Its herky-jerky camcorder style, jump-cut editing and sustained takes soon wear out their welcome.
Cavite (2006)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:12
Fresh:8
Rotten:4
Average Rating:6.4/10
Consensus: A gritty, low-budget thriller, Cavite takes us on a heart-pounding ride through the seedy Filipino underworld.
Theatrical Release:May 26, 2006 Limited
Synopsis: In the town of Cavite, Philippines, people will do just about anything to survive. This is the harsh reality for many Filipinos living in a poverty stricken nation. Adam, an American citizen... In the town of Cavite, Philippines, people will do just about anything to survive. This is the harsh reality for many Filipinos living in a poverty stricken nation. Adam, an American citizen visiting his home country for his father's funeral, soon realizes this when he arrives at the Philippines Airport and receives a phone call from an anonymous caller letting him know that his mother and sister have been kidnapped and will be killed if he doesn't comply with his demands. Helpless and alone in a country he barely knows he must submit himself to the fanatic's every wish or face the consequences. Soon Adam realizes that the caller on the other end is with the country's most infamous bandits, the Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim terrorist group fighting the Philippine government for Muslims to own the southern part of the country. Known for their kidnap and ransom and beheading of their victims if demands aren't met, he is at the caller's mercy. But when he finds out the caller's real motivation Adam finds himself in a dilemma to sacrifice the ones he loves or commit a horrendous act that will cost the lives of many. [More]
Starring: Ian Gamazon, Dominique Gonzalez
Starring: Ian Gamazon, Dominique Gonzalez
Director: Ian Gamazon, Neill Dela Llana
Director: Ian Gamazon, Neill Dela Llana
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Reviews for Cavite
This is by no means a polished film. But it has an energy lacking in thrillers that cost hundreds times more to make.
Though the film seldom deviates from its thriller format, Gamazon and Dela Llana astutely weave in matters of political, cultural and religious importance, elevating Cavite well above mere genre.
One of those blistering no-budget thrillers, like Open Water or Detour, in which the film's economy of means is the trigger for its ingenuity.
A microbudget exercise in sensory overload that leaves you sick on all sorts of levels.
Enhanced by the you-are-there immediacy of a hand-held digital camera, Cavite works up a visceral potency that overleaps the credibility gaps in the omniscient-terrorist device.
A last act full of reversals would have filled in the holes in Cavite.
The hand-held camera work gives the film an effective documentary pulse, but it adds up to only half a movie.
Terrorism and cultural identity are only two of the themes wound into a tight knot of fear and bewilderment in Cavite, a gripping no-budget political thriller.
A paragon of guerrilla resourcefulness and a model citizen of the global village, Cavite is a more anxious and vivid experience than most movies with budgets literally a thousand times bigger.
For a guerrilla-style, no-budget Yank indie to even tackle issues of jihad terror and naive Western thinking is noteworthy in itself, but Gamazon and Dela Llana inflame the issues with a gutsy, athletic filmmaking package.
Latest News for Cavite
May 25, 2006:
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