Butchered (2009) User Reviews

A film that effectively shows how "natural" a gruesome act can be.

[james_tabang · 8/10 · 9 November 2014]

After reading reviews of Kinatay, I decided to watch the film, but it was so rare I can't find it in the internet. Luckily, I found it in a CD shop in a mall and bought it.

The first scenes had a feeling of ordinary life in the shanties of urban Philippines, displaying the bouncy/cheerful personality of Filipinos. However, the ordinary setting takes an abrupt turn upon the start of the mid-section of the movie, where the dark ambiance begin to ooze.

The actors, as aided by unconventional found-footage style camera angles, really did well in making the scenes appear so natural, so as to make the viewer really believe he is an invisible spectator on the actual site. The eerie background music was minimal and effectively placed in scenes that actually require it, enhancing the psychological effect on the viewer.

The flow doesn't hurry in switching scenes. It maintains a slow pace, even until the ending, which is so unconventional but effective. At the end, it leaves the viewer "hanging" because its ending can only offer implications.

What makes the movie really stand out is the sheer natural attitude the characters portray for an extremely brutal and insane act, as viewed by a direct witness. As an indie film, it is not expected to have a spectacular production value, so there would be scenes that are so dark and silent (or both at the same time), and others used to commercial movies might find it boring and lame. If you want something dark and psychologically affecting because it shows how "natural" a grisly act is, then this film should be in your list.

Take heed haters of the slow-burn.

[ElijahCSkuggs · 7/10 · 19 August 2011]

A couple years back, an independent film from the Philippines named Kinatay shocked and awed festival film-goers the world over. The film by Brilliante Mendoza was regarded as one of the most controversial films of the year, and was even coined a horror movie by some. I'm here to tell you - two years later - that all the overly enthusiastic critiques appeared to be just that.

The film is about a young newlywed who takes a friend's job offer to earn some extra cash for his wife and baby. The gig, which he discovers a bit too late, involves kidnapping and accessory to murder.

The film initially starts off in almost documentary style fashion with the camera capturing real-life tidbits while gradually introducing us to the amicable protagonist. Over an hour later, when the meat and potatoes have begun to be served, it switches to a more conventional style with close-ups and bits of stylish direction - it's this melding of creative approaches that impressed me most about Kinatay. Along-side a cast of talented actors and urban Philippino settings, the movie feels fresh and consistently realistic.

Besides the film's tedious opening hour, what ultimately hurts Kinatay the most is/was the hype that initially surrounded it. Hype can be good, sometimes, but in cases like Kinatay, where the buzz mainly circulated around the exploitative aspects of the film, said film can and will implode. This film isn't very controversial and nor difficult to process – it's actually rather straight-forward and only a bit graphic. Maybe it was some type of marketing ploy, who knows. Nevertheless, it remained an intimate look at how a person feels and acts when confronted with unsuspecting horrors.

Lastly, please take note that this is not an exploitation or horror flick. It's an art-house drama that does a pretty good job putting you in the shoes of someone doing something they don't want to. Ever hang out with people you didn't want to, but you stuck around because you knew you'd possibly reap a benefit or two? This is like that, but on a nightmare scale.

Real life is scary

[Djomlito41 · 8/10 · 4 March 2010]

This movie was shown almost simultaneously at two film festivals in my country, and advertised as a horror flick. I must say that I saw it more as a thriller/drama, but I admit that I was, at times, nervous, jumpy, and even disgusted (I'm a bit perplexed by my reaction, considering that I didn't find anything too disturbing about "Antichrist", for example). I almost wish it could pass off as a horror film, because it sends a powerful message: when it all boils down, there's nothing scarier than the reality we live in, and the terrible things humans can do to each other.

It's story is told in a very realistic manner. The plot slowly progresses from everyday Manila life, where we see the brightly colored face of the city, with young and old in the streets, going about their business, to the ominous night and the twisted reality it brings. The director uses the darkness as the ultimate mood-setter, and the dragged-out sequences gradually warn us of things to come. As the first reviewer of "Kinatay" noted, the sound plays a major role in the film.

Without giving away anything, I can say that there are no big plot twists (if any), and the outcome of the movie is sobering in it's brutal realism. This might be a negative point for some, because they will probably not get what they expected; not only because of the absence of a "happy end", but also because of the lack of diverse content trough out a major portion of the movie. My own pet peeve is that, even though Coco Martin has played his role as good as he could have, the "shocked rookie in way over his head" character is a bit of a cliché, and in retrospect, it feels a bit overused, but again, not as much as in many other movies.

