Munting Tinig best Filipino film in years

Small Voices (Mga Munting Tinig), the much-praised unpretentious low-budget, non-mainstream Tagalog film directed by Gil Portes is still getting a lot of positive buzz in the film festival and art theater circuits after its Toronto and Los Angeles screenings.

A Canadian film distributor only screened the movie for me last week in Vancouver and assured me that it is no about female and male prostitutes/dancers, dog and men eaters drowning in poverty, prayers and non-stop sexcapades, complete with enlarged breasts, orgasmic cries and prolonged shower scenes.

My reaction after the movie? I was immensely moved and enthralled and had to contain myself during the final credit roll. Memories of Philippine poverty, corruption, high illiteracy, hopelessness, misguided religious fervor, poor educational system, plastic high society people, uncaring middle class and trivial parties flooded my mind.

"Tinig" will hopefully signal that it is time for the Philippine movie industry to move on and get a life. "Tinig" was an enlightening journey (specially for those who live abroad). It is blessed with strong messages, subtle griefs, striking visuals and strongly developed directional sense that really makes sense.

It is time to forget about the Lino Brocka tearjerkers that capitalized on the poor without a future, where everyone is victimized and trapped. It is also high time to discourage the Brocka imitators who glamorized poverty for well off viewers who are so sympathetic but will never do anything to alleviate poverty. The poor people were used like gladiators in the arena of entertainment. It is time to leave the world of perverted voyeurism and the sexual athletics of the Filipinos.

"Munting Tinig" though a bit preachy at times and in need of polished editing is the best Tagalog film Î’ve seen in years. Let us hope that more mature, inspirational, intelligent, up-beat Tagalog movies with an international theme will be made in the not too distant future.

The film’s main message about life in the Philippines today gave added realism, texture, meaning and understanding of a letter written by a distraught friend living in Manila. I hope she won’t mind my publishing a portion of her letter.

"Life in the Philippines is a mess. I think messier than the time of Marcos, though I believe the mess started then. I feel bad about the entire thing. It’s not merely the Estrada mess but the entire culture. The Filipino is lost. Values have changed, if not gone altogether. Kids are different, families are different, goals are different, beliefs have changed, traditions dying. And I feel like drowning, how to change the tide, or am I really just getting old and jaded? Nothing is happening. Everything is wait and see, in the meantime the country’s disintegrating."

My friend is hoping for something to change, just like the characters in the movie. And maybe, just maybe a great leader will come along to make things better in the Philippines. See what a little film with a big heart can do to a hopeless cynic?

Cuba is not the favorite destination of American tourists, but Canadians are now top tourism patrons of Cuba. Canadians have been vacationing at the country’s resorts such as Havana since the early ’70s. There are more than 350,000 Canadian vacationers traveling in Cuba yearly. Canadians enjoy the hot, humid weather, the friendly Cubans and the eco tours deep into the countryside.

Ottawa still warns of threats to Canadian travelers to the Philippines. The Department in Ottawa is not asking Canadians not to travel to the Philippines but simply asking to "exercise extreme caution" particularly in areas frequented by foreigners.

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