Bathhouse

Last night I watched Chris Pablo’s second digital movie, “Bathhouse”. His first effort was “Duda”, which was also an independently-produced digital movie written and directed by him. I was hoping that with his second effort, he could have shown improvement as a writer and director.

To be fair, this one is more confidently directed. But his writing sucks.

Basically, it’s his dialogue. He writes as if they weren’t characters but thesis statements and conclusions. And although his insights into why people frequent bathhouses aren’t new nor deep—nothing that can’t be explained in a paragraph of an essay—he states them instead of showing them and letting the audience arrive at their own conclusions. His screenplay is didactic, pedantic, and just plain ick. For example:

Scene: lead character, a 19-year old newbie, is in the shower room of the bathhouse, fully-clothed, water running all over him. He’s devastated because he was just rejected by his ultimate crush, the love-of-his-life. A naked customer comes in and takes the shower next to him, all the while complaining loudly about a previous encounter. (Take note, he didn’t even raise an eyebrow upon seeing a fully clothed, fully drenched guy beside him.)

Naked customer: Ngawa-ngawa-ngawa… pakipot pa eh sex lang naman hanap nating lahat dito eh!

19-yrs old (looks forlornly at him): But I only wanted love!

Ick!

But still I’d support movies like “Bathhouse”. It’s good that there are those who are pioneering digital movies here in the Philippines. And bravo to those courageous enough to tackle gay themes on film. What they do is to help raise the bar on independent films. Who knows, I might just decide to make one myself. If I do and you see one of the characters there say, “But I only wanted love!” you have my permission to shoot me.