Ultimately, this is a good piece of cinematography. It makes it's goal clear, and it's presentation is flawless, for the most part. It definitely does not deserve all the bad reviews it's been getting. A man who gives "Avatar" a rave review (I'm looking at you, Ebert), should think twice before calling something "the worst movie at Cannes".

Brillante Mendoza's "Kinatay" outscores every Filipino film for its masterful exploration of sound and its effect on people.

[jamesnicolay · 9/10 · 29 September 2009]

If there's one thing about widely marketed Filipino movies which should improve dramatically, it's sound--I absolutely loathe the annoying synthesized staple background music being forced upon us each time the characters are set to spew their spit with their loud, hammy dialogues, or whenever someone is about to cry. That's why I applaud local indie films which at least feature original scores or unusual songs to give better local color to the story. Some experimental films by some of the innovative, unpopular directors even skip background music in order to give a sense of realism to their films. And what a relief--here comes Brillante Mendoza's "Kinatay"--which I believe outscores--pun intended--every Filipino film for its masterful exploration of sound and its effect on people.

"Kinatay"--before it won the Best Director Award in the most prestigious film festival in the world--was butchered by various international critics when the film was screened in Cannes. They blamed the unsteady video and the lack of light in about half of the entire film. Even the famous critic Roger Ebert dismissed "Kinatay" as the worst film ever screened in Cannes, even going as far as saying that he wanted to apologize to Vince Gallo for saying the same remark about his "The Brown Bunny." (I had the misfortune of seeing Gallo's film and I thought that Ebert should not retract his statement about Gallo's horrible, conceited trash.)

Movie watching for me has always been both a visual and an auditory experience. Often, movie makers tend to focus on the story or the actors or even special effects. But few directors actually bother to heighten music or sound as the most important aspect in a film. Quentin Tarantino, who's notorious for his wild taste in music in his films, is one of the directors who, I believe, highlights sound in his work. In his "Kill Bill Vol.2", one of the crucial scenes is when The Bride gets buried alive and the video of the movie is slowly diminished by the sight of dirt covering the entire screen. For a few seconds, we hear nothing but the sound of gasping, whimpering, and crying from the protagonist as her villains make loud noises with their shovels digging and throwing dirt to the screen. Experiencing this in a theater gives the audience a claustrophobic environment where we empathize with the experience of struggling of the character.

This sadistic manipulation of sound, for me, is crucial to understand "Kinatay." Mendoza wanted to make the audience fear more for the victim by making them see less details and hear more. By making the cries of Madonna nonstop and interspersing with the curses of the police officers, the audience feels equally threatened, abused, and angered. The background music reinforces the atmosphere of terror as it sounds like a masterful and unique score of a thriller or horror film.

I actually think it's pretty obvious that since the visuals are intentionally dark and shaky, the director wanted the audience to hear the movie out instead. Unfortunately, many viewers (critics included) are already blinded by digital spectacles. How ordinary it is for modern viewers nowadays to see a film just because the movie has good visual effects. There are only a few people who after watching a film goes out to say that the film has superb score or background music.

The striking quality of the sound of "Kinatay" is definitely its profound sense of realism. We hear the sounds of the city during the first thirty minutes of the film, and for people who live in Manila, it feels like home--with all the deafening noise of the vehicles, shouts of the vendors, gossips of the housewives, screams of street basketball players, music from TV, cellphones, radios, and even noises from animals. But as night falls, the absence of noise becomes more threatening. A simple curse in the middle of the night already gives us the creeps--what more if the curses and screams are confined in a compact vehicle, a remote house in the province?

The loudest sound in the movie comes from the facial expressions of Peping. In his silence, we hear the terrifying outburst of guilt, of helplessness, and of fear. With Peping, we become passive witnesses to crime and become deaf to the cries of the victim. We know exactly who are the dregs of society and yet we do nothing because we know that we are powerless because these villains are some of the most powerful people in the society. And sad to say, the message of Brillante Mendoza has to be heard loud and clear: this is what our reality sounds like today.

From a sunny day to a dark, dark night

[Atavisten · 4/10 · 17 October 2010]

In Kinatay we go from everyday chaotic, but joyful everyday life and take a trip deep into its mafia controlled cynical underbelly. It is disgusting and sobering, but realistically depicted and therefore has a potential to shock people into disgust. The hope then is that this disgust can inspire a change in attitudes and ultimately fight this mafia instead of feeding it. That's far-fetched though.

The movie in itself makes you feel like part of the action with hand-held cameras instead of cinematic abstractions. This is its strong point as well as what takes away some of the tension too. Some sections are just too long and dwelling. Supposedly the actions, reactions and (lack of them) can this way play around in our mind so that we build tension inside ourselves, but I ended up getting bored at times.

