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Maid in Malacañang

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Maid in Malacañang
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDarryl Yap
Written byDarryl Yap
Produced by
  • Vincent del Rosario III
  • Veronique del Rosario-Corpus
Starring
CinematographyRain Yamson II
Edited byVincent L. Asis
Production
companies
VinCentiments
Viva Films
Distributed byViva Films
Release date
  • 3 August 2022 (2022-08-03)
Running time
114 minutes
CountryPhilippines
LanguageFilipino
Box office₱140 million[1]

Maid in Malacañang is a 2022 Filipino fictional period drama film about the Marcos family's last three days in the Malacañang Palace before they were forced to flee to Hawaii during the People Power Revolution in 1986.[2] Written and directed by Darryl Yap and produced by Viva Films,[3] the film stars Cesar Montano, Cristine Reyes, Diego Loyzaga, Ella Cruz and Ruffa Gutierrez, alongside Karla Estrada, Elizabeth Oropesa and Beverly Salviejo as the titular maids of Malacañang Palace.

Marketed by Viva Films as "the most controversial film of the year",[4] Maid in Malacañang has been met with controversy by historians and the public since its announcement for the film's potential to distort the history of the Marcos regime and the People Power Revolution. The filmmakers, however, asserted their defense that the film is only intended to highlight the Marcos' perspective without negating the facts. The film held its premiere at SM North EDSA on July 29, 2022, and was released nationwide on August 3, 2022. Yap intends for the film to be the first installment of a trilogy about the Marcos family.[5] Despite of negative reviews from critics and audience and a lot of controversies, the film was a box office success grossing over ₱140 million nationwide.[6]

Synopsis

The film is told from the perspective of the Malacañang Palace's residential maids, who witnessed the last 72 hours of the Marcos family's stay in Malacañang, and what happened in 1986 People Power Revolution from the Marcoses' side of the story.

Cast

Montano's son Diego Loyzaga portrays Bongbong Marcos, the son of Ferdinand Marcos.[8]
Imee Marcos is the eldest daughter of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos.
The second child and only son of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos. His father Cesar Montano portrays Ferdinand Marcos.[8]
Irene Marcos is the youngest of the three siblings.
The wife of Ferdinand Marcos and the former first lady of the Philippines.
Figurehead of the People Power Revolution and widow of assassinated politician Benigno Aquino Jr.

Controversies

Actress Ella Cruz was criticized by many historians and educators on her remark during a press conference: "history is like tsismis (lit. 'gossip')."[13]

Public historian Ambeth Ocampo became the target of online attacks following his response to the actress' remarks: “Don’t confuse history and chismis. History may have bias but it is based on fact, not opinion. Real history is about truth, not lies, not fiction”. In separate statements, Tanggol Kasaysayan and the Network in Defense of Historical Truth and Academic Freedom said they stood with Ocampo. Tanggol Kasaysayan said: “[We] stand by his critique of recent efforts to trivialize and discredit History as a discipline, and to disauthorize professional historians in their socially important work of producing veridical knowledges about our past”. The Network in Defense of Historical Truth and Academic Freedom questioned: “Is this how we treat and repay our teachers? Our historians? Subject them to vile and discriminatory, unprincipled and unjust attacks?”, “Historians like Ambeth Ocampo deserve this respect, and if a writer and scholar of Ocampo's stature is vilified like this, then what can others expect, when they stand up for truth and history?”, “We condemn these ad hominem attacks on the character of a well-regarded and highly professional historian of the Philippines”, adding that they would remain “vigilant in the defense for historical truth and integrity”. The Ateneo de Manila University also condemned attacks against Ocampo, who is one of its faculty members: “We condemn these attacks, not just because it maligns Dr. Ocampo, but because it severely undermines our battle against historical distortion and disinformation”.[14]

