I thought I was going to be alone watching Ang tanging ina mo: Last na 'to!, but, nope, it seems the entire Las Vegas Filipino expat population is here with me. It’s mostly old people looking at me wondering what I’m doing here. No one is speaking English and it’s weird to be in a place I’ve been hundreds of times and have it feel totally foreign.
Ang tanging ina mo: Last na 'to! is the third and final installment of a popular Filipino comedy series. I haven’t seen the first two but I read about them in preparation. In the first, the main character, Ina, becomes a single mother of 30 or 12 or some ungodly number of children and she has to figure out a way to raise them and earn a living. Sounds funny, right? Hmm. So in part two, Ina, having her life in order, becomes president of the Philippines. Yes, president of the Philippines. So that’s where part three begins, her kids are growing up and she’s president … of a country.
The movie starts with loud, annoying music followed by loud, annoying talking and it takes me a few seconds to realize there are no subtitles. What?! Umm. I don’t speak Tagalog, or whatever this language is. I have seen tons of foreign movies and it never occurred to me that there wouldn’t be subtitles. I have wondered in the past if I would be able to follow a foreign movie without subtitles and I now know the answer: sort of.
The problem with this movie isn’t that I don’t understand what they are saying. I really think I would have thought this was stupid even if I understood. The real problem is that it’s so over-the-top, so loud, and so annoying. I can’t believe people are watching this or that it was entered into film festivals. I keep checking the time and it’s not going fast enough. A baby has been crying for nearly half of the movie and normally I’d be mad that the parents didn't take him outside but I am sort of glad for the distraction and I feel his pain.
Without knowing what is being said it’s hard to gauge when the end is coming, but the end does come, finally.
Rating: Hate
Well here's props to sticking it out! I would have definitely gone to the box office after 30 seconds and asked to see a different movie. I am also incredibly surprised by the lack of subtitles. I guess considering your fellow audience maybe it was by popular demand. Or, you are the first gringo to see a Ang Tanging Ina Mo movie.
ReplyDeleteSince I feel bad for you, here is what the movie you saw was about:
1) It's called, in English "Your Only Mom (It's Final!)"
2) It actually takes place a few months after Ina leaves the Phillipine Presidency
3) Ina is marketing her Presidential memoir in the beginning of the film
4) An X-ray technician tells Ina she has months to live and she must find a way to tell her children.
5) A bunch of Ina's kids have kids of their own
6) Ina goes to the hospital thinking she's dying, but is then told by a doctor that she is in fact not dying
The End!
Thanks Tuna! It all makes sense now. I still hate it though.
ReplyDeleteThe Chinese are even louder !!!!!
ReplyDeleteHope one of those don't come to town.
DAD