Zsa Zsa Zaturrrrnaaaahhh!!
Thursday, January 4, 2007
Ako si Ada na nagiging si Zaturnnah. Hindi si Zaturnnah na nagiging si Ada
Rustom Padilla as Ada
Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah
Zsa Zsa Padilla, Pops Fernandez, Rustom Padilla
directed by Joel Lamangan
After the novel and Ze Muzikal, now comes the movie. Carlo Vergara's Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah published few years back and still visible and still making waves.
The movie was too marshmallow like for me. Too colorful, too vibrant, too milky. Very much likely… gay! It was able to capture that spirit given the nature of the material. But this movie, (hich was directed by a gay director, that has a lead gay actor, with gay characters, based on a book that was made for the gay community) cannot equate with what I actually hope it to be.
I like Joel Lamangan, and he surely didn't shine on this one. The opening scene is to weak. Really awkward! It is too bland. They cant even get actors who could deliver intensity with what they are doing. It is like a high-school play with adult characters. Joel Lamangan could've tried to consider the details on this one. I am not saying that they should have Christopher de Leon as the balot vendor, but they should've at least considered getting people who could actually act in making this scene.
The movie was fine and was actually fun and Joel Lamangan should not settle with that. He is making an adaptation of a great material, and he should not settle with mediocrity. There are a lot of chances to make this a superb film but Lamangan wasnt able to maximize the utilization of those chances.
It was a good thing that they used most of the original songs. I don't know if they could actually do something better than those. One thing that I don't like would be the abrupt transition from the narratives to song and dance. The fight scenes are lame, good thing I didn't expect too much on this aspect.
Annoying would be Pauleen Luna's character. Her character is not included in any part of the novel. The movie could get through without her as well as the other additional characters. The amazonas were not maximized at all. They actually had a miscast for this 4. What was Say Alonzo doing there! She even gets bigger credits that the other three when they actually share equal screentime and nevertheless didnt do anything. I had a great laugh while reading the novel due to these characters and the movie wasnt able to utilize them, one of the chances that Lamangan didnt consider.
One good thing would be the scene where Pops narrates the story of their becoming. I actually love the execution of that scene. Nicely done. If you have seen Sin City and and as well as the trailer for another Frank Miller adaptation 300, they are actually comparable to what they have done on this scene.
As for the actors…. Chokoleit is fun! It is better seeing him/her/it there than Allan K. Chokoleit wasnt able to give justice to the character though. Nagmukhang cheap si DD. Rustom as Ada I could say is perfect for the role. He is actually stunning in his scenes (except for the close-ups, where you could actually see how big his veins are). Funniest thing about the movie is that mas mukhang bakla si ZsaZsa Zaturnnah kaysa kay Ada. Isnt it serendipitous that ZsaZsa Padilla was given the heroine's role? She actually has the same first name with the character and she and the lead actor share the same last name. Aside from those, she actually has nothing to deserve the role. Her boobs are few cups away, few levels below from what the real ZsaZsa should have.
Pops was great in doing her role. She actually has the face, the body and the accent. Perfect for Queen Femina. Alfred Vargas was also good, though he was actually abused in most of his scenes.
Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah cant fly, unfortunately, it is the same thing with the movie, it cant soar high!
