ANGRY CITIZEN JAKE

The much anticipated Mike de Leon film "Citizen Jake" hit the theaters this week.  This is his first film after 17 long years.  Atom Araulo plays the title role of Jake, a young journalist who's a scion of a powerful political figure.  The film depicts Jake's personal saga and his struggles amidst the political scenarios surrounding his own social class. The movie also stars Max Collins, Nonie Buencamino, Luis Alandy, Gabby Eignemann, Teroy de Guzman and veteran actresses Cherry Gil and Dina Bonnevie.

The theme is obviously political all throughout with emphasis on the corrupt world of the powerful elite running the country.  If you are a Marcos loyalist, you may not want to watch the movie.  The sub-plots may be a bit confusing but you will all figure out later that they were all inter-connected with the story. There was also an intriguing mention of a starlet named Rosemarie linked to a top political figure and the mention of other political personalities like Bong Revillla, Tito Sotto and the "ilusyonadong boksingero" (obviously it's Manny P.). I wonder how will all these named personalities react to this movie (specially the Marcoses).  The dialogues are brave and brutally frank.  The story may be fiction but as Mike de Leon says "It is based on truths we ignore at our own risk." 

I suspect that CJ is more of a reflection of what De Leon tries to convey to his audience (being a hard line critic of the Marcoses) and he just want to expose the dirt and arrogance of traditional politics prevalent in  the country vis-a-vis political dynasty, powerful cronies and even prostitution, murder and gang rape. 

I certainly enjoyed watching the movie. The Mike de Leon touch is still there despite being inactive for nearly 2 decades and just about the film ends and the credits were about to pop-up, the audience gave a well-deserved applause (something that I only see at premier nights).  I hope the movie does well at the box-office.