Rosanna Roces also known as Osang and Assunta de Rossi-Ledesma, both of them are starers in Chito Rono's La Vida Rosa (A Rosy Life) and Joel Lamangan's Hubog (Wretched Lives) (2001).
Two popular sexy movies released in September and December 2001.
In La Vida Rosa, we finally see hooligans in their everyday conditions - living, loving and hoping for a better life. Givng flesh to these hoodlum characters in the film are Diether Ocampo and Rosanna Roces.
Directed by Chito Roño, La Vida Rosa casts Roces and Ocampo as con artists who get involved in all sorts of criminal activities: kidnapping, carnapping, theft, etc. They actually operate under the supervision of an underworld boss, played by Vic Diaz.
When greed gets in the way of their illegal operations, they have a falling out with Diaz and, later, with his assistant, Pen Medina. Roces and Ocampo then begin to live in fear – with danger constantly lurking behind them.
La Vida Rosa doesn't necessarily plead for sympathy and understanding for these unlawful elements in society. The movie merely depicts the every day lives of criminals the way it is in real life - minus the sinister laughter we often hear in most Tagalog movies.
In this film, we see hooligans also living ordinary lives - without necessarily spitting out bullets everyday for breakfast. And so we see Rosanna Roces here playing a doting mother to her son and a dutiful daughter to her own Mom, portrayed by Liza Lorena.
And what interesting role Liza Lorena plays here in La Vida Rosa. She is a blind woman who – to while away time – sits by the church door to ask for alms. At the end of the day, this supposed beggar – believe it or not – is fetched by a service car.
Liza is also made to age here way beyond her years. But despite the difficulty of the role and the fact that she had been away for so long, Liza goes through the old and blind woman part with much ease – proof that she’s still one of the country’s finest actresses. (I believe she was at her best in Oro, Plata, Mata and in Miguelito: Ang Batang Rebelde.)
Playing the bastard son of Rosanna Roces in the movie is Jiro Mano, one of the young talents in Marilou Diaz-Abaya’s Muro-Ami. Once this movie is shown in commercial theaters, this kid – mark my word – will become the toast of Philippine cinema. He's a brilliant child actor – even better than Lester Samonte who wowed local and foreign audiences (during film festivals abroad) with his excellent performance in Gil Portes'; Saranggola. He and Rosanna Roces have such great chemistry between them, you’ll end up relishing in your mind all their scenes together even long after the movie has ended.
Diether Ocampo, Rosanna’s partner in crime (and even in bed), had already shown marked improvement as an actor (he was so wooden in his early films) in Bakit Pa? and in Bukas na Lang Kita Mamahalin (both by Jose Javier Reyes). But here in La Vida Rosa, his performance is even a hundred times better.
And Rosanna Roces? I’m not saying this only because we work together in a television show. If you don’t believe me, see the movie yourself once it opens in downtown theaters within the next few weeks and I think you will agree with me that she had already ensconced herself as one of the best actresses in Philippine movies because of this film. Insome of her scenes, in fact, she reminds me of a young Rosa Rosal (one of the greatest we have) in the classic film, Anak-Dalita.
Actually, even in her old, sex films like Basa sa Dagat and Patikim ng Piña, Rosanna was already showing flashes of brilliance – which was quite a feat considering that those movies were, well, trashy and exploitative.
Fortunately, she had her chance to redeem herself as an actress in Ligaya ang Itawag Mo sa Akin and in Ang Lalake sa Buhay ni Selya under the guidance of Carlos Siguion Reyna. In fact, I thought that those two films would already be the pinnacles of her film career. I was wrong. Here in La Vida Rosa, she even gives an even more sterling (and far more colorful) performance compared to both Selya and Ligaya.
Her best scene in the film is the part where she confronts Pen Medina and, later, drops one of her delicious trademark Osang one-liners. If only for this scene, La Vida Rosa is already worth watching.
However, I assure you that each scene in this film is really worth your time and money. This movie may be dark and executed in film noir style, but is still highly appealing to viewers - thanks to the magnificent orchestration of the various cinematic elements under the baton of director Chito Roño.
