Verdict: Value for Money
Pinoy Rebyu Score: 3.53 (15 ratings)
Genre: Drama
Writer/Director: Mikhail Red
Cast: Ronnie Quizon, Mike Lloren, Buboy Villar, Earl Ignacio, Suzette Ranillo, Belinda Mariano, Lowell Conales, Joe Gruta, Archie Adamos, Abe Pagtama
Synopsis: The film tells the story of a former 1980s film camera operator who now currently works as a movie pirate operating in Manila. He routinely smuggles a digital camcorder into movie theaters in order to illegally record films. One night he records something else… And the footage goes viral.
MTRCB Rating: PG
Running Time: 90 mins.
Trailer:
Reviews:
5.0 Noli Manaig (Closely Watched Frames)
“Seemingly made up of fragmentary images that would cohere in time, a great deal of the beauty of Rekorder lies in Red’s own version of a city symphony – more moody, more sorrowful, less thorough, rather rough and ready, but no less evocative than Dziga Vertov’s or Walter Ruttman’s.” (Read full review)
4.5 Irvin Malcolm Contreras (A Girl and a Gun)
“Even at his young age, he has acquired a seriously scary confidence in filmmaking (the editing and cinematography are masterful). It’s far from perfect but for a 21 year old making his first feature, it’s VERY impressive and a sign of greater things to come.” (Read capsule review)
4.0 Oggs Cruz (ABS-CBN News)
“Rekorder,” even with all its fundamental excesses and obvious faults, succeeds in painting an alarming portrait of a man hesitantly living in a world that is much like ours, a world that gladly suffocates on its own filthy crap, perpetuated by our little recording gadgets for all eternity.” (Read full review)
4.0 Rob San Miguel (Brun Magazine)
“Arvin Viola’s cinematography is outstanding, capturing the pulsating lights of the city. In some scenes, the metropolis resembles a first world city; in others, the city looked bleak and ominous.” (Read full review)
4.0 Simone Sales (Katipunan)
“Though a lot of the screen time is wasted on moody close-ups gazing out into the cityscape, Arvin Viola’s cinematography is beautifully crisp… The messy smattering of street shots, brightly lit home videos and grainy CCTV clips come together in a pleasantly surprising way.” (Read full review)
4.0 Manuel Pangaruy (Tagailog Special Presents)
“Na-hook ako sa malaking bahagi ng pelikula. Ang tema mismo ay pang-Best Film: isang cameraman mula sa golden era ang nagka-camcord na lang sa mga sinehan upang makatawid sa buhay. Pero merong area na tingin ko ay hindi masyadong nasaklaw ng storyteller, partikular ang isang malungkot na alaala sa pagkawala ng mahal sa buhay.” (Read full review)
4.0 Nel Costales (1505 Film Avenue)
“Rekorder is a mature, skillful piece of work dealing with loneliness, grief, and world-wearied apathy. I can’t believe that a 21-year old directed this film.” (Read full review)
3.5 Wanggo Gallaga (Juice)
“Rekorder is well-told and is rooted in the excellent performance of Ronnie Quizon. The cinematography is excellent that while the film shows the dark, gritty reality of the city, it also manages to show its beauty.” (Read full review)
3.5 Emil Nor Urao (E-Reviews)
“Ang Rekorder ay simple ngunit napapanahon at nakakaengganyo sa tulong ng maayos na cast, malupet na musical score at mensaheng makabuluhan para sa lahat.” (Read full review)
3.0 Nicol Latayan (Tit for Tat)
“There seems to be lacking in terms of storytelling. The perceived impact of what Maven (Ronnie Quizon) has captured did not totally live up to the build-up of the film’s intensity.” (Read full review)
3.0 Skilty Labastilla (Young Critics Circle)
“Medyo nagkulang lang para sa akin ang pagka-flesh out sa main character na si Maven (Ronnie Quizon). Dahil nga siguro kailangan siyang maging mysterious (Bakit ba parang ang laki ng problema niya at parati siyang nakamukmok?), hindi muna pinaalam sa manonood ang dahilan ng pagiging antisocial niya. Hindi tuloy ako nagkaroon ng empathy sa karakter niya. ” (Read capsule review)
3.0 Eduardo Dayao (Piling Piling Pelikula)
“The exhausted aura does make odd sense given the conditions of its universe. And Ronnie Quizon has enough presence to center everything as a man for whom time has all but stopped, which the obsolete camcorder he uses to bootleg films semiotically reinforces.” (Read full review)
3.0 Geoff Review
“Rekorder exemplifies the qualities that I love about indie films – the relatability to real life, the natural acting, the tackl(ing) of social issues.” (Read full review)
2.5 Philbert Dy (Click the City)
“The film has a lot of texture, all these cool little touches that force an illusion of gravity. But that’s all it really is: an illusion. The film languidly lays out a story that doesn’t really have any drive or immediacy. ” (Read full review)
2.0 Renelson Morelos (Re[e]l Thoughts)
“My beef is that what could have been an intriguing lone-wolf character (portrayed by Ronnie Quizon) is just plain vacuous. David Hemmings’ and Gene Hackman’s characters in Antonioni’s and Coppola’s films respectively are compelling anti-heroes; in Red’s work, Quizon’s character, perhaps unintentionally, slips into being idiotic and child-like, made all the more distracting by his dumb-like delivery of his lines.” (Read full review)
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