Colma:The Musical
Added 9/14/2009
Pleasant little surprise of a film with some haunting music and memorable cinematography. Though some of the acting was not as professional as I'd hoped, the mood and energy protrayed was effective. Made me want to see Colma in person, which I did. "Colma Stays" among my favorite videos.
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charming coming-of-age musical
Added 6/21/2009
What would it be like to grow up in a town where the dead outnumber the living by a ratio of more than a-thousand-to-one? That's the case with Colma, a working-class community located just south of San Francisco that is more notable for its vast cemeteries than for anything related to the folk who actually live there. Dubbed The City of the Dead, Colma has a population of around 1500 above ground but over a million-and-a-half below, with roughly 75% of the town's land given over to tombstones and gravesites. That hardly seems the ideal setting for a movie musical, but then "Colma: The Musical" is not your average, run-of-the-mill, afraid-to-take-a-risk movie. Thankfully.
Three of the live people who call Colma home are Billy (Jake Moreno), an aspiring actor who`s so straight-arrow he`s never even had a drink; Rodel (H.P. Mendoza, who also co-wrote the screenplay), a gay prankster who fears coming out to his traditionalist dad; and Maribel (L.A. Renigen), a fun-loving free spirit, who often has to serve as mediator between the two guys. Recently graduated from high school, these three best buddies suddenly discover themselves on the brink of adulthood, trying to find their way in the world and wondering what the future holds for them.
Like a modern-day "Umbrellas of Cherbourg," "Colma: The Musical" is a cinematic operetta in which the characters define their relationships and express their feelings almost entirely through song. The score by Mendoza is lively and bouncy - if a trifle redundant at times - with lyrics that capture the fears and yearnings of the teenage heart with uncanny accuracy. In addition, this stylish and stylized movie features appealing performances, an endearing sense-of-humor, a hint of surrealism, and an artful use of that rarely employed, but often highly effective, tool of cinematic grammar, the split-screen.
With its youthful exuberance and anything-goes audaciousness, this quirky, independent feature has much of the feel of experimental regional theater about it. And the fact that it's still a trifle rough around the edges only adds to its authenticity and charm.
Filled with amusing and touching insights into this wonderfully complex and exciting thing we call "growing up," the movie understands the paradox that Colma, like all hometowns, serves both as the soil to plant one's roots in and as the place to break away from when the time is right. That's the lesson that these three likable young people learn in the end - just as the countless others, now residing in those graveyards, learned before them.
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A quirky Indie
Added 12/13/2008
Colma is a quirky independent film that I first came across in my film class this year. Although none of the stars can really sing (save for one), the songs are catchy and funny enough to get stuck in your head hours after you've finished watching it. I did think the story was really generic and that it kind of fell flat towards the end, but it was entertaining and gave a few laughs. Just remember to go in with an open mind!
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Better than I expected
Added 7/30/2008
I enjoyed this film. Anyone who grew up in an irrelevant place can relate to the characters. They know they live outside the main action happening elsewhere. The film explores the sense of stagnation people feel when they're ready to move on, and also tackles the darker emotional issues that drives one character away from the friends he grew up with.
Nevertheless, the film tries to capture what beauty there is in this overlooked suburb. The shots of the cemetery, swirling fog and eucalyptus trees are lovely.
In the end, the case is made both for the friends who leave for better things, and for the perhaps even more courageous young woman who decides there's no place like home.
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Stays, as Colma
Added 7/21/2008
I wish this was a better film. Because it is so infectious and original that its mistakes are made more visible. I have seen "Colma" in the Buenos Aires International Independent Cinema Festival of 2007 (BAFICI) and since then I cannot take those catchy songs from my head. Every couple of months, they surface up again. It doesn't help that I bookmarked "Colma"'s MySpace page. Ok, so my review in few words: an inventive low-budget musical marred by drama in the second part. Thank you.
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