Filipino Reviews Reviews

Film Review: Citizen Jake (2018) by Mike De Leon

” marked the return of to directing movies after a hiatus of almost two decades, in a style, though, that was quite different from the movies that made him famous during the 80s, although the critique on the regime is here once more. “Citizen Jake” was meant as a tribute to the now defunct LVN Studios which was run by his grandmother and father while also interesting is the fact that the protagonist, , is a real life journalist and the film was his debut in cinema. 

Jake Herrera, although coming from a rich and powerful family, and his father, Jacobo Herrera Sr was a loyal Marcos Crony who still yields much authority, has distanced himself from him and his brother, Roxie, instead choosing to live in Baguio where he runs a blog that deals with corruption. In there, he has made his own life around the caretaker family of the mansion he lives, and particularly their son, Jonie, whom he considers a friend; Mandy, a teacher and his girlfriend; and Lucas, an old historian who was tortured by the Marcos regime. A visit to his father's house and the threats he and Roxie have for him if he continues to criticize their powerful friends, a murder of a student both he and Mandy knew, and the search for his disappeared mother, bring a number of complications in his life, as he realizes that what is happening around him is much worse than he could anticipate. 

“Citizen Jake” is a weird movie, since Mike De Leon has come up with a genre mashup that occasionally moves towards avant-garde, theatrical and meta paths, while the frequent narration by Jake also gives a documentary-like hypostasis to the film, particularly in the segment when he focuses on the change Baguio underwent during the last decades. In that fashion, the narrative includes elements of mystery and crime, romance, family (melo)drama, comedy, thriller, while the sociopolitical critique seems to encompass every other aspect. 

Evidently, the aforementioned is not an easy combination to handle and the truth is, that De Leon occasionally loses his sense of measure, particularly in the occasions the characters present his comments in a way that is not organic, with Lucas in particular being the main medium of this approach. Furthermore, at 137 minutes, the movie does overstay its welcome somewhat, especially considering the complicated narrative approach. 

At the same time though, De Leon still has managed to combine his elements in a way that feels organic for the most part, particularly regarding the transitions from one another and the general flow of the movie, in a trait that can also be attributed to the excellent editing by Gerone Centeno and Tom Estrera. Especially the way the narrative begins as a family drama, becomes a crime movie, dwells into circuits of prostitution and even more crime and returns to the family drama again is a wonder to watch, in probably the best aspect of the whole movie. 

Dix Buhay's cinematography captures the different settings the film takes place in with an approach that looks purposefully as if from a soap opera, a tactic that actually adds to the humor interspersed throughout the movie. The scene where Mandy and Jake talk in his house is probably the most interesting one in visual terms, with the rotating camera giving a rather intriguing essence that also points to stageplays, particularly in the composition of the whole sequence. 

Atom Araullo is the absolute protagonist of the movie, and is in general convincing, in a performance, though, that would be very difficult to describe as great. The same applies to as Mandy, while the one who steals the show is as Jacobo Herrera, who presents the antithesis of a man who is fully corrupt but still wants to help his sons as much as he can in the best fashion. 

The comments here are also quite interesting. Patriarchy, in the way parents tend to dominate their children's life on occasion, the way journalism functions nowadays, the fact that there are still people who believe Marcos's era helped the country, and subsequently, that just because he is gone, does not mean that the system he put in place is also gone completely, add much depth to the narrative here. However, probably the most pointed remark deals with Duterte, whom De Leon seems to consider as someone that could be potentially even worse than Marcos, if given the chance. 

“Citizen Jake” does not reach the rather high levels of filmmaking De Leon reached in the 70s and 80s, particularly because the tension and the rawness of films like “Kisapmata” and “Batch 81” are nowhere to be found. On the other hand, the essentially experimental approach implemented here is quite intriguing while the comments he presents are as accurate and pointed as ever, which are the aspects that deem the movie one that definitely deserves a watch, not to mention thorough analysis. 

About the author

Panos Kotzathanasis

My name is Panos Kotzathanasis and I am Greek. Being a fan of Asian cinema and especially of Chinese kung fu and Japanese samurai movies since I was a little kid, I cultivated that love during my adolescence, to extend to the whole of SE Asia.

Starting from my own blog in Greek, I then moved on to write for some of the major publications in Greece, and in a number of websites dealing with (Asian) cinema, such as Taste of Cinema, Hancinema, EasternKicks, Chinese Policy Institute, and of course, Asian Movie Pulse. in which I still continue to contribute.

In the beginning of 2017, I launched my own website, Asian Film Vault, which I merged in 2018 with Asian Movie Pulse, creating the most complete website about the Asian movie industry, as it deals with almost every country from East and South Asia, and definitely all genres.

You can follow me on Facebook and Twitter.

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