In Cannes, ‘Serbis’ Takes Serious Beating

The New York Times called it a “rambunctious, noisy film.” One critic thought it was “a shabby piece of video verite from the Philippines” and wondered why it “inexplicably” competed in Cannes. The critic of cinematical.com headlined her review “Live from Cannes: Gratuitous Yuckiness…”and goes on to narrate why, for the first time, she walked out of a screening at a festival. And, according to the critic, it was not just because of the sight of a boil being popped using a Coke bottle — no pun intended — but also because of the gratuitous and exploitative sex scenes in the movie.

Yet another critic called it the worst film in competition in Cannes in recent memory.

The movie, of course, is Brillante Mendoza’s “Serbis,” the first Filipino film to compete in Cannes since Lino Brocka’s “Bayan Ko” more than 20 years ago.

Based on the overall “abusive reviews,” as one blogger put it, many now wonder if “Serbis” was worth mentioning in the same breath as “Bayan Ko” (or any of Brocka’s film for that matter).

So why was “Serbis” entered into competition in Cannes? By most account, Mendoza said he had to rush the film, which he shot in two weeks. No wonder why it was shabby? That it made it to Cannes probably had something to do with the fact that “Serbis” was funded by the French. (In the official lineup, “Serbis” carried both Philippines and France as countries of origin.)

The problem with the people behind the film is that they hyped it up so much, thus raising expectations. Mendoza himself hyped himself up, to the point that he comes across now as pretentious. In an interview with Premiere magazine, he stopped short of comparing himself to François Truffaut (”The 400 Blows”) and Paul Greengrass (”The Bourne Ultimatum”). Come on now. (CC Hidalgo/pinoypress.net)