Ang Babae sa Septic Tank

I was not planning to watch a movie last Sunday but when my friend Marel told me that after church she will be having a movie date with her HS gay best friend EJ. When I asked her what movie they’ll be watching, she said “Babae”, and then I said I wanna come with them to watch it too.

Ang Babae sa Septic Tank was an award winning Indie film from Cinemalaya. Most of the Cinemalaya films were not available for commercial viewing. Since it made a big noise in the Indie film world and a lot of people wanted to watch it but missed the Cinemalaya screening, they decided to show it on the commercial big screen.

The movie starred one of the big names in the showbiz industry and I should say she’s one of the most versatile actress and the most in-demand comedienne of this time, no other than Eugene Domingo. J It also co-starred JM de Guzman, one of the best dramatic actor of this generation, Kean Cipriano, Callalily’s front vocal and Cai Cortez.

The movie’s outer story was about an Indie film producer and director who want to make their names big in the industry. They wanted to make a big hit Indie film and dreaming of making it to the most prestigious award giving bodies around the world. Their concept was about the slums’ status quo and the underlying issues that came with it. Their story was about a widowed woman living in a slum area with her seven children. She can no longer bear the pain of seeing her kids suffer so she decided to sell one of her kids an old foreigner pedophile.

On the other hand, the movie’s inner and main story was really about the status quo of the movie industry, not just in the commercial film but as well as in the Indie film. Some may not understand this but for those people who studied the ins and outs of the industry as well as those people who have a very critical view on what they watch, they would definitely understand what the movie is about.

The real deal these days especially in the Philippine movies, were the shallow story lines starring the-most-famous-but-not-so-good-actors. Most of the movies didn’t make any sense anymore. Some were copy cat of the other movies. Movies now were more of an advertisement tool and very commercialized. You would see how the sponsor’s products were being inserted in every scene. Some movies were no longer realistic.

Ang Babae sa Septic Tank also tackles on how some actors make their demands and their say about the project that they are doing. It seems like the production owe them big time because they agreed to do the project so they have the bragging rights to demand a lot and make changes to the movie and the story lines. But that shouldn’t be case. They were just actors, which mean they are paid to play the role they were given the way the director wants them to be. They are paid to make the character come alive. They may make suggestions but it is still the director’s call, not unless the actor is the producer too.

Ang Babae sa Septic Tank was a movie that lets you in to the world of film; the ins and outs of it.