MOVIE REVIEW
Directed by Lamberto Avellana
CONFESSION: when I saw Lamberto Avellana’s revered film adaptation of Nick Joaquin’s classic play
Portrait of the Artist as Filipino some (mumble mumble) years ago, I wasn’t thrilled. It was an adaptation of a stage play that at first glance looked unapologetically stagy, complete with well-timed entrances and exits, and its actors spoke a Spanish-accented English I’d never heard in a Filipino film before. It was filmed in an understated style, and after the low angles and looming closeups and deep shadows of Gerry de Leon’s
Noli Me Tangere and