TAKSIKAB at CINEMALAYA 2011

TAKSIKAB by Archie Del Mundo Official Selection

Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival

Midnight Special 2011

Time	Thursday, July 21 at 11:30pm - July 22 at 1:30am

Location	Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (Little Theatre), Cultural Center of The Philippines [CCP] Roxas Blvd Pasay City, Philippines

On the day of the new President’s inauguration, the film threads the roundelay tales of people dealing with daily lives: their relationships, desires and their means of survival. Each one sets a goal to get through their harsh realities while their fate awaits them to cross its path in the callous streets of Manila. The dramatic core revolves around a taxi driver whose sanity crosses its border when his day’s journey is derailed by his own sexual frustrations.

Starring
Kristofer King, Marife Necesito, Martin Delos Santos, Jess Mendoza, Kevin Vitug, Adrian Sebastian, Tony Lapena, Dustin Jose, Jonas Gruet, Marcus Cabrera, Ray An Dulay, Ivy Sumilang,Charlotte Dianco, Xixi Maturan, Kiro Baldemor

EXTENDED SCREENINGS: JUN 22-28 ISETANN

EXTENDED SCREENINGS FROM JUNE 22-28 EXCLUSIVELY AT ISETANN RECTO MANILA

TAKSIKAB

TAKSIKAB is written & directed by Archie Del Mundo. Produced by: Astral Productions

"Isang araw sa buhay ng isang taxi driver, at ng mga buhay pang nakapalibot dito, sa pagsisimula ng panahon ng "pagbabagong-pag-asa" sa pag-upo ng isang bagong pangulo. Pahapyaw sa kanilang buhay pag-ibig, pamilya, trabaho, at iba pang pampersonal na isyu." - Epoy Deyto
Rating: 3.5/5

‎"...you'll be riveted by the grim repercussions of the characters' actions, all efficiently played out with dramatic vim and believability by Necesito, King and the rest of the efficient cast. This makes an honorable resume for the cast's young rookies serious with their craft, most of whom look natural in their fabricated environment"...‎"The cinematic picture Del Mundo paints is bleak and sordid, but it's hard to not get affected by the engaging dynamics that transpire among the movie's protagonists and their respective stories." - Cathy


‎"Well-acted and appropriately cast, the metaphor-rich movie follows the awkward romance between gay taxi driver, David (Kristoffer King) and his callboy-best friend, Bodji (Adrian Sebastian), who has decided to leave his hard life in the city behind for a fresh start in the province." - Rito Asilo, Philippine Daily Inquirer

"‎"There are some dialogues i particularly like about [sic] in this movie. it is because i know it happens and it happened to some people i know. it talks about priorities in life and life and becoming alive is at the bottomline the top priority [sic]" - The Eylek Experience

TAKSIKAB: MAKE ME BLUSH REVIEW

Three Shades of Pink - M2M, Anton Tubero and Taksikab

By Cathy Pena

Archie del Mundo’s “Taksikab” also has sexually explicit scenes—though many of them apparently ended up on the cutting-room floor of the MTRCB. Fortunately for Del Mundo’s film, it transcends the exploitative nature of its story, about taxi driver, David (Kristoffer King), who plies his route in the concrete jungle as he figures out how to stop his best friend, rentboy Bodji (Adrian Sebastian), from leaving the city for a fresh start in his hometown in the province. Problem is, he hasn’t even told Bodji that what he feels for him is more than just friendship!

Del Mundo utilizes a round-dance narrative design to capture the pervasive decadence and amorality resulting from stark poverty, which markedly contrasts with the renewed vigor felt by the country’s middle class as it welcomes the new administration of Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

David’s love for his bosom buddy isn’t the only secret lurking in the shadows of “Taksikab.” As we follow David and Bodji, we are introduced to a motley of kaleidoscopic, albeit desperate characters surrounding them, each with respective dilemma to hurdle.

Marife (Marife Necesito), who used to be married to David, is an aging prostitute who returns to hooking as she dotes on her young cigarette-vendor friend, Toto (Martin delos Santos) —who later shocks her by acting as her pimp! Drug dealer Dustin Jose gives in to the sexual advances of his gay admirer to get his merchandise. He sells his stash to a junkie (Kevin Vitug), who in turn sells his body to Jonas Gruet to support his drug habit and find his rent money. But things don’t turn out well for him, because Gruet wants what he’s not offering—he wants to, uhurm, sodomize him, which comes with better pay!

As Vitug leaves Gruet’s room, in comes another guy, an indie actor (Marcus Cabrera) who also volunteers his prurient services to Gruet to support his son. Older taxi driver Tony Lapena allows gay deaf-mute Ray An Dulay fondle him— then forces him to pay for services rendered! Their stories unfold and coalesce as they move about in the muted shadows of David’s murky world

The cinematic picture Del Mundo paints is bleak and sordid, but it’s hard to not get affected by the engaging dynamics that transpire among the movie’s protagonists and their respective stories. The production isn’t as cohesive as it should be, and some segments aren’t resolved as seamlessly as they ought to be, but you’ll be riveted by the grim repercussions of the characters’ actions, all efficiently played out with dramatic vim and believability by Necesito, King and the rest of the efficient cast. This makes an honorable resume for the cast’s young rookies serious with their craft, most of whom look natural in their fabricated environment (even Dustin Jose who once again plays a drug dealer, like he did in “Lagpas”).

The characters they play are flawed, but viewers nevertheless root for some of them and even empathize with others - even when they don’t share their morality, because it isn’t hard to suspend disbelief that they’re real people driven by comprehensible or cogent motivations—and it doesn’t hurt that many of “Taksikab’s” actors register well onscreen, which is something you hardly see in Cris Pablo’s “creative” endeavors.

