After the world-renown that Mr. De Guia a.k.a Tahimik had achieved with the release of Mababangong Bangungot (1977), there is a necessity to somewhat delve a bit further into knowing, if not scrutinizing, the man responsible for creating that third-world cinema classic. What follows is a pseudo-documentary done a la video journal that obviously heavily influenced by the world's fascination during the late '60s, the United States Apollo Program wherein he even took lengths trying to describe the machinations behind it to the audience (seemingly lifted from encyclopedic articles, that is), presentation and absurdism done in a manner definitely borrowed from the Monty Python which also came out and became a phenomenon during that time. Wholesome light-hearted comedic elements are also present to make Mr. Tahimik seem unthreatening to the other German kids that his offsprings mingle with while they're staying in his wifey's German hometown where it was partly filmed.
As expected of a film made in a lesser-developed economy like the Philippines, the production values, not to mention the storyline for this film, just can't compare with the Hollywood-made films that were a product of cooperation and almost made with production assembly-line precision. And that is the thing that sets this apart from other cinematic works, that an American university-educated auteur like Tahimik could express his unexpurgated sentiments and sensibilities for the whole world to witness, one with freedom from organizational red tape.
This is the first of Tahimik's series of films which can kind of be called the proto-Kardashianesque spectacle specially made for the foreign audience overseas, Filipinos or otherwise, and educated Filipinos who are blessed enough to see these in select university or collegiate screenings (I'm assuming). It is best to see this first, and then check what I call his cinematic magnum opus Bakit dilaw ang gitna ng bahag-hari? (1994) or Why the Middle Color of the Rainbow is Yellow? Then followed by the differing versions of never-quite-reached-the-completion-status Memories of Overdevelopment (1984- ) to better see the progression of his family's travails.
Check it out whenever possible.
The actual English translation of the Filipino languaged title is "Who Created the Yo-yo? Who Created the Moon Buggy?"
A gamma-minus.
As expected of a film made in a lesser-developed economy like the Philippines, the production values, not to mention the storyline for this film, just can't compare with the Hollywood-made films that were a product of cooperation and almost made with production assembly-line precision. And that is the thing that sets this apart from other cinematic works, that an American university-educated auteur like Tahimik could express his unexpurgated sentiments and sensibilities for the whole world to witness, one with freedom from organizational red tape.
This is the first of Tahimik's series of films which can kind of be called the proto-Kardashianesque spectacle specially made for the foreign audience overseas, Filipinos or otherwise, and educated Filipinos who are blessed enough to see these in select university or collegiate screenings (I'm assuming). It is best to see this first, and then check what I call his cinematic magnum opus Bakit dilaw ang gitna ng bahag-hari? (1994) or Why the Middle Color of the Rainbow is Yellow? Then followed by the differing versions of never-quite-reached-the-completion-status Memories of Overdevelopment (1984- ) to better see the progression of his family's travails.
Check it out whenever possible.
The actual English translation of the Filipino languaged title is "Who Created the Yo-yo? Who Created the Moon Buggy?"
A gamma-minus.
