ginpomelo's Reviews (678)

 (Yet another way back machine review from 2007.)

This novel succeeds in becoming both hilarious and sinister, a piece of social commentary disguised as an exercise in WTF. It begins with the story of an unemployed girl who gets hired in an exclusive Parisian perfume store by giving sexual favors to the shop director. She is then subjected to various acts of perversion by the boutique’s customers, all the while earning a pittance to support herself and her abusive boyfriend. Sounds like your typical “women are objectified and commodified in a consumerist society” novel so far. Then she turns into a pig.

No, really, the girl physically transforms into a pig.

Actually, writing a review for Pig Tales had me flailing for a while. On one hand, I did enjoy reading it, laughing out loud as every scene pushed the boundaries of believability. (Let’s just say an apocalyptic war, alligators, and the SPCA are involved in the story, okay?) It’s Darrieussecq’s more “serious” preoccupations in which I had certain reservations. Many scenes involved violence and the exploitation of women, particularly the protagonist. I felt that many of these were gratuitous, in did nothing to the story besides shock the readers and drill in the fact that man act more like pigs than the actual animals. In short, things we already know. XDDD And what’s with all these European writers and their urge to write obscene, jadedly intellectual novels anyway? Yes, Elfriede Jelinek, I’m looking at you.

Apparently, Pig Tales became an instant bestseller in France when it first came out in 1996. That says something about that country’s collective sense of humor, I guess. (I object to this generalization, old self. -ed.) This book is big on satire and philosophical discourse, but I think readers will enjoy it more if they treat it as a simple bawdy tale.

Reading this again almost a decade since I first encountered PSF, it's very easy to see that there are kernels of intriguing and batshit ideas brewing in this collection, but the sophistication that emerged from the subsequent volumes isn't quite here yet. The stories I liked I really loved, like The Family That Eats Soil, Instructions on How to Disappear and (duh) L'Aquilone Du Estrellas, but there are also stories like The Doppler Effect which for me is baffling and just... damp. I'm glad to note, however, that the oft repeated lore that science fiction is ignored in Filipino writing is somewhat belied here.

"Hindi ka tuturuan ng librong ito kung paano magsulat. Buhay ang gagawa n'on" - Ricky Lee

Sana maraming bumasa ng Trip to Quiapo, kahit walang balak maging scriptwriter o manunulat. Magkahalong manual ng screenwriting at collection ng iba't ibang anekdota at materyales na konekatdo sa Philippine Cinema, bumuo si Ricky Lee ng isang sincere at kahanga-hangang larawan ng industriyang pinaglaanan niya ng buhay sa mahigit tatlumpung taon.

Importante ang librong ito hindi lamang para sa mga cinephile kundi para sa mga naghahangad ng isang oral history tungkol sa Pinoy Cinema. Marami akong nakuhang insight tungkol sa paggawa ng kwento, at malamang ay babalikan ko uli ang librong ito kung sakaling magbabalak akong magsulat uli ng fiction.

Gamit niya ang pagpunta sa Quiapo bilang simbolismo ng iba't ibang paraan sa pagbuo ng script--madalas na masalimuot at puno ng magkahalong saya at sakit. Isa-isa niyang pinaliwanag ang mga elementong bumubuo sa pelikula, tulad ng story line, sequence treatment at 3-act structure at kung paanong ang pagsunod o pagsuway sa mga kumbensyon nito ay nakatali sa magiging pagtanggap ng audience. Nagsama rin sya ng mga sample ng script mula sa mga pelikulang nagawa na upang ipakita kung paano na-translate ang kwento mula sa pahina.

Malawak ang nararating na impluwensya ni Lee. Nakatrabaho na niya ang ilan sa pinaka-importanteng direktor ng kanyang panahon (Bernal, Brocka, Diaz-Abaya, at marami pang iba) at patuloy pa rin syang sumusulat para sa cinema at TV. Nagawa niyang mag-likom ng napakaraming ng mga interbyu at sanaysay mula sa iba't ibang direktor, producer, at scriptwriter, na para bang who's who ng industriya. Isang pagsilip na hindi nabibigay kung kani-kanino lamang. Makikita din ang kanyang partisipasyon sa paghubog ng bagong henerasyon ng mga scriptwriter, sa pamamagitan ng kanyang mga workshop at lecture. Ang mga estudyante ni Lee ay nagiging mga haligi sa entertainment industry.

Ang tunay na yamang makikita sa librong ito ay hindi nagmumula sa kanyang instructions tungkol sa structure ng isang script. Maraming librong gumagawa nito nang mas malaliman at mas detalyado, ngunit namumukod-tangi si Ricky Lee sa pagbibigay ng tunay na estado ng industriya ng pelikulang Filipino. Hindi strikto at standardized ang moviemaking sa Pinas, madalas nahahatak ang scriptwriter sa iba't ibang direksyon. May isang nakakatawang anecodte si Lee tungkol kay Mother Lily (producer ng Regal Films) at ang kanyang pagiiba-iba ng isip tungkol sa isang project.

Hindi rin sya natatakot pag-usapan ang mga mapapait na naging karanasan niya at ng ibang mga manunulat. Walang pagkakaiba ang ngayon at nakalipas na industrya--mahirap paring maging scriptwriter sa Pilipinas. Marami kang iiyakan, at hindi mo masisigurado na ibibigay ang nararapat na iyo. Kung iisipin hindi lang paghihikayat ang binibigay ni Ricky Lee. Warning din ito. Writing for the screen is not for the faint of spirit.