THERE’S another Manny Pacquiao biopic on the big screen and it?s titled ?Kid Kulafu?.
It?s actually pretty good, but of course, I had to bribe and drag the wifey to accompany me to watch it. Thankfully, she wasn?t too hard on me this time around and settled for dinner at our favorite resto.
It was probably the impressive cinematography according to my good friend, Engr. Junie Alesna but the wifey chimed in that it was actually the musical scoring that won her over.
If you are a Pacquiao fan expecting to see a rehash of his big fights, you are going to get disappointed as this movie harkens back to his unruly childhood days and how he discovered boxing.
The only footage of his real fights that you?ll see are excerpts of his title-clinching efforts against Chatchai Sasakul for the WBC flyweight crown. Other than that, the rest of the boxing action is of thespian quality, but you won?t be disappointed.
PLOT. Bukidnon is where the first few scenes of the movie unfolds and we get a glimpse of the young Pacquiao family trying their best to make a life despite extreme poverty.
From the get-go, Dionisia (played by Alessandra de Rossi) establishes her strong presence and character in the family while Manny?s father Rosalio (played by Alex Medina) is portrayed as a distant, aloof and absentee father who is torn between his love for his family and his cluelessness on how to make ends meet.
Manny discovers boxing when his family moves to General Santos and he ends up working for his Uncle Sardo (played by Cesar Montano)– an unrepentant boxing fanatic who resells empty bottles of Kulafu and also happens to chug the same brand of hard liquor every night before falling into an alcoholic stupor.
Eventually, Sardo is unable to keep up with Manny?s hunger but this doesn?t detract him from pursuing his dream. He eventually lands a spot with the Digos amateur boxing team and his team wins the championship over the General Santos team, the same team in which he failed to make the cut.
Manny moves to Manila where he works in a bottle cleaning factory by day and embarks on a pro career that would soon turn him into a legend, deified by an entire nation.
SCENES. One of my favorite scenes is when a young Manny abandons his chores when he sees the other children lining up to get inside a movie house to watch a Bruce Lee movie on Betamax.
Since he has no money to pay the entrance fee he first collects some lemons so he could sell them at the market. Of course, he arrives home late and gets a nasty tongue- lashing and butt-whipping from Mommy Dionisia.
A recurring theme in the movie is Manny?s concern for his fellow boxers and one of the highlights of actor Buboy Villar (who competently plays Pacquiao) is his breakdown scene when he arrives to find the cold dead body of his fellow teammate Eugene.
Villar is arguably a dead ringer for a young Pacquiao and appears quite capable in mimicking his boxing combinations. But his thespian qualities are what actually hold this movie together and I recommend this as a must-see for Pacquiao fans.
What I found a bit distracting though was the constant shift from the Tagalog to the vernacular which at times wasn?t quite seamless, but as a whole, Paul?s Soriano?s opus succeeds where the previous Pacquiao movies have failed.
It?s got none of the razzle dazzle of his big money fights, but it doesn?t purport to be one either. It?s a cinematic take and glimpse of his humble beginnings.
Keep that in mind when you watch this, and you?ll do fine.
LAST ROUND. It?s on a good friend, Angelo Mahinay of BPI who celebrated his birthday yesterday. Cheers!