La Vida Rosa has everything viewers are looking for in movie: drama, action, suspense, sex and even humor (provided mostly by Rosanna). All these elements put together, however, do not come out like tasteless and watered-down chopsuey. On the contrary, each one is brilliantly staged and meticulously executed. The film’s finale – done ala Bonnie & Clyde – shows the most inventive deaths (I’m not saying who died though) ever presented on the local screen. For a change, we don’t see a character gasping for breath and begging not to be brought anymore to the hospital. It is so different from those usually syrupy Tagalog movie endings that are already starting to come out of our ears.
Actually, it had been quite sometime since we had a Filipino film of top quality shown in local theaters.
Joel Lamangan returns to Baseco Compound once more for Hubog, this year's third Best Picture in the recently-concluded Metro Manila Film Festival Gabi ng Parangal.
Written by Roy Iglesias, the time frame of Hubog covers the period between EDSA II and EDSA III. (Although they could have done away with these political events - and the story structure would still be in shape.) Amidst the squalor that is Baseco, we see the lead character, played by Assunta de Rossi, trying to eke out a living for herself and her retarded younger sister, Alessandra.
Three tragedies hit our heroine in close succession: Her mother (Jackie Castillejo) dies, she is fired from her job as sales clerk in a department store and the shanty where they live is destroyed by a strong typhoon. (The last event is already part of cinematic license because I don't remember Metro Manila being hit by extremely bad weather between EDSA II in January and EDSA III in May of this year.)
With no one else to turn to, Assunta is forced to accept the generous offer of friend Jay Manalo (who works as a bodyguard for some big shot) for her and her sister to live in his house.
One evening, she is seduced by Jay Manalo and - when she succumbs - she becomes his common-law wife. Eventually, she unmasks him and discovers his true colors: He is a wife-beater and murderer.
To compound her problems, she finds out that practically the entire male population of their community has been molesting her retarded sister in exchange for some cheap toys and hamburgers.
Hubog has a lot of highly-charged dramatic moments from beginning to end. But in spite of the over-the-top dialogues, none of the scenes come out mushy nor overly sentimental. Credit goes to the creative mind of director Joel Lamangan who brilliantly stages all the scenes in this film.
Lamangan should also be commended for properly guiding all the cast members of the film - particularly Assunta de Rossi who really deserves to win the Best Actress plum in this year's Metro Manila Filmfest.
I first noticed Assunta's sensitivity as an actress in the final episode of the Red Diaries trilogy where she plays the battered wife of Carlos Morales.
Then, she also delivered another performance in the Insiang adaptation of the drama anthology Larawan on Channel 7 toward the last quarter of the year. In Hubog, it is clear that she has already matured as an actress.
The outstanding performance of Alessandra de Rossi in Hubog no longer comes as a surprise to a lot of people. After all, she was already impressive in her acting debut in Carlos Siguion Reyna's Azucena one year ago. Here in Hubog, we see - at long last (courtesy of Alessandra) - the portrayal of a retardate that does not irritate the movie audience. Her Best Supporting Actress win is also well-deserved.
Jay Manalo and Wendell Ramos (who plays Assunta's taxi driver boyfriend) also benefit from the guidance of Lamangan. As a result, they both deliver very good performances in the movie.
Why, even Joanne Quintas does well (as Jay Manalo's ex-live in partner) even in her brief parts and even briefer dialogues.
The only thing that bothers me about Hubog is its anti-poor stance. In the whole movie, there is not one poor character worthy of emulation. No, not even Assunta de Rossi.
In the film, we may laud Assunta for looking after her retarded sister, but she is not exactly the best person to guard her own purity. Even in the film’s opening credits, she is shown having pre-marital sex with Wendell Ramos as the entire nation is busy changing its President.
And then, there are those scenes that show the squatters as nothing but a bunch of mercenaries who will all troop to EDSA, Greenhills and Malacañang at the sound of the cash register.
