Counterculture of the Counterculture: A Review of "Ang mga Kidnaper ni Ronnie Lazaro"

A tale of ordinary people pushed to do extraordinary things to survive, Ang mga Kidnapper ni Ronnie Lazaro showed the attempts of amateur filmmakers to kidnap indie favorite Ronnie Lazaro. Trouble ensues when Lazaro shoots down their ‘skrip,’ prompting the filmmakers to forcibly take the actor and demand him to act in their movie. During the course of his captivity, Lazaro discovers the individual life stories of his kidnappers. Believing that his captors were not inherently bad people, Lazaro willingly helps the amateur filmmakers create a movie featuring ‘real stories for the Filipino people.



The movie features an ensemble cast which includes Noni Buencamino, who plays the OFW Bebot, Epy Quizon as a call-center agent named Pipoy, Raul Morit as a Christ-impersonator, Dwight Gaston as Boy George, a camera repair man, Hector Macaso as Hector, a former stuntman, Soliman Cruz as Abdul, a Muslim vendor of pirated DVDs and Ronnie Lazaro as himself. 

Director Sigfried Barros Sanchez undoubtedly made a concerted effort in fleshing out the individual characters and integrating them all in the general narrative. However, this made the film a little too long and dragging at some parts. 

The film displays a lot of the elements of traditional Filipino cinema – long cuts, emphasis on facial expressions, narratives within the narrative, interspersed with ‘indie elements,’ both intentionally and embedded into the form itself. The shaky camerawork, shoddy lighting and abrupt cuts also emphasized the ‘amateur’ nature of the filmmakers.  

This overt representation of cinematic elements seems to poke fun at mainstream cinema and its counterculture – independent cinema. The most hilarious parts of the film would be the ones which satirize the nature of the film industry. In the middle of the film there was a long montage which showed the formula of a typical Filipino action movie. The protagonist, played by Ronnie Lazaro, comes from a dark past with the hopes of redeeming himself while the damsel in distress is forced to work in a bar due to poverty. The typical elements of scenes involving bar fights, sex, and final shootouts are all narrated and reenacted in a very serious manner. 

The film also portrayed the emerging ‘elitist’ nature of independent cinema. Inside the narrative, another group of seasoned filmmakers showed how much independent cinema has been overrun by standards and is inspired by foreign filmmakers. Snippets of interviews of various filmmakers all vying for Ronnie Lazaro showed how a community has banded over independent cinema and how formulaic it has become. The frequent mentions of film techniques and obscure filmmakers in this part of the film emphasized the almost snobbish identity that independent cinema is seen to embody, emphasizing the growing chasm between mainstream and indie. 

The satirical approach of the film provided an insightful look back at the state of Filipino cinema and how it came to be the way that it is. Through it, we are able to see and understand the current state of Filipino cinema. Mainstream movies seem to bank on tried and tested methods ensured to capture the masses, while independent cinema caters to those ‘intellectuals,’ shying away from conventions whilst unwittingly creating conventions for its own genre as well. Both genres seem to be sufficiently inspired by foreign films and filmmakers. The question then emerges: Are we really creating films for the Filipino audience? 

In the overarching narrative, we can see how the director tried to take his advice to heart. His characters were predominantly stereotypes of the struggling poor and lower middle class Filipinos. OFWs, call center agents, Muslim vendors, religious fanatics and blue collar workers. The wide array of characters ensures that the viewers would be able to find someone and something to relate to. The dilemmas the characters faced hit the Filipino experience of continuous struggle, and yet finding reasons to smile amidst all the hardships. The only problem here is that it classifies the problems of the Filipinos as belonging solely to the general masses.  

Nonetheless, the message at the end of the film was very inspiring. Create Filipino films about Filipino lives and experiences for the Filipino audience. With this in mind, the reliance on styles and types of filmmaking becomes secondary in nature. What is important is that we create films with a Filipino identity. More importantly, we should produce films that truly reflect the Filipino nature and with the best interest of the Filipino people in mind. Only then can we achieve a Filipino cinema which we can deem as Sineng mapagpalaya. 

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