You've probably read various reviews of director Erik Matti's first full-on action thriller, BuyBust. Let me tell you now that I truly enjoyed his latest film. Not only did it bravely tackle the controversial national issue of the war on drugs, but it also gave us a well-crafted in between story that's more than just a buy-bust gone wrong.
Now that may or may not be the real story but it does give the audience a view of the present state of humanity and moral decay. Come on! We all know the world isn't perfect and we're at fault... but I digress. In this post, I want to focus on how Erik Matti pushes the boundaries of local cinema.
If you check my reviews, there are only a few about mainstream Filipino films and more on independent films and foreign box office hits. Don't get me wrong. I love Filipino films and all the genres but I won't pay to watch a film in cinemas if it's something that can be enjoyed at home. And, well if there's absolutely nothing good about the film then I would be happy to miss the screening.But that's absolutely not the case with Erik Matti's latest masterpiece.
BuyBust, his highly-anticipated film is proof that he continues to push the creative boundaries of local cinema. Here's how he does it.
He lets his trailers speaks for itself.
Teaser, trailers or whatever you call them play a vital role. Even if you cast good looking and talented people, if we don't get excited then we won't get excited at all. Whenever I see Erik Matti's trailers, I see so many reasons why I have to watch it when it hits theatres. Sure, I will probably enjoy watching it at home but can I wait that long? No.
Just hearing about his ideas for BuyBust and seeing the first teaser made me want to watch right away. Also it's worth-mentioning that Erik Matti trailers don't lie. If you see it's good, then it truly is. It is what it is!
He offers no-holds-barred visual extravaganza.
Okay, I have not seen ALL of Erik Matti's works (*ahem, Seklusyon 😱) but I have seen enough to know how good he is in his craft. His latest work can attest to that because not only did he deliver a good story, he also gave us a no-holds-barred visual extravaganza.
For viewers to feel and fully understand the gravity of the situation in BuyBust, every shot were carefully framed resembling that of an apocalypse movie. Remember when the Bravo Team were trapped and had to fight their way out of Barangay Gracia ni Maria? We all know from the beginning that it's a crazy place but they somewhat had the upper hand there. When things went south and they no longer had power, the atmosphere drastically changed making you think you're watching a horror film.
He is not afraid to experiment.
Besides no-holds-barred visual storytelling, he fully played with the idea of chaos, darkness and even experimented with neon lighting. Now this technique reminded me a bit of Sion Sono's Tokyo Tribe (2014), a Japanese live-action musical action comedy film adaptation of the Japanese manga series Tokyo Tribes by Santa Inoue. Though both had a bit of similarities, I appreciated Matti's style because it's more focused.
Yes, there was chaos in this film but he was able to give justice to every shot and movement the characters made. If you haven't seen BuyBust, there was a fight scene in the rain that involves two of our leads and the citizens of Barangay Gracia ni Maria. I'm 100% sure it was a difficult task but they pulled it off because it was well-choreographed. The lighting and shots were perfect for the scene especially that end scene!
Honestly, I'm not surprised how Erik Matti's latest masterpiece turned out. He is afterall the person who made films such as Tiktik: The Aswang Chronicles (2012), On the Job (2013), Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles 2 (2014), Honor Thy Father (2015) and Seklusyon (2016). All these offer something different. I really wish to see more of this type of filmmaking. I don't mind comedy, fantasy, horror or whatever new genre people come up with. The audience deserve something worth their time and money. 9/10 IMDb
