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

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

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-g ...

directed by

Gil Portes Gil M. Portes (September 13, 1945 – May 24, 2017) was a Filipino film director, film producer and screenwriter. Early life and education Gil Portes took up his Journalism at the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines and received a mas ...

. 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 po ...

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 Raphael John "Ralph" Gil Eigenmann (25 September 1961 – 1 September 2014), better known by his screen name 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 t ...

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 2 ...

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 pap ...

'' 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 ''Kolya'' ( cs, Kolja) is a 1996 Czech drama film about a man whose life is reshaped in an unexpected way. The film was directed by Jan Svěrák and stars his father, Zdeněk Svěrák, who also wrote the script from a story by Pavel Taussig. ''Ko ...

''. 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 Antonio Vil ...

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) * Flor ...

. 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 Southea ...

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 (also known as the FAMAS Awards) are the annual honors given by the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS), an organization composed of award-winning writers and movie columni ...

. 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 held since 1977. It is given by the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino (MPP, "the Filipino Film Critics") and is currently regarded as the counterpart of the United States' New York Fi ...

. 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 Asi ...

; 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