TAKSIKAB: PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER REVIEW

Ironic backdrop

On the indie film scene, director Archie del Mundo makes an auspicious debut by way of the gripping adult drama, “Taksikab” (showing at Galleria’s IndieSine this week). Using the euphoric presidential inauguration of Noynoy Aquino as an ironic backdrop, the movie follows the roundelay narrative device utilized by David Hare’s “The Blue Room” and Arthur Schnitzler’s “La Ronde” to expose the amoral decadence that results from the horrors of unrelenting poverty.

Well-acted and appropriately cast, the metaphor-rich movie follows the awkward romance between gay taxi driver, David (Kristoffer King) and his callboy-best friend, Bodji (Adrian Sebastian), who has decided to leave his hard life in the city behind for a fresh start in the province.

As their story unfolds, we are introduced to a slew of colorful characters, like an aging prostitute (Marife Necesito) who dotes on a young cigarette vendor cum pimp, Toto (Martin de los Santos)—who doesn’t know that his link to the helpful hooker and the distraught driver goes beyond friendship!

Jess Mendoza, Ray An Dulay, Tony Lapena, Kevin Vitug, Jonas Gruet, Marcus Cabrera and Dustin Jose join King and Necesito in this daisy chain of dramatic (and explicit) encounters that unsurprisingly ends in unspeakable tragedy.

TAKSIKAB: 9 SEX SCENES DEFENDED

SEX SCENE # 1

David [Kristofer King] touches himself the moment he wakes up in the morning. He gets up as he finishes and heads to the bathroom without clothes on to take a shower.

POINTS OF THE SCENE:

1. A taxi driver who has been secretly in love with his roommate for years has no other way to release his sexual desire.

2. This is a reflection of his character as a lonely gay man who has no other sexual outlets.

SEX SCENE # 2

Popoy [Dustin Jose] exchanges sexual favors for drugs in a market "bodega"

POINTS OF THE SCENE:

1. A reflection of an economically ill society where one corrupt act can be traded to another.

2. The cycle of bad habit knows no moral concerns

SEX SCENE # 3

Troy [Kevin Vitug] has an empty wallet. He needs to score more drugs. He prostitutes himself with a guy he met the other night. The gay guy Sonny [Jonas Gruet] offers a double pay so he can penetrate him backdoor. Troy reluctantly accepts the offer.

POINTS OF THE SCENE:

1. Drug addiction can further put you in worse situations. A man trapped in his own weakness will no longer have stronger hold for morals and sound decisions.

2. Sex can be used as a form of violence, trade, and power.

SEX SCENE # 4

Sonny's conquest for the day is momentarily followed by his encounter with a young struggling actor [Marcus Cabrera] who moonlights as a sex worker. Sex becomes wilder but magically passionate. The mutual attraction between the two is abrupt and confusing. They end up kissing each other passionately under the drizzling shower.

POINTS OF THE SCENE:

1. Although sex is used as a form of trade - sex can still be consummated by natural passion and reaction.

2. Even predators and preys or predator-to-predator can elevate the intensity of sexual relations if deep attraction ensues.

SEX SCENE # 5

David flirts with Popoy inside a cramped men's room in a cheap beerhouse. David touches Popoy's member. Popoy is somewhat pleased at first but growing aversion to his lifestyle makes him break out a violent reciprocation.

POINTS OF THE SCENE

1. Sex can be used as a form of violence if both parties are suffering from sexual repression

2. Hate crime roots from the attacker's own sexual repressiveness and the victim's own sexual incapacity. Both parties are to be blamed.

SEX SCENE # 6

Pepe [Jess Mendoza] is a former callboy who has j

ust come out of the prison for killing a customer later proven as a case of "heat of passion". He has new hopes to find a new job but luck seems tough on him. He goes back to his old way. First stop: a third-run moviehouse. A mentally-challenged gay [Paul Roquia] inspects Pepe's manhood saying he is looking for the perfect looking one.

POINTS OF THE SCENE

1. From Pepe's line, "I tried to find a decent job but no one seems trusting enough to offer one for someone who has just been to prison" In his own supposition, he has no other choice but to go back from where he started.

2. The close-up shot of Pepe's unaroused penis is framed to reflect hopelessness between two doomed characters as they both try to connect and make a deal in the seedy microcosm of extreme poverty. Both are looking for symbols of hope.

SEX SCENE # 7

Tony [Tony Lapena] is a taxi driver who thinks he can do two business inside his taxi at the same time. With his good looks, a proud member, and evil intentions - he lures his passengers to paid quickies. Gay and blind sampaguita vendor [Ray An Dulay] gives him a hand as he marvels each time staring at the driver's half-mast in exchange of what little he has earned for the day.

POINT OF THE SCENE

1. Sex does not equate economic class. Sex can be used as a lure to anyone who desires it regardless of social status. This happens, of course, if the moral fiber is loosed, or education is completely absent.

SEX SCENE # 9

Both down for the day, David picks up a wandering Pepe on the street and asks him to give him a head. Pepe agrees for a pay but eventually tries to flee when he notices that his customer may be not in his calmest condition. David violently forces him through.

POINT OF THE SCENE

1. Another reflection of the subject, "sex is violence". This of course ensues between persons with history of lapses in judgment. Remember that Pepe killed a customer before because of "sex is violence" . David, on the other hand, can be assumed is on that verge of comeuppance when everything that his sound mind desires got derailed along his day's journey.