SERVICE (SERBIS)

Philippines/France - 2008 - 35 mm, 94 min.

Director:
  BRILLANTE MENDOZA
Script: Armando Lao
Production: Centerstage Productions i Swift Productions
Cast: Gina Pareño, Jaclyn Jose, Julio Diaz, Coco Martin, Kristofer King
Section:
  Competition
Screenings:
Cine Rex - 01/05 - 18:30
Cine Rex - 05/05 - 22:30

Acclaimed director Brillante Mendoza was the first Filipino filmmaker to participate in the Cannes Film Festival Official Competition with this movie. The Pineda family operates a run-down movie theater that shows dated sexy double-feature films. Maybe the cinema was once a beautiful entertainment centre for the whole family, but that must have been a long time ago. Now the building is in decay in every respect and most visitors don't come primarily for the films. As the family members go up and down the stairs, they live unaware of what’s happening in the cinema, where male prostitutes openly serbis (service) their customers there. The film follows the secret and less secret activities of the relatives in a lively and authentic way, while the big city of Manila is permanently audible in the background. Despite the apparent rawness of what takes place in the building, the real story of the film is, however, the story of the Pineda family, whose members arouse nothing but feelings of tenderness. It is then not so ironic that the cinema’s name is Family.

SERVICESERVICE