Chito's Stern Warning (Review of the Movie, "Sukob")

My buying and watching of pirated DVD's has finally caught up on me.

I bought a pirated copy of Chito Rono's new film "Sukob" and watched it alone in the comforts of my room. This turned out to be a dumb mistake. I began watching the Kris Aquino - Claudine Barreto starrer lying on my bed trying to catch some zzzz's, but I ended watching the movie crouched, holding my pillows tight and my blanket covering my whole self.

I shouted so many times, that I'm afraid that my neighbors would call the cops to report that I am being raped inside my own home.

"Sukob" is Chito Rono's way of sternly reminding us to follow traditions and superstitions that are considered too mundane and petty in our high-tech world. He makes us believe that we already know what's going on in the story and throws us all off track in the last second. And on the very last microsecond, he throws us off balanced again. If you've been to Puerto Galera and rode the "Banana" or "Pencil" boats (I heard there's one on Boracay as well), you'll get what I mean.

I am glad to know that this is a Filipino film. Although there are points in the movie that I think are a chopseuy of hommages to Asian scare movies, "Sukob" still stands out to be its own movie. This is the first time I saw a good acting from Kris Aquino and Claudine Barretto did great in justifying her martyr-clueless role. Even the supporting roles are substantive to develop the plot and not follow the usual pinoy style of cut-out cardboard characters. Ronaldo Valdez ,for example, shows us again in this movie why he is on the top echelons of actors in the country.

Chito Rono is very saddistic in this film, not to his characters though, but to us, his viewers. He scares us, then scares us again while being scared just for him to scare us again on that instance.

After watching this movie, I resolve that I:

1. Marry ten years after a sibling of mine or my future wife's get married, to avoid being jinxed. And;

2. Never buy pirated DVD of a spook movie from Chito Rono and watch it alone in my room.


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Thank you, Ms. Jessica Zafra, for that short and sweet email that you sent. As my overlord and dominatrix of this universe, that's the only thing a sentinel like me can do. :)