Praising Filipino directors Ralston Jover and Erik Matti for breathing life into their works that even the most polished films from Japan and China lack, Mike Hale of the New York Times listed both “Hamog” and “Honor Thy Father” as some of the highlights from this year’s New York Asian Film Festival.
In his review of Jover’s “Hamog,” Hale compared the Filipino drama that tells the story of street children living in Manila to “Pixote,” a Brazilian classic that earned a Golden Globes nomination back in 1982 for Best Foreign Film.
“Mr. Jover never bores you — the awkwardness and occasional purple streak in his screenplay are more than made up for by the zest of his direction and Pipo Domagas’s fluid cinematography,” Hale said of “Hamog.”
He added that the film, which won the Outstanding Artistic Achievement award at the 19th Shanghai International Film Festival last weekend, benefited from the “gripping performances” from child actors, Bon Andrew Lentejas and Therese Malvar.
Hale, meanwhile, described Matti’s “Honor Thy Father” as a film that exhibited a “sense of moral outrage.” He also mentioned the performance of Kapamilya star John Lloyd Cruz, who portrayed a man whose family fell prey to an investment scam.
In his article, Hale also heaped praised on other films from the country’s Southeast Asian neighbors like Malaysia’s “Jagat,” Thailand’s “Grace” and “Heart Attack.” ( abs-cbn)