Fans of actress Kris Aquino debunked a scene from the trailer of the film involving her mother, the late Corazon "Cory" Aquino. In the trailer, a woman in a yellow dress, whose face is not seen but can be presumed to be Cory Aquino, says on a telephone: "Get them out of the Philippines". The fan site posted an excerpt from the book People Power: An Eyewitness History, which showed that Cory was willing to give the Marcoses two more days in the country to spend in their hometown Paoay. On page 240 of the book, former Supreme Court Associate Justice Cecilia Muñoz-Palma recalled what happened during Cory Aquino's phone call with US Ambassador Stephen Bosworth:

"On Tuesday evening, I was with Cory in the home of her sister, Josephine Reyes. There Cory received the phone call from US Ambassador Bosworth, telling her that Marcos was ready to leave but was asking to stay for at least two days in Paoay, his home in the North. Cory's initial reaction was: 'Poor man, let us give him two days.' But we did not agree with that idea. We thought that given the chance, Marcos may regroup his forces or extend his stay indefinitely. Cory then called Ambassador Bosworth to say that she could not grant the request. Marcos should just leave the country. When Ambassador Bosworth called her back, it was to say that Marcos had left. Cool as always, Cory turned to us after she put the phone down. She said simply: 'Marcos has left.' She said it as if it was the most ordinary thing. We all shouted jubilantly. Cory did not".[2]

A Facebook post also claims that 300 pieces of free movie passes complete with a letter detailing the contents of the envelope was sent to a Catholic Chinese school but was allegedly rejected.[15] On the ticket, Senator Imee Marcos is credited as the creative producer of the film.

Yap, the director of the film, responded with the controversy by saying that the leaked tickets were for block screening organized by several groups. A Facebook page, Amor Powers, argued that the tickets, being all the same, was sourced from an unnamed single person it calls "Manggalina".[16][17]

Filipino historian Xiao Chua said to Yap that he will give him a middle finger for what he said in The Interview with Boy Abunda for he does not believe that being a Historian should be a profession.

On August 1, 2022, an official of the Order of the Carmelites based in Mabolo, Cebu City, who were featured in the film, reacted to the film's trailer and said "God forgive them. That's totally fake news,".[18][19]

Release

Maid in Malacañang held its premiere at SM North EDSA in Quezon City on July 29, 2022.[12] The film was released under Viva Films in cinemas nationwide on August 3, 2022.[7] To combat the film's release, Vince Tañada intentionally set the release of Katips, a movie about the Marcos' martial law era, on the same day.[20]

Reception

Box office

Viva Films announced that the film earned ₱21 million on its opening day and ₱63 million three days after its release.[1][21] As of August 9, 2022, the film already hit the ₱140 million mark.[1]

Critical response

The film currently holds the record of being the most hated film on Letterboxd history with an average rating of 0.6.[22] The film also appears in other Letterboxd lists such as "The Anti-Letterboxd 250", and "The Anti-Letterboxd 250 (Filipino Version)" both claiming the top spot.[23] On the website ClickTheCity.com, the film currently holds 3.20 stars out of 5 (1285 reviews), 5 Stars(692 reviews) and 1 Star(586 reviews) as of August 12, 2022. On the website IMDb, the film has an average rating of 3.4 stars out of 10.[24]

At least one critic praised Cristine Reyes' performance, saying that she carried the whole film, while criticizing Ruffa Gutierrez for her poor acting skills.[25]