Of course, we cannot blame Lamangan for portraying the poor in this light because, well, it seems like that was exactly what happened during that bloody May 1 assault on Malacañang. (Now, it’s me who might be branded anti-poor!).
Two popular sexy movies released in September and December 2001.
In La Vida Rosa, we finally see hooligans in their everyday conditions - living, loving and hoping for a better life. Givng flesh to these hoodlum characters in the film are Diether Ocampo and Rosanna Roces.
Directed by Chito Roño, La Vida Rosa casts Roces and Ocampo as con artists who get involved in all sorts of criminal activities: kidnapping, carnapping, theft, etc. They actually operate under the supervision of an underworld boss, played by Vic Diaz.
When greed gets in the way of their illegal operations, they have a falling out with Diaz and, later, with his assistant, Pen Medina. Roces and Ocampo then begin to live in fear – with danger constantly lurking behind them.
La Vida Rosa doesn't necessarily plead for sympathy and understanding for these unlawful elements in society. The movie merely depicts the every day lives of criminals the way it is in real life - minus the sinister laughter we often hear in most Tagalog movies.
In this film, we see hooligans also living ordinary lives - without necessarily spitting out bullets everyday for breakfast. And so we see Rosanna Roces here playing a doting mother to her son and a dutiful daughter to her own Mom, portrayed by Liza Lorena.
And what interesting role Liza Lorena plays here in La Vida Rosa. She is a blind woman who – to while away time – sits by the church door to ask for alms. At the end of the day, this supposed beggar – believe it or not – is fetched by a service car.
Liza is also made to age here way beyond her years. But despite the difficulty of the role and the fact that she had been away for so long, Liza goes through the old and blind woman part with much ease – proof that she’s still one of the country’s finest actresses. (I believe she was at her best in Oro, Plata, Mata and in Miguelito: Ang Batang Rebelde.)
Playing the bastard son of Rosanna Roces in the movie is Jiro Mano, one of the young talents in Marilou Diaz-Abaya’s Muro-Ami. Once this movie is shown in commercial theaters, this kid – mark my word – will become the toast of Philippine cinema. He's a brilliant child actor – even better than Lester Samonte who wowed local and foreign audiences (during film festivals abroad) with his excellent performance in Gil Portes'; Saranggola. He and Rosanna Roces have such great chemistry between them, you’ll end up relishing in your mind all their scenes together even long after the movie has ended.
Diether Ocampo, Rosanna’s partner in crime (and even in bed), had already shown marked improvement as an actor (he was so wooden in his early films) in Bakit Pa? and in Bukas na Lang Kita Mamahalin (both by Jose Javier Reyes). But here in La Vida Rosa, his performance is even a hundred times better.
And Rosanna Roces? I’m not saying this only because we work together in a television show. If you don’t believe me, see the movie yourself once it opens in downtown theaters within the next few weeks and I think you will agree with me that she had already ensconced herself as one of the best actresses in Philippine movies because of this film. Insome of her scenes, in fact, she reminds me of a young Rosa Rosal (one of the greatest we have) in the classic film, Anak-Dalita.
Actually, even in her old, sex films like Basa sa Dagat and Patikim ng Piña, Rosanna was already showing flashes of brilliance – which was quite a feat considering that those movies were, well, trashy and exploitative.
Fortunately, she had her chance to redeem herself as an actress in Ligaya ang Itawag Mo sa Akin and in Ang Lalake sa Buhay ni Selya under the guidance of Carlos Siguion Reyna. In fact, I thought that those two films would already be the pinnacles of her film career. I was wrong. Here in La Vida Rosa, she even gives an even more sterling (and far more colorful) performance compared to both Selya and Ligaya.
Her best scene in the film is the part where she confronts Pen Medina and, later, drops one of her delicious trademark Osang one-liners. If only for this scene, La Vida Rosa is already worth watching.
However, I assure you that each scene in this film is really worth your time and money. This movie may be dark and executed in film noir style, but is still highly appealing to viewers - thanks to the magnificent orchestration of the various cinematic elements under the baton of director Chito Roño.
