By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Gino M. Santos
Starring: Albie Casino | Dawn Balagot | Issa Liton | John Wayne Sace | Micah Cabral | Patric Sugui | Vangie Martelle
Country: philippines
Year: 2013
Running time: 80
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2206188/combined
Kyle says: “The International Premiere of THE ANIMALS was an offering in the series titled ‘Manila Chronicles: The New Filipino Cinema.’ In one regard, it can lay claim to being the single most disturbing film of the 12th New York Asian Film Festival. Ostensibly a story of entitlement among privileged Filipino high schoolers prior to their graduation party, it is finally an evocation of Lord of the Flies — about how easily the veneer of civilization can be shed in favor of hedonism and nastiness, as well as how dangerous the illusion of safety can be. Before the evening orgy at which alcohol and drugs lead to hormonally inappropriate behavior, violent hazing rituals and copious vomiting in bathrooms, all of it recorded immediately on cellphone cameras for sharing online, the high schoolers discuss at length relationships they are in, out of, or contemplating, acceptances to colleges, and particularly the awesomeness of the party they will be attending.
”Much of THE ANIMALS is extremely unpleasant, which is just as it should be. And even though this territory is familiar to Americans from decades of films about lurid high school experiences, the fact of its setting in a country where extreme poverty and corrupt public officialdom are more central to the national dialogue is striking. Noteworthy is a scene of class distinction in which the family car and limousine drivers hang out waiting for their clients and mocking them for their shallowness. The devastating end of the young woman who storms out of the party after a fight with her boyfriend makes us wonder whether any of these unfortunates will be changed by her fate, or whether they will all wake up with a hangover and right away start discussions on the next party or high school ritual. Some will regard a scene of ants swarming over the carcass of a dead animal as a heavy-handed metaphor; others will say that even if these kids noticed it, nothing in their behavior would be modified in the least. In the stunned audience silence that greeted the end titles, the friend with whom I attended the screening said, ‘This film should be shown in every high school in America.’ 4.5 cats
“Seen Tuesday, July 2, 2013, New York Asian Film Festival at the Walter Reade Theater, Film Society of Lincoln Center, New York.”