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MOVIES / ON DVD / THE BLOSSOMING OF MAXIMO OLIVEROS
The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros

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The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros (2006)

88%
100%
90%
N/A
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N/A
88 %
Reviews Counted: 17 Fresh: 15  Rotten:2 Average Rating: 7.2/10
Rated: Not Rated
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins
Theatrical Release: Sep 22, 2006 Limited
Synopsis:
Just like the flower in the opening scenes, 12-year-old Maxi is a beautiful accent in the gritty underworld on the outskirts of Manila, where he lives. Living with his outlaw father and two older brothers, Maxi dutifully infuses everything he does for them with love. From cooking and sewing to... [More]
Just like the flower in the opening scenes, 12-year-old Maxi is a beautiful accent in the gritty underworld on the outskirts of Manila, where he lives. Living with his outlaw father and two older brothers, Maxi dutifully infuses everything he does for them with love. From cooking and sewing to braiding his brother's hair, Maxi fulfills the role of dalaga for his family, living as a young lady in the absence of femininity and their deceased mother. We follow Maxi through his glowing and textured world of shopping, reenacting beauty pageants, and hanging out at a local DVD stand that screens movies for abundant audiences of transient children. But Maxi's emotions blossom late one night when he is rescued from neighborhood thugs by Victor, a kind rookie cop. Smitten with the handsome policeman, Maxi begins to feel pulled between the petty-thief family that he loves and the law and romance Victor embodies. As part of an impressive ensemble cast, newcomers Nathan Lopez and JR Valentin exuberantly inhabit their roles as Maxi and Victor. With its vibrant cinematography, simple scoring, and vast emotional scope, Auraeus Solito's directorial debut as a dramatic filmmaker seems itself like a flower amid the grit of most contemporary cinema. -- © Sundance Film Festival [Less]

Genre: Foreign Films

Director: Auraeus Solito

DVD Info

Release:

Aug 28, 2007

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Full Frame

Audio:

  • Stereo 2.0

Additional Release Material:

  • Original Trailer

Text/Photo Gallery:

  • Stills Gallery

Buy It On DVD

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1 - 19 (sorted by date)
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Ratings Image

captures the street life of Manila's slums like no other film

Full Review | Comment
08/19/07 11:27 AM
John A. Nesbit
Old School Reviews
Ratings Image

Veering from adorable and light to bleak and tragic, Maximo Oliveros is all over the emotional map, but in a realistic way, sort of like life itself.

Full Review | Comment
08/15/07 12:34 PM
Don Willmott
Filmcritic.com
Ratings Image

If this represents the best of Philippine cinema, I'd hate to see the worst!

Full Review | Comment
08/05/07 02:38 PM
Phil Hall
Film Threat
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
06/05/07 03:15 AM
BBC
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Full Review | Comment
06/01/07 03:15 AM
Empire Magazine
N/R

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Full Review | Comment
05/31/07 03:15 AM
Time Out
Ratings Image

Yet after all of the muck has been racked, the film's saving grace is the marvellously compelling naïveté and too-early reality-test of its star. Perhaps if queers were the majority there would be less senseless death and more fashion conscious citizens!

Full Review | Comment
02/07/07 04:57 AM
S. James Wegg
JWR
Ratings Image

Okay, aside from the gay angle, this is actually a rather conventional film. Had Maxi been a girl, no one would have even thought of exporting this thing. But it isn't and it's saved by the brilliant work of young Nathen Lopez, who swishes and preens his

Full Review | Comment
09/30/06 03:20 AM
Eric Lurio
Greenwich Village Gazette
Ratings Image

One of the finest Filipino films, shimmering with folkloric charm without softening its view of the harshness and injustice of a life of poverty.

Full Review | Comment
09/28/06 06:57 PM
Kevin Thomas
Los Angeles Times
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Ratings Image

One of those all-too-rare films that handle preadolescent queerness with intelligence and unflinching honesty.

Full Review | Comment
09/28/06 03:44 PM
Ernest Hardy
L.A. Weekly
Ratings Image

Preteen sexuality is a sensitive subject, but director Auraeus Solito handles it with dignity, never becoming exploitative.

Full Review | Comment
09/22/06 04:31 PM
V.A. Musetto
New York Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

The newcomer Nathan Lopez delights as the flamboyantly gay Maxi, the youngest son in a family of thieves who falls in love with handsome police officer.

| Comment
09/21/06 07:14 PM
Nathan Lee
New York Times
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Ratings Image

A unusual and potent portrait of the Filipino undersoul.

Full Review | Comment
09/21/06 12:28 PM
John Anderson
Newsday
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Ratings Image

The film is alarming, endearing, and utterly unflappable.

Full Review | Comment
09/19/06 12:33 PM
Dennis Lim
Village Voice
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Ratings Image

This debut feature by Filipino director Auraeus Solito is a neatly observed take on Manila street life.

Full Review | Comment
04/19/06 12:35 PM
Richard James Havis
Hollywood Reporter
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Ratings Image

A neorealist coming-of-age story infused with the pulse-pounding anxieties and excitement of first love.

Full Review | Comment
03/29/06 08:16 PM
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness
Ratings Image

A 12-year-old boy's initiation into the adult world where even those who seem virtuous are capable of giving into the enticements of money and power.

Full Review | Comment
03/19/06 01:50 PM
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice
Ratings Image

The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros is a lo-fi Technicolor ode to this memorable protagonist, a neorealist homo noir.

Full Review | Comment
03/08/06 07:25 PM
Keith Uhlich
Slant Magazine
Ratings Image

An unusually low-key Filipino drama whose neo-realist air generally triumphs over the script's violent, tearful contrivances.

Full Review | Comment
01/27/06 11:58 PM
Dennis Harvey
Variety
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Related Forums

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(ND/NF)-THE BLOSSOMING OF MAXIMO OLIVEROS in NYC's New Directors/New Films festival!!
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(ND/NF)-THE BLOSSOMING OF MAXIMO OLIVEROS in NYC's New Directors/New Films festival!!
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REEL_REVIEWER
(ND/NF)-THE BLOSSOMING OF MAXIMO OLIVEROS in NYC's New Directors/New Films festival!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 11/28/06


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(ND/NF)-THE BLOSSOMING OF MAXIMO OLIVEROS in NYC's New Directors/New Films festival!!
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