La Vida Rosa has everything viewers are looking for in movie: drama, action, suspense, sex and even humor (provided mostly by Rosanna). All these elements put together, however, do not come out like tasteless and watered-down chopsuey. On the contrary, each one is brilliantly staged and meticulously executed. The film’s finale – done ala Bonnie & Clyde – shows the most inventive deaths (I’m not saying who died though) ever presented on the local screen. For a change, we don’t see a character gasping for breath and begging not to be brought anymore to the hospital. It is so different from those usually syrupy Tagalog movie endings that are already starting to come out of our ears.
Actually, it had been quite sometime since we had a Filipino film of top quality shown in local theaters.
Joel Lamangan returns to Baseco Compound once more for Hubog, this year's third Best Picture in the recently-concluded Metro Manila Film Festival Gabi ng Parangal.
Written by Roy Iglesias, the time frame of Hubog covers the period between EDSA II and EDSA III. (Although they could have done away with these political events - and the story structure would still be in shape.) Amidst the squalor that is Baseco, we see the lead character, played by Assunta de Rossi, trying to eke out a living for herself and her retarded younger sister, Alessandra.
Three tragedies hit our heroine in close succession: Her mother (Jackie Castillejo) dies, she is fired from her job as sales clerk in a department store and the shanty where they live is destroyed by a strong typhoon. (The last event is already part of cinematic license because I don't remember Metro Manila being hit by extremely bad weather between EDSA II in January and EDSA III in May of this year.)
With no one else to turn to, Assunta is forced to accept the generous offer of friend Jay Manalo (who works as a bodyguard for some big shot) for her and her sister to live in his house.
One evening, she is seduced by Jay Manalo and - when she succumbs - she becomes his common-law wife. Eventually, she unmasks him and discovers his true colors: He is a wife-beater and murderer.
To compound her problems, she finds out that practically the entire male population of their community has been molesting her retarded sister in exchange for some cheap toys and hamburgers.
Hubog has a lot of highly-charged dramatic moments from beginning to end. But in spite of the over-the-top dialogues, none of the scenes come out mushy nor overly sentimental. Credit goes to the creative mind of director Joel Lamangan who brilliantly stages all the scenes in this film.
Lamangan should also be commended for properly guiding all the cast members of the film - particularly Assunta de Rossi who really deserves to win the Best Actress plum in this year's Metro Manila Filmfest.
I first noticed Assunta's sensitivity as an actress in the final episode of the Red Diaries trilogy where she plays the battered wife of Carlos Morales.
Then, she also delivered another performance in the Insiang adaptation of the drama anthology Larawan on Channel 7 toward the last quarter of the year. In Hubog, it is clear that she has already matured as an actress.
The outstanding performance of Alessandra de Rossi in Hubog no longer comes as a surprise to a lot of people. After all, she was already impressive in her acting debut in Carlos Siguion Reyna's Azucena one year ago. Here in Hubog, we see - at long last (courtesy of Alessandra) - the portrayal of a retardate that does not irritate the movie audience. Her Best Supporting Actress win is also well-deserved.
Jay Manalo and Wendell Ramos (who plays Assunta's taxi driver boyfriend) also benefit from the guidance of Lamangan. As a result, they both deliver very good performances in the movie.
Why, even Joanne Quintas does well (as Jay Manalo's ex-live in partner) even in her brief parts and even briefer dialogues.
The only thing that bothers me about Hubog is its anti-poor stance. In the whole movie, there is not one poor character worthy of emulation. No, not even Assunta de Rossi.
In the film, we may laud Assunta for looking after her retarded sister, but she is not exactly the best person to guard her own purity. Even in the film’s opening credits, she is shown having pre-marital sex with Wendell Ramos as the entire nation is busy changing its President.
And then, there are those scenes that show the squatters as nothing but a bunch of mercenaries who will all troop to EDSA, Greenhills and Malacañang at the sound of the cash register.
Of course, we cannot blame Lamangan for portraying the poor in this light because, well, it seems like that was exactly what happened during that bloody May 1 assault on Malacañang. (Now, it’s me who might be branded anti-poor!).
