Breaking barriers

Viva Entertainment and SM Lifestyle Entertainment kicked off SineAsia Theatre with the premiere of the “Tagalized” version of the Lee Min Ho-starrer “Gangnam Blues,” which touches on brotherhood and betrayal.

The premiere was held at Cinema 11 of SM Megamall on March 3, a day before it opened in theatres. Several Viva stars attended the event including Meg Imperial, Patricia Javier and Yumi.

The advantage of hearing the characters “say” their lines in Tagalog versus reading subtitles is that the local audience can fully take in the story, including the little details such as the nuance of the characters’ facial expression. While using subtitles in movies or on TV is nothing new here, SineAsia Theatre aims to present movies from our own region. Presumably, fewer Pinoys know Thai or Vietnamese or Korean than English so this “Tagalized” thrust is key to breaking barriers.

Compared to Hollywood films or ones coming from other part of the West like Europe, Asian movies often strike closer to home. In “Gangnam Blues,” for example, we see that underneath the sheen of the production is a story right up the alley of Pinoy teleseryes and action movies (save that violence in Korean movies tend to be more graphic). Family, loyalty, revenge –yes, Pinoys know about these things only too well.

And if before, Asian films are considered by many as art films or “pang-festival” due to the exoticism of language, Filipinos can now have a deeper understanding of the way of life of our “immediate” neighbors including South Korea, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand and India.

SineAsia Theatre has venues at SM Megamall, SM Sta. Mesa, SM Fairview, SM Iloilo, SM Bacoor, SM Cebu, SM Manila and SM North EDSA. They will release a fresh title every two weeks.