Rosario (2010)

I've been a film enthusiast since time immemorial but an amateur in making reviews so please bear with this review because this is my very first movie review created for a blog. 

Great story, exceptional characters, nice costumes and good cinematography.

(Warning: Post contains spoilers.)

Rosario (2010) is based on the story of businessman Manny V. Pangilinan's grandmother, Rosario (Jennylyn Mercado), as narrated by Pangilinan's long-lost uncle, Hesus (Dolphy). Set in the 1920's in the Philippines, Rosario is a gorgeous temptress, talented and liberal woman who just got back from New York for a vacation at their hacienda in Isabela.

There, she falls in love with Vicente (Yul Servo), their tobacco plantation administrator, and tempted him to go to bed with her. They where caught by Rosario's father, Don Enrique (Philip Salvador), and beat Vicente nearly to death while Rosario was sent to the convent as a punishment. Rosario, already pregnant, escaped the convent and eloped with Vicente to Manila.

In Manila, Vicente was able to find a decent job and they lived happily with three children. Because of smoking, hard work and stress, Vicente acquired tuberculosis which drew him and Rosario apart in an effort not to infect her and their children.

When Rosario met her closest cousin Carmen (Isabel Oli), who was already a Manager in an Insurance Company,  Rosario worked as a secretary for her cousin to help with the finances of her ill husband. Rosario met Carmen's boyfriend, Alberto (Dennis Trillo), he immediately lusted for her. When Carmen left for Cebu, Alberto got the chance to tempt Rosario to go to bed with him. Because Rosario has been sleeping in her children's room for months, she eventually gave in to her urges.

Vicente found out about the affair and filed an adultery case against Rosario and Alberto and was exiled to Hong Kong where they stayed there for several years and raised their child, Hesus. When they went back to Manila, Alberto left Rosario and Hesus on their own without money for rent and food. Rosario did laundry for 10 cents to pay for their food but their rent was always behind.

Their landlord's (Ricky Davao) nephew, Carding (Sid Lucero), immediately fell in love with Rosario upon their arrival and befriended her and Hesus. He also helped them in any way when Alberto left. When Rosario was 4 months behind their rent, her landlord offered to give her a solution: to go to bed with him and all of her debts would be erased and she don't have to pay rent anymore. Without any other options, she gave in.

Carding caught them and lost his wits and beat his uncle. He escaped and urged Rosario and Hesus to go with him. Rosario also left the house but this time didn't go with Carding. She died not having her parents', husband's and children's forgiveness for the sins she committed.

Rosario's character is full of conflict and emotion. Although Jennylyn's acting was, well, good, she did not give justice to the character, she could have exerted more effort to get in the character. I found the plot of the story very interesting but Dolphy's character, Hesus, narrating the story at the start of the film did not work for me.

I particularly find the scenes where Jennylyn smokes very disturbing (especially there are so many of those scenes) because it was quite obvious that she didn't know how to smoke.

Other than that, the costumes, hair and make-up and props were really elaborate (for a Filipino film). The cinematography (Carlo Mendoza) was superb because of the angles, focuses and colors of the shots taken for the film (I don't know the technical terms for this).

Although Rosario is a commercial flop compared to the other official entries for the 2010 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), it is a movie worth watching. I wasn't that disappointed compared to Kris Aquino's Dalaw where I felt that our money went to waste.

Oh and I almost forgot, Director Alberto Martinez also did a great job with this film.

Rosario (2010) won 2nd Best Picture, the Gatpuno Antonio J. Villegas Cultural Award, Best Supporting Actor (Dolphy), Best Production Design (Joey Luna and Miki Hahn), Best Cinematography (Carlo Mendoza), Best Editing (John Wong), and Best Float during the MMFF 2010 Awards Night.