| Kinatay | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Brillante Mendoza |
| Produced by | Didier Costet Ferdinand Lapuz |
| Written by | Armando Lao |
| Starring | Mercedes Cabral |
| Music by | Teresa Barrozo |
| Cinematography | Odyssey Flores |
| Editing by | Kats Serraon |
| Release date(s) | May 2009 |
| Running time | 105 minutes |
| Country | Philippines |
| Language | Filipino (Tagalog) |
Kinatay (English: Butchered) is a 2009 Filipino drama film directed by Brillante Mendoza. The film competed in the main competition at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival.[1]
Contents |
A police academy student trying to make enough money to marry his girlfriend takes a lucrative job. It turns out that he actually joined a gang. During a night together, to his horror the gang abduct, rapes and kills a woman, cuts the body into pieces, and throws the pieces in various places out of the car. In the morning he politely asks his boss to allow him to go home. The boss understands that he has to get used to the practices, gives him some money, and lets him go.
American film director Quentin Tarantino is a fan of the film and commended Mendoza in a personal letter, writing: "Your decission (sic) to never dramatize the murder, never indulge in movie suspense.... was bold, daring, and to me, the whole point of making the movie in the first place."[2] On the other hand, film critic Roger Ebert has been one of the film's more notable detractors, writing: "Here is a film that forces me to apologize to Vincent Gallo for calling "The Brown Bunny" the worst film in the history of the Cannes Film Festival."[3]
Kinatay won the Prix de la Mise en Scene - Best Director through Brillante Mendoza at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival.[1]