Elevator? TV Patrol? As is. Where is. (review of Ang Babae sa Septic Tank)

July 26

Tuesday

Exterior

Ereeka Mesiona and I were so excited to watch the movie “Ang Babae sa Septic Tank” in UP Film Institute despite the heavy downpour of rain. But that night, we were unstoppable. Unfortunately, because of the movie’s high demand, we were not able to buy our ticket .

“Eka! Wala na daw ticket! Pero may SRO tickets daw na ibebenta”

“Dude. What’s SRO?”

For everyone’s benefit, SRO stands for Standing Room Only. We literally brought our own chair just so we can watch Cinemalaya 7’s most awarded film So right after watching “Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa” (I’ll write a review on this on my .next blog), we ran outside to line up for the SRO tickets. But since we were desperate people that night, let’s just say we bought our tickets without too much hassle.

In all honesty, I actually had low expectations for this film. I thought “Ang Babae sa Septic Babae” would be the same nakakahilo, slow paced storyline that had been the usual trend in indie films. Well, that was just my personal opinion (about the indie films having such trend) and I know a lot of you might disagree with me. 

Nonetheless, I can never be more proud of indie filmmakers who make these movies to give viewers other option than the usual title-of-a-love-song movie.

So where do I start to describe how awesome this movie was. If you think this film would be the ‘kenkoy’, cheap laugh movie, then I suggest you watch it to see for yourself. The punch lines in the film had the right timing and blend. It was not exaggerated nor trying too hard to make the audience laugh. Tamang timpla lang, pare.

Kean Cipriano, besides his bad/mysterious boy look that even made one UP student profess his ‘ love’ for him during the prescon, really pulled off the role of Direk in the film. It was his nonchalant, chill, and artistic vibe that made him the perfect actor for the role. Do I still need to emphasize how ‘hands down’ I was to Ms. Eugene Domingo? Well, she was just Cinemalaya’s New Breed Best Actress. She was phenomenal! PERIOD.

It was also touching to see the whole cast attend the screening and answer questions from the students. Sir Chris Martinez answered the questions well and even made me realize why this film was “a good type of different” from other indie films out there. He said that indie film was becoming a genre that was why he made a different approach on this film. Kudos sir! You really pulled it off.

The only sad realization I got from this movie is that comedy films are still what attracts Filipino audience to the movie house. No wonder movies like Enteng Kabisote reached the nth version of it because they know Filipinos will always fall for them. At least, “Ang Babae sa Septic Tank” is an intellectual type of funny.

Even though some people did not like how it ended, in my opinion, it was the perfect ending to this film. It showed us that the woman in the septic tank was just a small part of it and there was a bigger and deeper picture to this film.

To those who haven’t watched this film, YOU ARE MISSING HALF OF YOUR LIFE. And BOO YOU.

Cinemalaya 7's Best Actress. Deserve.

By the way, they're showing this in 14 cinemas i think on August 3 :) and August 5 in UP Film institute again :) LET'S SUPPORT INDIE FILMMAKERS!! and watch this with your barkada swear!! Sobrang benta!!