Artivels Undescribable Perfection

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

halloweenpilita I was excited to hear that Cesar Montano had decided to make a movie in the Cebuano language. (Not 'dialect' as most Filipinos will incorrectly refer to it as. As Cebuano and Tagalog are as mutually unintelligible as French and Spanish are to each other.) But I was greatly disappointed when i saw this movie. Being a Canadian, of Cebuano parents, I was optimistic about the revival of the Visayan film industry when I heard about this film. I was further excited to hear that it wasn't another stupid action movie or melodrama as Filipinos love these types of movies. But alas, I was short-changed.Panaghoy serves as an ego trip for Cesar Montano. Montano of course plays the hero of the movie. And when I say 'hero' I mean in the most stereotypical of manners; his function is to win the heart of a girl and lead the Bol-anons to victory against the Japanese. His character has no depth or complexity. He just fits the hero mold. The rest of the characters are one dimensional; they all fit their cookie cutter roles.I'm all for slow-moving/meditative movies but this movie was just slow moving. It didn't really meditate on anything. Just because a movie is historically-themed, a drama and slow-moving doesn't make it a well-made film.Particularly annoying is the American actor Philip Anthony. His performance was embarrassing.If Montano wanted to revive the Visayan film industry he should have really thought this through. He said he wanted to make Visayan movies that could compete at Cannes and Toronto etc. but really, this movie would have been booed and hissed at at such festivals. To get Visayan films into the mainstream consciousness he should have at least made a movie that would have attracted audiences, even if it meant sacrificing quality. Obviously he didn't think about or get information on what kind of movies garner awards at Cannes so an audience-attracting movie would have been at least a foot in the door.I'm afraid now that Visayan movies will not be made for a long time again because of this movie. If ever I said to a Filipino that I want to see more Visayan movies of course I'd get an answer like, "Visayans don't make good movies. Didn't you see Panaghoy Sa Suba?" Of course this is ludicrous as it is one example of a Visayan movie and probably the only example that anyone nowadays would be likely to see.An example of movies that are meditative, not just slow moving, are the Tagalog film Blackout or David Lynch's The Straight Story. I hate to promote the Tagalog language as it is endlessly and unfairly promoted and shoved down the throats of non-Tagalog Filipinos but for the sake of calling a spade a spade I say that Blackout is a VERY good movie. These movies rely heavily on what Hitchcock called 'pure cinema'. Images without words are used to convey the story. But I bend the definition a bit for the sake of these two movies in that these movies use images without words to convey the mood of the movie. and they do it very well. Panaghoy thinks that if they simply take sweeping shots of the landscape then they have established the mood.And what's with so many Filipino movies featuring a dying mother or grandmother???

Ugat sa Pinas I'm grateful to Cesar Montano and his crew in reviving the once-moribund Visayan film understorey. "Panaghoy" is hopefully the forerunner of a resurgence in this vernacular (that claims more speakers than Tagalog). The dialect and lifestyle details are accurately reminiscent of this region of the Philippines. Downside: the corny and stilted acting of the American antagonist. The other item that I didn't appreciate was the lack of authenticity in the "period" costume of the same character, and above all, his bright red kit-car that I suppose was meant to pass for a 1930s roadster. Without those small yet glaring details, "Panaghoy" would've been at least a 9 out of 10 on my rating--daghang salamat, Manoy Cesar! Addendum: this film sure beats Peque Gallaga's "Oro, Plata, Mata", which provided a different view of the Visayas during the Second World War. Alos, there are some parts where the cinematography harks back to Spielberg's "The Color Purple" and the storyline begins to become reminiscent of "Noli Me Tangere".

valdaph Panaghoy speaks of patriotism, of loving, of living...If people in Manila cannot appreciate the movie in its entirety, then I would say they don't know what's a good movie.The movie serves as inspirational kinda thing for those who have deep appreciation of nature, history. It can appeal to symbols, to metaphors triggering many down to earth creations of mankind.The scenery does not only speak of Bohol, a virgin place to behold, but it also allows us to see the Philippines in its entirety.Behold the mountains, and the nature that adds to the local color of the scenes.The characters are magnitude in themselves because they portrayed a reason of living life and continue to go on amidst difficulties. But this situation speaks of simplicity and humility, of grace of character of candidness....One should see Panaghoy. You will not only appreciate the artists as performers, you will also appreciate the artist as creators.Thank you Cesar for making sense in producing movies that are worthwhile.

MrBiddle Very goodly movie. Its interesting to see how Cesar Montano plays with the theme of colonial mentality. I'd have wished John Smith died in a mishap. A very hatable character. In contrast, the Japanese commander was a likable compassionate character. Remembrance. Put my heart.Very well translated too, sometimes the word "Pastilan" goes from 'darn' to 'Oh boy'... or "Uy kalami!" becomes "How Sweet!" instead of "how tasty!".I'm glad they used full Visayan dialogue. Ang mga bisaya, naai utok! Wa mi nanginahanglan sa inyong panabang!Grade B+