roll the film

Thank you english department.

For the past few weeks, I have been going off to the U.P. film institute a.k.a Cinemalibre for film viewing. And this is all thanks to our school's english department. The first film I watched was a documentary on certain revolutions done and dealt with in different ways. One through guns, rallies, and shooting (Hugo Chavez revolution) entitled The Revolution will Not be Televised... and the other through their music, Rebel Music Americas. The second one was also a documentary and it was about PGMA's PP1017 and the political killings here in the Philippines. It was entitled Asintado and was composed of about 5 individual films. Now that was an eye opener for me. I'm not into politics so I don't really know much about what's happening. These documentaries are long, mind you. They can last for up to 2-3 hours. You'll definitely leave the place a little more enlightened on certain things...but you'll also definitely leave with a sore numb butt too.

Yesterday, it was different. Different in the way that it was not a documentary...this time, it was a movie (I still left the place enlightened but also with a sore numb butt. God they have to change those chairs...). The movie was The King of Masks and it was superbly beautiful. Even though it was a movie, it was still able to address certain issues in society just as a documentary would. Only this time, it involved a story line that all the more heightened your emotions. Well, it heightened mine. I cried, mind you...the movie had really touching parts.

I watched these films only because they were required or had bonus points attached to it. Initially, I thought of it as a drag...but now I can do nothing but thank our english department. These films have enlightened me about certain things in life. What they are, I have yet to discover. I'm still thinking them over (I'll tell you when I know). Watching them made me a bit more educated...a bit more inspired... they made me think.

These films only cost me 50-100 pesos (100 for the King of Masks because it was a fundraiser) and I get the moviehouse setting and good cold aircon. How much do you spend for a moviehouse movie that hardly educates and only entertains?