ILUSYON (2005)

Was rushing to Rob's Place Ermita last night to catch ILUSYON, a film by Ellen Ramos and another director whose career i've been following - Paulo Villaluna.

Set in 1958, Ilusyon tells the story of Miguel, a young man from the countryside, who decides to visit his father, Pablo, a Modernist painter in Manila. Upon his arrival, he discovers that his father has decided to leave for the province to heal from depression after the death of his wife and Miguel’s mother. Miguel opts to stay in Manila for a vacation – where he finds a job as house painter and realizes that city life might fit him well. One day, he meet Stella, a nude model originally scheduled to pose for Miguel’s father. Struck by her beauty, Miguel does the unthinkable – he pretends to be his father Pablo. He pretends to paint her and hides his doodles from the unwitting Stella. Developing a relationship based on a lie, things turn for the worse as Stella begets a strange skin disease that turns off Miguel. Surrounded by strange characters – a talking cow, a talkative mailman and a nosy landlady – Miguel driven into a frenzy realization about beauty, lust, love and being true to oneself. An ambiguous ending underlines the surreal tone of the film.

Based on a true story, co-written and line produced by maverick independent filmmaker Jon Red, Ilusyon is the debut narrative full-length film by award-winning independent documentary and animation filmmakers Paulo Villaluna and Ellen Ramos. Shot in 5 days with an approximate budget of only $16,000, Ilusyon is the second film produced by Digital Viva, the digital production are of Viva Films. Ilusyon avoids the melodrama specifications of the period drama as well as the hip maneuverings of the digital explosion in the Philippines, delivering a surreal and deliberately paced portrait of a young man caught in maelstrom of weird events. (Cinemanila 2005)

I can't say I had a wonderful time. It can be a bore in some places but the photography and the score will keep you up most of the time. Credit goes to whoever was in charge of these two things. None of the websites i've seen show their names, poor people. The whole affair borders on the avant garde. The musical numbers are very French, or should I say, LVN and Sampaguita? Still, the work looks sadly too dim on screen. Again, this is the result of transfering digital to 35mm. Robinson's should get a nice 10,000-lumen projector quickly!

This is the second film to get an A grade from the Cinema Evaluation Board after 'LA VISA LOCA' by the same outfit. I heard 'La Visa...' tanked at the tills. I hope 'Ilusyon' gets its due with Pinoy audiences.