. He presented the story to the board and eventually liked the concept and they believed that the story he wrote will gain ratings. Mike himself looked for the people that will audition and portray for the characters in the story and he believes that TJ would perfectly fit for the character of being a lawyer instead of Zach Harper, but then Lenny and the other staff wants Zach and he tried to convinced them but the board’s decision was already final and he can’t do anything but to agree. The board also thinks that, the end of the story is tragic since suicide is too heavy for a comedy show. He had a conversation with his pregnant wife and told her that “I’d rather not do it than do it badly” he was referring to the incident mentioned above. But then his wife told him that she is pregnant, they have a little baby, and they still have to pay for the expenses in their house so he can’t reject the offer they have for him instead he just have  to accept the fact that the story he wrote might be changed or altered just to push the story.  

As the story go on, during the shooting for one of the episodes, he was disappointed simply because the scenes the he envisioned are not the things that are actually happening and he was also a bit disappointed to the actor Mike because during rehearsals he acts good but when the moment they shoot for the actual prod he then changed. On the other hand, Len, Mike’s boss really wants to changed the suicide part but of course Mike doesn’t want too because the essence of the story will vanish if they do so that’s why Mr. Richard McCallister said that why not make a two different versions, the first version is the original story of Mike  and the second is the mother dies and the brother was imprisoned. But at the end of the movie still the decision of the boss win over and he was very disappointed.

The movie TV set showed the things that possibly happened inside the network. the manipulation of the bosses towards the other staff. Yes, I understand that they only want to have a good story in order for them to produce a good show but then sometimes the management overused their power and sometimes tend to be insensitive towards the feelings of others.  The writers wrote story because they want to express themselves and to share the creativity they have in mind but once the management manipulate them they might not have expressed what they really want to impart to the minds of their viewers or audiences. If I were in Mike’s shoes I will fight for the things I believe in.  I will not let anyone to manipulate or control the things in my mind even if that would mean the story I wrote would be rejected, sad it may seem but that’s the only thing left in me-pride. I know that it would be a big lost on my part but I will just accept the fact and would just wait for the right time. I always believe that everything will fall in its its places at the right time and with the right people.