What is Cine Sauté?
My love affair with film and TV began in my youth. I spent part of my childhood in our province Romblon, in the island municipality of Banton in the middle of the Sibuyan Sea. The remote island had no 24-hour electricity; power is provided at night by a diesel generator operated by the local government and lasts from 5:00 to 10:00 p.m.
As such, the island had limited access to films and TV. It was the '90s, and for locals to watch a movie, they had to buy or rent a Betamax or VHS tape in Manila, bring it to the island by outrigger boat and view on TV through a Betamax or VHS player. Not everyone on the poor island can afford to buy a player or TV, let alone afford to pay electricity. Those who had these privileges opened movie theaters in their homes where they would show these movies to the public.
Our family was one of the few that operated a movie theater in the town. Every day, after school at 4:00 p.m., I would rush back home to help my grandfather set up our living room into a movie theater. We had wooden benches stacked on one side of our house that we arrange in the living room for the patrons to sit on. My grandfather selects the movies to be shown each day; the VHS tapes were supplied by his sons living in Manila and Batangas. Most people in our quiet, laid-back town wanted action if not romantic-comedy films, the type that showcased popular actors such as Eddie Garcia, Lito Lapid, Ramon "Bong" Revilla, Jr., or Hollywood A-listers like Arnold Schwarznegger, Jean Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal, Sylvester Stallone and Jackie Chan.
My special task is to write the advertisement for the movie of the day on a small chalkboard that I would hang outside our house. I remember being able to draw well and sport perfect penmanship at that age (I was in Grade One), so my grandfather always delegated this task to me. The chalkboard would usually say "Now Showing" with the movie title in large letters in the middle and a caricature of what the movie is about based on what I saw on the cover of the VHS tape. We charge P5 for every patron and they're allowed to bring in snacks such as peanuts, corn bits, and sodas. They're also allowed to smoke, which was probably what made my grandfather's asthma become worse in his old age.
We usually start the movie at 6:00 p.m. or once all the seats (including our sofas and dining chairs) in the house have been occupied. Sometimes, when there's a really good movie being show, we would have patrons even up to our kitchen sink and the stairs. Some would even take a peek from the window outside. The euphoria that moviegoers had with every climactic scene is just exhilarating and chaotic at same time. There were times when I felt the house would go down because of people chanting and screaming at fight scenes. The smoke from their cigarettes annoyed me because it not only smelled awful, but also because I had to clean up their mess after the movie.
Fast-forward to 2018 and here I am, writing for a major newspaper and certified movie aficionado. I've watched countless of movies already since 1991 and have witnessed the film industry's transformation from celluloid to digital. I've also began making short movies and travelogues of my own. But what I've discovered in recent years is my penchant for critiquing films—my ability to deconstruct and dissect the nitty gritty details of its plot, acting, and technical aspects. Most of the time, I would just write my ideas about a film in a Facebook post just after watching it in the cinema. I've also gotten ideas from renowned Hollywood critics like Roger Ebert, Peter Travers, Manohla Dargis, A.O. Scott, Richard Roeper and Mick La Salle. They're my personal idols when it comes to film criticism.
But what I can say about a film are mostly long and don't suffice in a Facebook or Twitter post. Hence this blog, Cine Sauté, wherein I put movies into a frying pan and stir them until their juices come out. Sautéing or gisa in Filipino also means to scrutinize or criticize somebody; to put a person in the 'hot seat'; or to simply put it—to put someone on the grill.
This is what's bound to happen. I'm going to describe a film and its plot, and then express my review of the film and give it a rating in a scale of one to five. And every December 31, I am going to give an alphabetical list of my top 10 movies of the year as a year-end review.
Join me as I sauté films and other shows in whatever screen, whether in cinemas, TV or streaming services. Feel free to share your thoughts and appreciation as well by putting a comment or sending an email at epi.fabonan@gmail.com.
May Cine Sauté encourage you to always have a nuanced film viewing!
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