Pantasya (2007)

Director:

Brillante Mendoza

Writer:

Boots Agbayani Pastor (writer)

Release Date:

20 March 2007 (Philippines)

Plot:

A digital feature has five episodes that all deal with wild gay fantasies involving men in uniform....

Plot Keywords:

One Word Title

Cast

Arthur Estrella	...	(segment "Byahe")
Rov Roxas	...	(segment "Byahe")
Mark Dionisio	...	(segment "Linya")
Harold Montano	...	(segment "Linya")
Kiko Montenegro	...	(segment "Linya")
Kervin Castillo	...	(segment "Laro")
Dexter Castro	...	(segment "Laro")
Brent Lorenzo	...	(segment "Laro")
Nicco Taberna	...	(segment "Laro")
Kyle Zenorio	...	(segment "Laro")
Justin De Leon	...	(segment "Bilis")
Trent Allan	...	(segment "Bilis")
Kyro Baldemor	...	(segment "Bantay")
Jon Eric	...	(segment "Bantay")
Rhyme Rodriguez	...	(segment "Bantay")

Also Known As:

Fantasya: Gay Illusion on Men-in-Uniform (Philippines: English title) (working title)

Runtime:

USA:90 min

Country:

Philippines

Language:

Filipino | Tagalog

Color:

Color

Company:

Rollingball Entertainment

Lonely guys daydreaming

The plot summary for this film on this site is actually quite misleading. The film isn't about men in uniforms at all. It was probably the film's international distributors who insisted on a more sell-able title in English. 'Pantasya' is about loneliness, desire to belong and the daydreaming that comes as a result.

The film consists of five monologues presented by five lonely guys in their 20's. Each one of them has a situation-based fantasy. Most of them involve their own jobs (taxi-driver, pizza delivery boy, guard). And it's hardly so that they are dreaming about having sex with themselves. Another one longs to become part of a basketball team or any other closely-knit group of people for that matter. The closest we get to the supposed premise of the film is in the second segment where the guy has a dream of getting it off with a couple of workmen who've come to his house to do some repairs, also easily the cheesiest segment of all five.

Occasional uniforms in the film are only the physical expression of the protagonists' social status, their drab lives. They aren't necessarily here to trigger somebody's fantasies.

I agree that the lighting is fairly poor. It is a low budget film. However, at least in part it could have been intentional since daydreaming is supposed to be somewhat hazy and blurred. When it comes to the musical score the director must have been inspired by soft-core skin flicks. However, it makes me think of Twilight Zone more than anything else. Given the lighting, it might also be appropriate! I believe that the film's main problem is that it fails to engage. All the narrators seem to be sad and miserable, albeit somewhat uplifted as a result of their daydreaming but still not interesting enough to actually care. Some of the erotic scenes are more convincing than other but don't expect any actual porn here. The focus isn't on sex, it's on longing.