Serbis (2008)

The projector turns on. The big screen lights up. The images roll. The movie within the movie begins. The latter is a kind of Filipino-style surrealism that will soon envelop us. “For adults only” can be read on a curtain after crossing the porch. Meeting point for hustlers and scammers. Prostitutes and homosexuals offer sexual services sitting in their seats or in the main lobby. Transvestites and bisexuals kiss or have oral sex with anyone in the dark while the unsurprising gaze of a child on a bicycle. The room remains in darkness with the smell of overflowing semen. There is no celebration of flavors with popcorn, candy or hotdogs. A labyrinthine space with more than one surprise in every corner.
Service (Serbis, in Filipino) is a 2008 independent drama film directed by Brillante Mendoza, leader of a generation of new Filipino filmmakers who leaves a trail of wonder wherever he goes. With this, his seventh film, Mendoza was the first filmmaker from his country invited to compete for the Palme d'Or in the official section of the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. It is also the first Filipino film to compete in that important international film event since Bayan Ko: Kapit sa Patalim, by Lino Brocka, in 1984.
The script, written by Armando Lao and Boots Agbayani Pastor, shows us thieves fleeing from the police roaming the hallways of the theater. Mothers with infants looking for another child, also a minor, who may have entered the dark room to meet with gays. Sellers of flowers or watermelon seeds walking through what was once a prestigious establishment that became a dilapidated movie theater dedicated to presenting double programs of erotic and pornographic films from the 70s, to advertise their products for sale. People going up and down stairs in an endless maelstrom of sound, noise and movement.
Transvestites and prostitutes showing their bodies to the moans of the movie lovers in the background as if they were being exhibited on a catwalk. Homosexual couples at the entrance to the bathroom waiting their turn to let off steam, but not the urge to urinate but the sexual appetite.
Family problems aired in everyone's ear. Sewer water that floods the bathrooms and nooks and filters down the stairs to the ground floor. Between the stench and the squalor, we will soon learn about the various family plots that will become intertwined with the comings and goings of the public and clients.
Claire Villareal's montage allows us to appreciate the graffiti on the walls of the bathrooms or hallways that display penises or vaginas with the names of their owners along with the telephone number and the price to be paid by the potential client. Layers of paint with a broad brush to hide graffiti. Posters of gay and erotic films hanging on the walls. Lazy people are the only ones who do not have entry permission, as can be read on another sign at the entrance. A runaway goat pacing in front of the projection screen after entering through a hole in the wall. Lights that turn on. The luminosity invades the stalls. Pants that are pulled up in a hurry, zippers that close in an enigmatic frenzy, shirts that hide nakedness are placed again on the unsheltered bodies. The lovers run in terror due to the terror of being surprised. The four-legged animal on the run and in pursuit a herd of two-legged animals that bleat as much as that one.
Two cinemas closed due to the economic crisis and this one, the only one open, does not generate enough income to feed everyone. Rolled films pad the walls before rolling across the floor to the Philippine Rabbit Line bus that links Angeles City to Manila. The city, doors outside, like another spectator of the film that rolls inside the building. People on the streets coming and going and fixing their gaze on the posters to discover that it is not the one showing the film they expect to see.
If viewers have their party at the Family cinema, the Pineda family, a matriarchy around which children, grandchildren, cousins ​​and nephews swarm, also has its treat. Together they run an old, baroque, grimy, decadent and labyrinthine cinema, which in turn serves as the home of the family clan, a kind of microcosm in which women, especially the two mothers, play a central leadership role in all the events. senses, moral authority and control of the property and custody of its members.
Nanay Flor, the matriarch, her daughter Nayda, her stepson Lando and her adopted daughter Jewel are in charge of selling tickets, meals and candy. His nephews, Alan and Ronald, are respectively the painter and the projectionist. While the family members go up and down the stairs in their daily chores, what happens in the living room and the more than populated hallways is foreign to them.
Bigamy, unwanted pregnancy, hasty commitment to silence what others will say, possible incest and boils on the skin are part of the daily challenges faced by this troubled family. And there, before them all, the true “star” of the show: a huge, dilapidated movie theater that serves as a family business and living space.
The exploration of family dynamics, particularly the relationship of Nanay Flor, played brilliantly by Gina Pareño, and her daughter Nayda (Jaclyn Jose), adds depth and emotional resonance to the story. The cast also includes Coco Martín, Dan Alvaro, Mercedes Cabral, Julio Diaz and Kristofer King.
As the film progresses, the plot becomes increasingly absorbing, drawing viewers into the journey of what happens in each space of the film establishment. Gian Gianan's music helps with this. Photographed by Odissey Flores, the raw, arid images, infused with a moving intimacy, enhance the emotional resonance of the story, while subtle touches of ironic humor serve to increase the tenderness aroused by the members of this surprising fallen gang. .
Mama Flor under the clock that relentlessly rings, with her best clothes, waiting for the curtains to come down. The cinema is silent. People go out. Among them Alan, backpack on his shoulders, fleeing from responsibility.
The tape burns. The projector turns off. The big screen goes dark. Images die until the next day. The movie within the movie ends.

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