Butchered.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 9/10 · 6 February 2011]

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 of criminals.During one night the gang abducts,rapes and kills a woman,cuts her body into pieces and throws dismembered remains in various places out of the car."Kinatay" aka "Butchered" is an ugly and disturbing horror drama with truly repulsive characters.This is an unflinching representation of the rape,murder and dismemberment of a prostitute in the Philippines that made Roger Ebert angry.Famous critic hated "Kinatay" with passion.Fortunately I found this film strangely hypnotic and very disturbing.The violence is not terribly graphic,but there is a suffocating aura of utter depravity and evil.9 out of 10.

A low budget film that takes viewers on a walking and vehicle tour guide of the Manila slums and roadside. Has a horror-movie musical score and shocking climax

[jamalashley · 5/10 · 23 November 2010]

I knew that sooner or later, a Filipino indie film would win awards in international film festivals. As I kept on telling friends, it is very easy to satisfy European festival judges. Just give them a good dose of poverty, a dash of culture and some nudity. And if you really want to win, add some scenes denigrating Filipino customs, politics, bureaucracy or society.

As usual with Mendoza's films, the setting is the slum area. This, of course, can only score big points from European viewers. Then comes the long scenes with characters walking along the slum neighborhood and the streets of Manila. The Western viewers are suckers for these scenes. It makes them feel vicariously how it is to live in such squalid places. For some academics or critics, this is their "research" into the social practice in these foreign parts.

The main couple (Peping and Cecille) act as the tourist guides for the foreign viewers. They walk along the alleys of their slum neighborhood and drops off their child with a neighbor. With more walking, the viewers-cum-tourists-cum-researchers get to take a glimpse at everyday life in a Manila ghetto. The couple then take a tricycle ride before taking a Philippine jitney ride to go to the municipal hall. Wow, the foreign viewers just had a triple whammy — walking along the alleys of the ghetto, then taking a tricycle ride and then a jitney ride. Most of these foreigners probably have not even seen a tricycle or a Philippine jitney in their lives. The viewers-cum-tourists get to see more of Manila from the vantage point of someone in a tricycle and a jitney. It must be exciting for them just as I am excited seeing people ride elephants or camels or land speeder (like Luke Skywalker) for everyday purpose.

In order to have more scenes for the "tourist" foreign viewers, the relatives of the couple went the city hall separately, even though they most probably live in the same house or are neighbors. And so the relatives (an old lady and two kids) take the viewers on a tour of the city hall and its vicinity — passing by a flag ceremony and a mass wedding, among others.

Maybe in Mendoza's social circle, people go to their own weddings as if they are just going to see a movie. The couple wore everyday clothes. In fact, the groom was just wearing his college uniform. The couple take jitney or tricycle rides instead of a taxi cab or a friend's car. (Oh, they did ride aboard a friend's van after the wedding). The parents of both sides appear to be absent but there is a grandmother around. After the wedding, they go eat at a restaurant. After lunch, they go their separate ways. The groom proceeds to his school and attends classes -- on his wedding day! After school, the groom goes to his job collecting money from bookies who are also ambulant vendors in the street by the bay.

The film then takes the viewers on a night tour of Manila, this time along the main highway, EDSA. Peping rides in the van with his boss, a police captain, and colleagues. Along the way, the boss picks up a prostitute named Madonna from a strip joint. In the strip joint, Mendoza titillated his tourist-viewers by showing a couple of ugly topless dancers. Inside the van, without giving any reason, the boss's right hand man, another police officer, starts punching the hooker and duck tapes her mouth. He continues hitting her until she is unconscious. But Mendoza did not show the actress being hit. It was all sound effects with the camera focusing mainly on Peping. It's cheaper for the producers and easier for the actors that way.

To tell the audience that something really bad is going to happen, a horror-movie musical score accompanies Peping and the road trip. The musical score is supposed to scare the viewers. To cap the film, there was the "rape" scenes juxtaposed with other scenes. There was no struggle in the rape scenes. The woman was not even tied up. She was sitting with her back against the head board, baring her full body except the face with a fully naked man, with his back on the camera, forcing himself on her mouth. This is not supposed to arouse prurient interests.

The climax of the movie is what the title is all about. Kinatay means butchered. But with all the butchering going on, there wasn't much blood shown. There was no blood on the walls nor even on the head board. There wasn't much blood on the men either. The twist in the end reminded me of the short stories I used to write in high school. I was imitating Hitchcock. I wanted endings that would surprise, even shock, the readers. Kinatay is such a film – very sophomoric, nay, juvenile.

