Service (film)

Service (Filipino: Serbis) is a 2008 Filipino independent drama film directed by Brillante Mendoza and stars Gina Pareño as the matriarch of the Pineda family who owns a porn cinema in Angeles City. The film competed for the Palme d'Or in the main competition at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. It is also the first Filipino film to compete at the main competition in Cannes, since Lino Brocka's Bayan Ko: Kapit sa Patalim in 1984.[2]

Service
Serbis
Directed byBrillante Mendoza
Screenplay byArmando Lao
Story byArmando Lao
Boots Agbayani Pastor
Produced byFerdinand Lapuz
Starring
CinematographyOdyssey Flores
Edited byClaire Villa-Real
Music byGian Gianan
Production
companies
  • Centerstage Productions
  • Swift Productions
Distributed byGMA Films (Philippines)
Release dates
  • 18 May 2008 (2008-05-18) (Cannes)
  • 25 June 2008 (2008-06-25) (Philippines)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryPhilippines
France
LanguageFilipino
Box office$155,156.00[1]

Plot

Service is a drama that follows the daily life of the Pineda family in the Philippine city of Angeles. Bigamy, unwanted pregnancy, possible incest and skin diseases are all part of their daily challenges, but the real "star" of the show is an enormous, dilapidated movie theater that is both family business and home. In the past a prestigious place, the theater now features soft core porn and serves as a meeting ground for male & female prostitutes of every conceivable persuasion. The film captures the sordid, decaying atmosphere, interweaving various family drama with the comings and goings of customers, thieves and even a runaway farm animal while enveloping the viewer in a cacophony of city sound, noise and continuous pumping motion.

Cast

Brillante Mendoza recounted how difficult it was to find the actress for the role of Merly, partly because of the scene in which she had to have real penetrative sex on camera: "I couldn't think of a young actress from mainstream movies who can do what the role required, so I held an audition for the role of Merly. I wanted someone who's not interested in becoming a "movie star," I wanted a real artist who can give justice to the role, and I saw that in Mercedes Cabral. The first thing I asked is if she would trust me to shoot this somewhat graphic love scene with Coco. She said it wasn't a problem."[3]

Production

Brillante Mendoza said the scene in which Jewel (played by teenage actress Roxanne Jordan), is naked in front of a mirror, wasn't in the script.[3]

The film was shot in just 12 days.[4]

Release

Critical response

Service caused a stir in the Philippines with its loud ambient noise and its graphic depiction of sex and nudity. Submitted to the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board for public exhibition in 2008, the movie survived with two major cuts to sex scenes and was rated an R18.

Such was the advance international buzz of the film that it was invited to compete at the 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival, being the 3rd overall entry from the Philippines (following the films of director Lino Brocka, Jaguar and Bayan Ko: Kapit sa Patalim). Its premiere at the festival was marked by the walking out of several veteran film critics who protested Mendoza's version of "misery porn."

On 30 January 2009, the film premiered in New York. Writing for The New York Times, its chief film critic Manohla Dargis described the film: "The heavenly bodies that populate our films bring their own pleasures ... alighting onscreen as if from a dream. But the bodies in [‘Serbis’], which received little love at the 2008 Cannes, are not heaven-sent, but neither are they puppets in a contrived nightmare. Rather, they lust, sweat, desire and struggle with the ferocious truth." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave Service two and a half out of four stars, stating that "[i]f you see only one art film this month, this shouldn't be the one. If you see one every week, you might admire it."[5]

Accolades
Year Event Category Recipient Result
2008 Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or Serbis Nominated
2009 Asian Film Awards Best Director Brillante Mendoza Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Gina Pareño Won
Jaclyn Jose Nominated
Gawad Urian Awards Best Picture Serbis Won
Best Director Brillante Mendoza Won
Best Actress Gina Pareño Nominated
Jaclyn Jose Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Julio Diaz Nominated
Best Screenplay Armando Lao
Boots Agbayani Pastor		 Nominated
Best Cinematography Odyssey Flores Won
Best Editing Claire Villa-Real Nominated
Best Production Design Benjamin Padero
Carlo Tabije		 Won
Best Sound Emmanuel Clemente Nominated
2011 Gawad Urian Awards Best Film of the Decade (2000-2009) Serbis Won

References
  1. "Serbis". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  2. "'Serbis' Vying for the Palme d'Or in Cannes". Retrieved 25 May 2008.
  3. "Defining the Aesthetics of Philippine Independent Cinema: An Interview with Brillante Mendoza". researchgate.net. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  4. "Edgy Philippine drama enters the Palme d'Or race at Cannes". taiwannews.com.tw. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  5. Ebert, Roger (18 March 2009). "Serbis Movie Review & Film Summary". RogerEbert.com. Ebert Digital LLC. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
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