The Blossoming Of Maximo Oliveros [2007] [DVD]

This film opens with the sight of beautiful petals floating serenely down a dirty Manila stream: beauty amidst squalor. But a squalor that smiles and does not offend: the homes are clean and spirits are strong.

It was filmed over thirteen days on a shoestring budget of $10,000; they used digital video rather than film, which made it easier to shoot on the street. The director said it was so easy to film as it was done in the neighbourhood in which he lives: he refers to it as his ode to his home. It is mostly shot using natural light.

Maximo lives with his widowed father and two elder brothers in a close family where everyone accepts Maximo for who he is: a twelve-year-old boy with feminine ways. Maximo falls for the block's new hunky policeman, who rescues Maximo from a potential back-alley rape (pun intended). But when his family has a run-in with the law (father to older son: "I raised you as a thief, not as a killer"), where should Maximo's loyalties lie? It's a small story, touching in place, but has tragic consequences.

As a westerner I found this film an opportunity to witness a different - but not that different - culture. One of the joys of independent cinema is that it gives you the chance to enjoy films that are both extraordinary and charming too. This is one such film.

What else can I say, that might be of use to a potential purchaser? Well, the original Tagalong-language title of the film alludes to the leaving behind of puberty, but the words employ a feminine gender to conflict with Maximo's masculine name. The attempt at a Miss Universe contest - and the accompanying overacting - by the local gayboys is mildly amusing. The film has a 15 certificate, supposedly because it contains strong language. Ha! So we can forget the portrayal of street violence, then?

There are a number of extras on this disc. In the director's commentary (in English) we learn of his background in documentary film-making. He is also a playwright and theatre director. He says he had interviewed local gay boys for the part, but they were either too self-conscious or overacted. As for Nathan Lopez, who took on the role, he had to learn to walk and talk the part by focussing partly on his elder sister. He was initially not keen to do the role, and neither were his family, but both his father and his sister end up in the film too!

The extras also include an eighteen-minute Q&A with the director at the 2006 London Film Festival. Is the film autobiographical? Well, partly. He came out when he was thirteen as a gayboy and his first love was an officer when he later did his military training.

Enjoy!

Don't waste your money on this totally inferior DVD. The picture quality is poor and it doesn't have the special features of the UK version. In fact if you just look at the two covers you can tell the difference. The US version loks cheap and nasty - just like the disk.

Quite an extraordinary film really. It must have been shot on the lowest budget ever - $10,000 - hence the not so sophisticated cameras used. But it doesn't matter. The story will carry the viewer through any shortcomings in that respect, even if you notice it, which I didn't. Why would you want to watch a sophisticated well- shot nonsense film anyway?

Apart from that gripe the only low budget aspect of the film is the camera. Those behind the camera knew exactly what they were doing and have proven track records in those areas. The actors too carry the film along and, although unknown to us in Europe, they are very competent and carry a lot of very difficult emotional scenes off flawlessly.

Apart from the topic, which is discussed in detail in another review, this film shows us a side of life with which we are probably totally unfamiliar - poor neglected underclass who never seem to be part of any `booms'. The director (in the Q&A session in the features on the DVD) states that although not his story strictly speaking, the streets are the streets he grew up in and the house of the policeman is his also. It's amazing that people can live in such circumstances but millions have no choice but to get by in any way they can. Maxi's two brothers and his father pull together to get money - illegally - to survive in one of the smallest flats (room?) that I have seen in any film. Don't know how they got the camera crew in there as well. It is all shot on location.

The boy is a brilliant actor and carries the role off very well. Perfectly believable. The death of his mother prematurely, to the shock of the family, causes him to adopt the female role in the household, a role which they encourage because they need someone to look after them. We learn towards the end of the film that he is not by nature such a camp boy at all -hence `the blossoming' of Maximo. He is an intelligent boy but has to leave school to look after the family and he is initially happy with this.

But his situation is set in a much wider context and the lives of all those around him are explored too. The police setup is no small part of the film either, likewise the street gangs and the grinding poverty. In saying this the film is not gloomy. It has a lighter side. It has justice and injustice in equal measure. Maximo is like a flower blooming through the cracks in the pavement.

His relationship with the young policeman is one sided. He is infatuated with him but the policeman tolerates his obsession. There is nothing untoward in the film on this subject. It is all from the boy's perspective.

A very stimulating and enjoyable film and much commended.