DURUGIN SI TOTOY BATO... Not The Champ

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Durugin Si Totoy Bato

Durugin Si Totoy Bato (FPJ Productions) was said to be the Filipino version of Franco Zeffirelli's The Champ (1979). If we cried for Billy Flynn (Jon Voight) and T.J. (Ricky Schroeder), we'll surely cry for Arturo "Totoy" Sanchez (Fernando Poe, Jr.) and Cecilia played by tearstimulator Julie Vega. Another film about a father's self-sacrificing love for his child was bound for success. Unfortunately, Durugin Si Totoy Bato is a far cry from The Champ. The film could have been a good one, after all, Eddie Romero wrote the screenplay while Carlo Caparas, a recognized major figure in popular culture wrote the story. Fernando Poe, Jr. using his pseudonym Ronwaldo Reyes directed the climactic fight sequence against Leo Las Cruses (Roland Dantes). The story is clear and logical. The screenplay is extremely competent, with distinct personalities being developed for the main roles. The situations are well-structured. Given the constraint that the director seems to have wanted to do an all-out action film, the screenplay is about as logical as one can get, the action sequences are all motivated and in context. There are a few standard clichés but they are insignificant in the context of the whole production.

Take the acting for instance. There are good actors in the cast. Vic Diaz (Ben), Joonee Gamboa (Mr. Paloma) and Paquito Diaz (Damian) are adequate but they are not given a chance to develop their characters. Poe's acting merely gives one facet of his character, lacking in complexity and subtlety required by the role. Charo Santos as Leonor, the wife chooses to underplay her role. This a wise decision since she thus serves as a counterpoint for the naive Poe, and starry eyed Vega. Good acting is not a matter of keeping a serious face but a matter of changing expression to display complex emotion. The exciting pace of the final fight, even the intelligent cinematography all go to waste because of the director's inability to elicit good performances from his actors and his unwillingness to cut out unnecessary shots. Only the sequence directed, and probably edited by Poe is cinematically satisfying. The film as a whole tend to be flat, over extended and purposeless. Durugin Si Totoy Bato is a rehash of old cinematic conventions, specifically of the action genre.  Ironically, however, the film's biggest drawback is not the director's fault but of its lead actor. The story demands that Totoy, a has been fighter trying to earn enough money to pay for his daughter's medication, die in the ring. There is even a funeral scene, but surprise, he comes walking in at the film's end, completely unharmed and in great spirits. No amount of explanation that the police staged his death merely to stop illegal gambling will ever justify such an illogical and self-serving ending.

Directed By: Armando A. Hererra
Story By: Carlo J. Caparas
Screenplay By: Eddie Romero
Director Of Photography: Christopher 'Jones' Lobo
Music By: Ernani Cuenco
Film Editor: Augusto Salvador
Produced By: FPJ Productions
Release Date: November 9, 1979