Good acting is not a matter of keeping a serious face but a matter of changing expression to display complex emotion. The exciting pace of the final fight, even the intelligent cinematography all go to waste because of the director's inability to elicit good performances from his actors and his unwillingness to cut out unnecessary shots. Only the sequence directed, and probably edited by Poe is cinematically satisfying. The film as a whole tend to be flat, over extended and purposeless. Durugin Si Totoy Bato is a rehash of old cinematic conventions, specifically of the action genre. Ironically, however, the film's biggest drawback is not the director's fault but of its lead actor. The story demands that Totoy, a has been fighter trying to earn enough money to pay for his daughter's medication, die in the ring. There is even a funeral scene, but surprise, he comes walking in at the film's end, completely unharmed and in great spirits. No amount of explanation that the police staged his death merely to stop illegal gambling will ever justify such an illogical and self-serving ending.
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Carlo J. Caparas? Filipino Legend..
ReplyDeleteGood acting is not a matter of keeping a serious face but a matter of changing expression to display complex emotion. The exciting pace of the final fight, even the intelligent cinematography all go to waste because of the director's inability to elicit good performances from his actors and his unwillingness to cut out unnecessary shots. Only the sequence directed, and probably edited by Poe is cinematically satisfying. The film as a whole tend to be flat, over extended and purposeless. Durugin Si Totoy Bato is a rehash of old cinematic conventions, specifically of the action genre. Ironically, however, the film's biggest drawback is not the director's fault but of its lead actor. The story demands that Totoy, a has been fighter trying to earn enough money to pay for his daughter's medication, die in the ring. There is even a funeral scene, but surprise, he comes walking in at the film's end, completely unharmed and in great spirits. No amount of explanation that the police staged his death merely to stop illegal gambling will ever justify such an illogical and self-serving ending.
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