brillante mendoza wins cannes

the other day, my very good new jersey-based friend - and the most travelled! if i may add - ana, sent me a hurried email telling me that cannes is in the south of france and is many hundred miles away from paris. she was reacting to my subject: cannes 101 post (which was my reply to my canadian friend yvonne's queries re cannes), on which i said that i have never been to cannes and that in fact the only eiffel tower i ever saw was the small replica in vegas.

anyway, i told ana that i was being funny and ridiculous. i told her i knew where cannes is, geographically, and that i was merely trying to emphasize my lack of travel experience - and i love to travel, mind yah! hahaha... thanks ana.

today, before i even had my breakfast, the best news from france came: brillante ma. mendoza won the best director prize at the cannes film festival which concluded yesterday. the news made me leap on my chair. i was at my friend edgar's pad on top of ritzy mount washington. his real cozy pad offers striking views of downtown los angeles. edgar and tony v.was stunned when i suddenly hollered in delight.

tony v. was watching asap on tfc, while edgar, who is the chief artist of the house of ylang ylang floral design, was trying to play the cd i burned for him of charice' new single "note to God". they were both caught surprised when i shouted expletives - yeah, i can hurl unprintables when i get too excited - i know, i know... lol.

and so mendoza beat out some of the world's greatest filmmakers. let's name 'em: pedro almodovar, ang lee, quentin tarantino, jane campion, lars von trier, ken loach, etc... he won considering that his entry kinatay was universally trashed by critics with respected american critic roger ebert calling it the worst film that cannes ever screened.

way to go brillante. now let's show that sourgraping stir dude your trophy so he knows what he is talking about. yeah!

here is the AFP report from the wires:

Philippines' Brillante Mendoza scoops Best Director at Cannes

CANNES, France (AFP) — Brillante Mendoza of the Philippines on Sunday picked up the best director prize at the Cannes film festival for his dark movie "Kinatay".

"Kinatay" (meaning "massacre") notably features corrupt cops hacking a prostitute to pieces with blunt kitchen knives.

Mendoza, at Cannes for the second year running, again split the critics, drawing both hisses and applause for "Kinatay".

Last year's "Serbis" was set in a Manila porn-theatre with long close-ups of festering boils and overflowing toilets, as well as the poverty and distress on the streets.

Still determined to portray the social reality around him, Mendoza in "Kinatay" traces 24 hours in the day of a trainee policeman, happily beginning with his wedding in the morning to close with the young man's first outing at night with a band of corrupt colleagues.

To his surprise, fear and anguish, they pick up a prostitute accused of betrayal and wind up torturing, raping, killing and hacking her before disposing of the body parts across Manila.

"This is not just entertainment, these kinds of stories are real," Mendoza said at Cannes.

Last year was the first time since 1984 the Philippines had a film competing for the top prize at Cannes, the Palme d'Or.