Future

Director Darryl Yap intends for Maid in Malacañang to be the first installment of a trilogy if it succeeds at the box office, with the second film being titled Martyr or Murderer while the third film is titled Mabuhay Aloha Mabuhay.[5] He expressed, however, that he will step back from his directing role for the sequels and focus on writing their screenplays.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Darryl Yap tells Vince Tanada: Disclose the real box-office gross of 'Katips'". Manila Bulletin. August 9, 2022.
  2. ^ a b Yong Ping, Teng (July 19, 2022). "Cory Aquino scene in Maid In Malacañang trailer shown to be inaccurate". Yahoo! News. Retrieved July 23, 2022.
  3. ^ NEPLYCH (July 17, 2022). "Maid In Malacanang Movie (2022) Cast & Crew, Release Date, Story, Review, Poster, Trailer, Budget, Collection". Neplych. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  4. ^ VIVA Films (June 26, 2022). "Maid in Malacañang Digital Media Conference | July 20 In Cinemas Worldwide". Facebook. Facebook, Inc. Event occurs at 0:24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ a b c Bernardino, Stephanie (August 1, 2022). "New 'Maid in Malacañang' teaser released". Manila Bulletin. Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
  6. ^ "GOSSIP GIRL: 'Maid In Malacanang' grosses P140M in box-office, celebs react to its success and bashings". August 9, 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Taculao, Patricia (July 21, 2022). "Getting into character: How the cast of 'Maid in Malacañang' prepared for their roles". ManilaStandard.net. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  8. ^ a b MJD (June 9, 2022). "Cesar, Diego gaganap na mag-amang Marcos sa 'Maid in Malacañang'". Abante. Prage Management Corporation. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
  9. ^ a b c Bernardino, Stephanie (June 13, 2022). "Supporting cast of Darryl Yap's 'Maid in Malacañang' revealed". Manila Bulletin. Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
  10. ^ Sanchez, Giselle (August 1, 2022). "GOSSIP GIRL: Why I accepted the most controversial role of 2022 in Philippine cinema". Manila Bulletin. Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation. Retrieved August 2, 2022. For legal purposes, I will not mention any name but will refer to my role as "her character" [Corazon Aquino]...
  11. ^ Afinidad-Bernardo, Deni Rose M. (August 2, 2022). "Cory Aquino Mahjong scene: Giselle Sanchez responds to backlash". Philstar.com. Manila, Philippines: Philstar Global Corp. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
  12. ^ a b c Hilario, Abbygael (August 2, 2022). "LOOK: The cast of 'Maid in Malacañang' at the film's red carpet premiere". GMA News Online. GMA Network. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
  13. ^ MJD (July 4, 2022). "Historians, educators at iba pa, naalarma sa 'utak' ng aktres na si Ella Cruz". Pilipino Star Ngayon. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
  14. ^ Bernardo, Jaehwa (July 11, 2022). "'History is not gossip:' Academics defend historian Ambeth Ocampo". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved July 23, 2022.
  15. ^ Blink (2022-07-29). "Maid in Malacañang Tickets Given to a School for Free Gets Rejected?". Philippine Newspaper. Retrieved 2022-07-30.
  16. ^ "VinCentiments - • OPISYAL NA PAHAYAG •". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2022-07-30.
  17. ^ "Amor Powers - Ang sabi ni VinCentiments sa latest script niya, may iba't iba grupo raw na nag-organize ng block screening para sa "Maid In Malacangcang", at wala raw silang kamalay-malay dito. Kung iba't ibang grupo, dapat iba-iba rin ang hitsura ng block screening tickets. Bakit 'yung sangkaterbang tickets na pinamumudmod nila sa iba't ibang lugar, iisa lang ang hitsura at wala pang nakalagay na "block screening"? Halatang galing sa iisang tao lang. Kung sino, itago natin sa pangalang Manggalina. #HuwagKami | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  18. ^ Staff, CNN Philippines (August 1, 2022). "Nuns with Cory during Edsa 'not amused' with 'Maid in Malacañang' trailer". CNN Philippines. Retrieved August 4, 2022. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  19. ^ Vestil, Justin K. (2022-08-01). "Nuns with Cory during Edsa 'not amused' with 'Maid in Malacañang' trailer". SUNSTAR. Retrieved 2022-08-06.
  20. ^ Calderon, Ricky (2022-07-30). "Vince Tañada's 'Katips' battles 'Maid in Malacañang'". The Manila Times. Retrieved 2022-08-07.
  21. ^ "Guanzon praises 'Katips,' 'Maid in Malacañang' claims box office success". The Philippine Star. August 5, 2022.
  22. ^ "Maid in Malacañang (2022)". Letterboxd. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  23. ^ "The Anti-Letterboxd 250". letterboxd.com. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  24. ^ Maid in Malacañang (2022) - IMDb, retrieved 2022-08-04
  25. ^ "Goldwin Reviews". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
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