Mendoza won the Best Direction Award. It is the 3rd most prestigious award of the festival. I don't know what were in the minds of Isabelle Huppert and company. I've seen Antichrist, Inglorious Basterds, A Prophet, and Taking Woodstock. They were all immensely better than Kinatay. "A Prophet" won the Grand Prix. I haven't seen the Palm D'or winner "The White Ribbon" by Michael Haneke. Even the film Dogtooth, which was in the Un Certain Regard section, is a much better film than Kinatay.

As a Filipino, I am very glad that Mendoza won the Best Director Award. But as a film buff, a Film Studies scholar and a film critic, I am very sad that his film is so mediocre. Cannes 2009′s Jury President Isabelle Huppert and Brillante Mendoza are planning to make a film together in the Philippines next year. Mendoza would be the perfect tourist guide for her. I suppose she was intrigued by the Manila slums and the EDSA roadside.

Harrowing

[hauman · 22 November 2011]

The film identifies us with a young man who is "intiated" into a world of corruption and murder - by a bunch of unscrupulous policemen under the command of a heinous father figure that I found unforgettable. The young man is not "forced" to do anything, he may withdraw (and tries to do so) but finally cannot resist. I found the story almost unbearably testing my morals, asking the not at all theoretical question what I would have done in a similar situation. The director, for me, is one of the moralists in filmmaking (similar to his fellow countryman Brocka). The intense challenge of this film to the viewers integrity makes it impossible to watch for an averagely conceited human being. But hark, there're films out there that can show you who you really are, what you will certainly do as long as you're not aware. This is one of them. - It's beyond be how anyone here can criticize "camera" and "sound" and so on. They all contribute to and express the messy state of humanity in it's passionate & horrible grandeur. The "shower scene" at the end, for me, is one of the defining moments in movie history.

WAP, from the top make it drop

[irmaapplewood · 10/10 · 21 March 2021]

A masterful portrait of Hillary Clinton's wet dreams. Bless Brilliants Mendoza!

Fuss about nothing

[thebogofeternalstench · 2/10 · 17 January 2011]

I was sorely disappointed with this film.

It takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes until something interesting happens, thats if you made it that far, what with the long, drawn out pointless scenes, terrible camera work and dark, badly lit shots.

The fuss about this film must be about the execution of the prostitute, but that is all that really happens in this movie.

I can't understand how it did so well at Cannes. There is absolutely nothing going for this film apart from the above said scene.

The main actor has one expression throughout the entire film. (well, when he joins his stupid gang mates and realizes just what hes got himself into.) I really wanted to like this film, but Kinatay fails in my opinion.

Whats the story? Guy witnesses gruesome murder, makes some money from it because he helps clean up the mess, and the end? Disappointing.

A Coming Of Age Story

[lppyabut-918-323826 · 8/10 · 8 December 2010]

The sights and sounds of Metro Manila no longer intrigue me. The struggles of the impoverished in this 3rd world country is a reality I deal with every single day. I only need to turn on the television or pick up the newspaper or look out the window to see and hear for myself. Therefore the story of a prostitute turned drug addict turned thief turned salvage victim is as predictable as they get. But in this movie, it served as the perfect setting for a young man's baptism of fire.

Here is a carefree 20 year old boy who had just married the mother of his child; juggling university life, basketball and odd jobs for a dirty cop. His future, uncertain. His main ambition is to enter the traffic force where he truly believes rackets would be abundant. So when one night he is asked to work overtime, he unenthusiastically joins the team. It is to be a long drive and at every turn hesitance, tribulation and fear could be sensed in the boy as he is forced to become a man overnight.

Stupid movie

[sabelohilario · 1/10 · 13 April 2018]

Most of the scenes are incoherent. The main plot is the brutality done to the girl, that's it, movie concluded. Just wasted my time watching this crap.

I don't often agree with Ebert.

[mikefever · 1/10 · 24 January 2014]

I don't often agree with Ebert. But in this case, I do. This movie was awful. And the rape scene was just uncalled for. Long, drawn out with nothing happening and then ending it with the most violent, graphic acts you can do to a woman. How in the world would this movie win anything?

I mean it doesn't take much to do better than a mainstream film in the Philippines, but this just hurt the image of independent films of this country. I can't get these images out of my head. This should be put in the same category as the Serbian Movie.

For me, I'd say this movie should be banned. Or at least Cannes should start changing who decides the winner.

Incredibly stupid, boring

[steve_bg_2000 · 1/10 · 1 November 2017]

I registered in IMDb only to express how blatantly stupid, boring and overall waste of time is this movie. Cannot recall ever seeing something so bad. As it was pointed out by some other reviewers many scenes are useless and unusually long. For example 4-5 men taking a leak together - 1 minute. What an expressionism.