blackshama's commentary on Philippine issues

A still from "Amigo" by John Sayles The late William Henry "Scotty" Scott, esteemed American historian and lay minister of the Episcopal Church in the Philippines wrote in "Ilocano Responses to American Aggression 1900-1901" that a few years after the Philippines was finally recognized as independent, the nationalist trend of the 1950s led the Department of Education in 1951 to interview the few surviving veterans of the Filipino War against American Imperialism a.k.a "Philippine-American War" and the then present generation of Filipinos about the war. So thorough was the American colonial education system and its historical cleansing of that period in history that Filipinos knew more of the revolt against "backward" Spain and friar abuses than the American atrocities of the anti-imperialist war. This historical amnesia poisons US-Philippine relations to this day. No amount of dancing to the beat of "Papaya" by former US ...

I watched The Cove at the Cine Adarna theatre of the University of the Philippines on September 3. It was a free screening sponsored by Earth Island Institute .  The cinema was packed by environmentalists and advocates of keeping dolphins and other whales out of captivity. However, I had to ditch my environmentalist mode so I can watch the film more objectively and I had to see it with  my ASIAN AND THIRD WORLD EYES ! My assessment is that the documentary was well made but MISERABLY FAILS on  cultural and historical sensitivity . And so it can easily be criticized as an ENVIROIMPERIALIST attempt to trump down Japanese culture. First of all the film shows an all WHITE crew of environmentalists trying to save the dolphins. I do not see any problem with saving cetaceans and many Japanese do so too, but a balanced treatment would have been better if a historical aspect was introduced. Wholesale whale slaughter was first made an efficient industry by who else, White Eu...

I have finished my treat of DVD for review movies. "Australia" is billed as a tribute to the "golden age" of movies. The opening credits however reminded me of Indiana Jones. Nonetheless the Baz Luhrmann film has proven the wags wrong. The film is no Outback Waterworld! Anyway the film lives up to its Aussieness. There are a lot of Australian private jokes in the movie and only blokes and sheilas who have lived long enough in Oz can get the punchline. Example 1: all newbies to Oz are enthralled to see hopping kangaroos. The ooooohs and ahhhs I have heard in Billabong sanctuary years before. But then something typically Aussie happens to the roo. Guess!?!? (Clue: When I first landed in Australia when I was an overseas student there, the first roo I saw in Oz was a roadkill.) Example 2: Also when Nicole Kidman's aristocratic character goes down the gangplank and into the wharf, she tries to check into a "hotel", where in Oz a hotel is a pub. She walks r...

If you have the time to look beyond the usual Hollywood dishes, Metrowalk can spring DVD surprises for viewing on Gloria's three day weekends. I found a copy of the award winning 2005 German film "Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage " that features the story of the Scholl siblings Hans and Sophie who founded the resistance movement White Rose . The White Rose distributed thousands of anti-Nazi mimeographed leaflets in Bavaria and other parts of Germany. The Scholls were arrested on 18 February 1943 when Sophie Scholl caught by the Munich university porter scattering the leaflets in Munich University hall. After a spurious show trial by the Nazi "people's" court presided by Roland Friesler , the Scholls were convicted of treason and executed on 22 February. The film is based on trial depositions and transcripts that were held in East Germany. After German reunification these were made public. The actors played their roles magnificently. Noted German actress Juli...

Ms now Batangas Governor Vilma Santos is the Star for All Seasons. While she can act better than the once and future Superstar, she has no sole claim to her title. She never starred in a Shakespeare flick. The honour belongs to Paul Scofield, the overlooked Brit acting great. Unlike Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud or even Alec Guinness, he refused a knighthood and never took on stereotypical and campy roles in Hollywood. Scofield passed away last March 19 in Sussex, England. Scofield is best remembered for playing Sir Thomas More on stage and in film in Robert Bolt's "A Man for All Seasons". I have to confess, seeing Scofield essay More was one of the reasons why I decided to be Catholic. Later on while studying Bolt's play, the play isn't about Catholic martyrdom per se but paying the price for holding on to one's conscience. Here Scofield breathtakingly plays More's gentle refusal to bend to the King's will. Of course the movie was made even more memo...

Hollywood has finally dished out a movie about terrorism without the "fighting for freedom and democracy" cliche. As I had once blogged about the movie "World Trade Center", America and Hollywood will have to deal with the issues up front. The producers of "Kingdom" have to be commended for making a movie that at least tries to do that. At least the movie was shot in the Middle East and of course it wasn't Saudi Arabia but a nearby country. The opening terrorist attack scene on a Western housing complex was as realistic as a movie can be. And this is not a film about US troops storming the Kingdom (the Saudis wouldn't allow that) but an FBI team lead by Jamie Foxx' character, Chris Cooper as the southern toughie, Jennifer Garner as the woman agent who in the end did in one of the Jihadis was sent to do a forensic investigation with the blessings of a Saudi prince. Israeli actor Ashraf Barhom has a scintillating role as the Saudi cop who was fir...