''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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by Gil Portes, who co-wrote the film's story and screenplay with Jose Y. Dalisay Jr. It stars

Ricky Davao Frederick Charles Abiera Davao (May 30, 1961 – May 1, 2025) was a Filipino actor and television director. Career Davao began his career in the entertainment industry in 1978 as a dancer for the Vicor Crowd group. Later in the year, he had h ...

, Lester Llansang 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''. Career Sevilla started her Philippine showbiz career at age seven in a ''Jack 'n Jill'' snack f ...

. It is a morality tale, showing murder and corruption through the eyes of a child. Produced by Teamwork Productions and distributed by GMA Films, the film was theatrically released on June 23, 1999.

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 * Lester Llansang as Rex Agustines *

as Anita *

Mark Gil Raphael John Gil Eigenmann (September 25, 1961 – September 1, 2014), known professionally as Mark Gil, was a Filipino actor. Gil was often cast as a main villain in Philippine action films that was popular during the late '80s to the early 20 ...

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 Leandro Delantar Alvarez (March 23, 1950 – February 11, 2014), better known by his screen name Roy Alvarez, was a Filipino actor, director and screenwriter for film, television and theater in the Philippines. Biography He was born on March ...

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 which, as of 2017, is owned by the Romualdez family. The Romualdezes, through incumbent speaker of the House Martin Romualdez, also own Journal Publications, Inc., the owner ...

'' 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) is a Czechs, Czech film director and screenwriter. He is the son of screenwriter and actor Zdeněk Svěrák, with whom he collaborated on his most successful films. He is among the most recognized Czech filmm ...

'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 The Manila Tagalog Film Festival, also known as the Manila Film Festival, was a film festival organized in the city of Manila, Philippines. It is considered as the precursor to the Metro Manila Film Festival. History Then- Manila Mayor Antoni ...

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 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 The Cinemanila International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Manila, Philippines. It was founded by Filipino filmmaker Amable "Tikoy" Aguiluz in 1999. The focus of the festival is on the cinema of the Philippines as well as Sout ...

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 The Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Awards, or simply the FAMAS Awards, are the annual honors given by the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS), an organization composed of writers and movie columnists, for achieveme ...

. 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 The Gawad Urian Awards are annual film awards in the Philippines presented since 1977 by the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino (), a film critic organization composed of critics, writers, and scholars. It is the regarded as the highest award for ...

. 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 Star Awards (Chinese: 红星大奖) are awards for artistic and technical merit where Mediacorp recognises entertainers under their employment for outstanding performances of the year. The awards are given annually in a ceremony. The various ca ...

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

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

(

Oscars The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence i ...

); 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; and other international film festivals.

References

External links

* GMA Pictures films 1999 films 1999 drama films 1990s Tagalog-language films Philippine drama films Films directed by Gil Portes Films with screenplays by Jose Dalisay Jr. {{1990s-Philippines-film-stub