Movie Review: Bendor

Bendor

Ralston Jover, 2013 (Cinema One Originals entry)

"Bendor" is an entry of Ralston Jover for this year's "Cinema One Originals", and this movie made a huge impact for the comeback of the one and only Ms. Vivian Velez who also won best actress for this entry. The story of this movie is really captivating, well for me. Because it is very timely, the story revolves around the morality issue. Blondie is the main character in the story that was played by a great actress, Ms. Vivian Velez. Blondie, a grandmother of five, worked as a vendor outside the Quiapo church. I can call her “Wonder Woman” because she raised her kids without the help of her husband. The story showed the life of people who sells abortifacient or abortion pills. She also serves as a middleman for an illegal abortion clinic, escorting young girls that want to terminate their pregnancies. This film’s opaque shutout on morality issues became its barrier against its audience’s full understanding of Blondie. The film introduces this doppelganger, but doesn't get too far into exploring the strangeness that it entails. It instead thrives on the jumble of details that make up Blondie’s life. It lingers, for example, on how she puts on her makeup in the morning. And what breakfast is like in her household. 

Known for her lustful and frisky screen roles in the 80’s, Ms. Vivian Velez’s Blondie’s efforts at the notion of rejuvenation gives way to a tired and defeated iconography. By this time, she has gone the rounds, committing crime, enabling crime, abetting crime, eluding arrests before landing in jail.

I personally think that this movie deserves to be noticed internationally for its great story line and cinematography, well I guess if you watch this film, you can really tell that the concept is fresh, and that it is made by a great team. 

I am proud of this movie because a close friend of mine produced "Bendor" and I know that they all worked hard for it. And what inspired me the most is that, most of the people who created this are new to the business. Meaning, they are young yet they have created such a wonderful work.