''Saranggola'' (international title: ''The Kite'') is a 1999 Filipino

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by Gil Portes. It stars

Ricky Davao Frederick Charles Davao, professionally known as Ricky Davao (born May 30, 1961) is a Filipino actor, television director, and industrial management engineer (graduated from Mapua Institute of Technology. He is the husband of actress Jackie Lou ...

Lester Llansang Lester Ferrer Salansang (born July 3, 1985), known professionally as Lester Llansang, is a Filipino actor who appeared in the film ''Saranggola'' when he was 14 years old. He plays the role of a schoolboy who witnessed a crime committed by his p ...

and

Jennifer Sevilla Jennifer Sevilla-Go (born May 14, 1974) is a Filipino actress in movies and television shows. She was a former member of '' That's Entertainment''. Personal life Jeniffer Sevilla was born on May 14, 1974 in Quezon City. She is only child. She st ...

. It is a morality tale, showing murder and corruption through the eyes of a child.

Plot

Though widowed, ex-cop, Homer, (Ricky Davao) is a kindly father to his ten-year-old son, Rex (Lester Llansang). He is considered to be something of a bully in the poor Manila neighborhood where he lives. After mistaking a child retrieving a snarled kite for a burglar, Homer kills the boy and then hurriedly tries to cover up his error. Unbeknownst to his dad, Rex witnessed the event, too. As the two separately wrestle with their consciences, the neighbors find out and chaos soon ensues.

Cast

as Homer Agustines *

as Rex Agustines *

as Anita * Mark Gil as Jack Lumauig * Sining Blanco as Enye Bumanlag * Daryl Reyes as Tonton Bumanlag * Connie Chua as Tonton's Mother * Nanding Josef as Tonton's Father * Roy Alvarez as Cong. Ventura * RR Herrera as Leo Ventura * Aleth dela Cruz as Aling Karing * Diding Andres as Pacing * Nonong Talbo as Mang Kadyo * Mar Gachitorena as Senior Cop * Tess Orias as Ms. Rojo

Reception

Isah Red of the ''

Manila Standard The ''Manila Standard'' is a broadsheet newspaper in the Philippines. , it is owned by the Romualdez family. The Romualdezes, through incumbent speaker of the House Martin Romualdez, also own Journal Publications, Inc., the owner of tabloid p ...

'' gave ''Saranggola'' a positive review, calling the film thematically challenging. He praises director Gil Portes for focusing on how the crime affects the relationship of the father and son, in the form of

Jan Svěrák Jan Svěrák () (born 6 February 1965 in Žatec) is a Czech film director. He is the son of screenwriter and actor Zdeněk Svěrák. He studied documentary filmmaking at the FAMU. He and his films have received awards including the Academy Award ...

's '' Kolya''. Though he considers the film's premise as encouraging, he criticizes the film's pacing.

Awards and nominations

The film won several awards at the 1999 Manila Film Festival including: Best Picture, Best Actor (

), Best Original Story, Best Screenplay (Gil Portes and Butch Dalisay) and Best Theme Song. It was also nominated for the

Golden St. George The Moscow International Film Festival (russian: Моско́вский междунаро́дный кинофестива́ль, translit. ''Moskóvskiy myezhdunaródniy kinofyestivál''; abbreviated as MIFF) is the film festival first h ...

at the

21st Moscow International Film Festival The 21st Moscow International Film Festival was held from 19 to 29 July 1999. The Golden St. George was awarded to the Japanese film ''Will to Live'' directed by Kaneto Shindo. Jury * Fernando Solanas (Argentina – President of the Jury) * Flo ...

. Ricky Davao was also hailed as Best Actor at the 1999 Cinemanila International Film Festival for this film. In 2000, the film won the FAMAS Best Child Actor Award (Lester Llansang) and was nominated for four more awards (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Actor (Ricky Davao)) at the FAMAS Awards. It also won the Gawad Urian Award for Best Actor (Ricky Davao) and was nominated for 5 more awards at the 2000 Gawad Urian Awards. In the same year it won the Original Screenplay of the Year (Gil Portes and Butch Dalisay) and the Actor of the Year (Ricky Davao) and was nominated for 3 more awards at the

Star Awards The Star Awards (Chinese: 红星大奖) are awards for artistic and technical merit in the media organisation Mediacorp of Singapore where Mediacorp recognises entertainers under their employment for outstanding performances of the year. The ...

for Movies. The film was also the Philippines' official entry to: the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

(

Oscars The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

); the 2000 Young Artists Award, where it was nominated for Best International Film and Best Performance in an International Film (Lester Llansang); the 2000

Indian Film Festival Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

; and other international film festivals.

References

External links

* GMA Pictures films 1999 films 1999 drama films Tagalog-language films Philippine drama films Films directed by Gil Portes {{Philippines-film-stub