Cavite (film)

Last updated
Cavite
Cavite2005.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Written by
  • Neill Dela Llana
  • Ian Gamazon
Produced by
StarringIan Gamazon
CinematographyNeill Dela Llana
Edited by
  • Neill Dela Llana
  • Ian Gamazon
Production
company
Gorilla Films
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 2005 (2005)(IFFR) [1]
  • May 26, 2006 (2006-05-26)(U.S.)
Running time
80 minutes
Countries
Languages

Cavite is a 2005 thriller film in English, Filipino and Tagalog, written and directed by Filipino American filmmakers Neill Dela Llana and Ian Gamazon which also stars them as the film's leads. An Indian film Aamir bought adaptation rights due to similarity in the story. [2]

Contents

Plot

Flying back to the Philippines to bury his father, an American man is informed by a mysterious phone caller that his mother and sister have been kidnapped and will be killed if he doesn't comply with certain demands. As he follows the phone caller's every wish, he slowly realizes that he is involved in a large conspiracy hatched by the Abu Sayyaf.

Critical reception

Cavite was met with largely positive critical reviews. The film has a score of 73% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 40 reviews with the consensus being it is "A gritty, low-budget thriller, Cavite takes us on a heart-pounding ride through the seedy Filipino underworld." [3]

Robert Koehler from Variety in his glowing review of the film said "For a guerrilla-style, no-budget Yank indie to even tackle issues of jihad terror and naive Western thinking is noteworthy in itself, but Gamazon and Dela Llana inflame the issues with a gutsy, athletic filmmaking package." [4]

Entertainment Weekly gave Cavite a B+ declaring it "one of those blistering no-budget thrillers, like Open Water or Detour, in which the film's economy of means is the trigger for its ingenuity". [5]

Kevin Crust of the Los Angeles Times said "Though the film seldom deviates from its thriller format, Gamazon and Dela Llana astutely weave in matters of political, cultural and religious importance, elevating Cavite well above mere genre." [6]

Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter praised the film's directing saying that it's "Guerilla filmmaking at its finest". [3]

Dennis Lim of Village Voice wrote in his positive review is that as "a paragon of guerrilla resourcefulness and a model citizen of the global village, Cavite is a more anxious and vivid experience than most movies with budgets literally a thousand times bigger". [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carrie-Anne Moss</span> Canadian actress (born 1967)

Carrie-Anne Moss is a Canadian actress. After early roles on television, she rose to international prominence for her role of Trinity in The Matrix series (1999–present). She has starred in Memento (2000), for which she won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female, Red Planet (2000), Chocolat (2000), Fido (2006), Snow Cake (2006), for which she won the Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, Disturbia (2007), Unthinkable (2010), Silent Hill: Revelation (2012), and Pompeii (2014). She also portrayed Jeri Hogarth in several television series produced by Marvel Television for Netflix, most notably Jessica Jones (2015–2019).

<i>Phone Booth</i> (film) 2002 thriller film

Phone Booth is a 2002 American psychological thriller film directed by Joel Schumacher, produced by David Zucker and Gil Netter, written by Larry Cohen and starring Colin Farrell, Forest Whitaker, Katie Holmes, Radha Mitchell, and Kiefer Sutherland. In the film, a malevolent hidden sniper calls a phone booth, and when a young publicist inside answers the phone, he quickly finds his life is at risk. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and was a box office hit, grossing $97 million worldwide against a production budget of $13 million.

<i>Identity</i> (2003 film) 2003 film by James Mangold

Identity is a 2003 American mystery thriller film directed by James Mangold, written by Michael Cooney, and starring John Cusack, Ray Liotta, and Amanda Peet with Alfred Molina, Clea DuVall, and Rebecca De Mornay.

<i>Red Eye</i> (2005 American film) 2005 film by directed Wes Craven

Red Eye is a 2005 American psychological thriller film directed by Wes Craven and written by Carl Ellsworth based on a story by Ellsworth and Dan Foos. The film follows a hotel manager ensnared in an assassination plot by a terrorist while aboard a red-eye flight to Miami. The film score was composed and conducted by Marco Beltrami. It was distributed by DreamWorks Pictures and was released on August 19, 2005. The film received positive reviews and was a box office success. An extended version of the film, which added previously unused footage to increase the running time, was broadcast on the ABC network several times.

<i>When a Stranger Calls</i> (2006 film) 2006 American thriller film by Simon West

When a Stranger Calls is a 2006 American psychological horror film directed by Simon West and written by Jake Wade Wall. The film stars Camilla Belle, Brian Geraghty, Katie Cassidy, Tessa Thompson and Clark Gregg. Belle plays a babysitter who starts to receive threatening phone calls from an unidentified stranger, played by both Tommy Flanagan and Lance Henriksen. It is a remake of Fred Walton's 1979 horror film of the same name, which became a cult classic for its opening 20 minutes, which this remake extends to a feature-length film.

The 21st Independent Spirit Awards, honoring the best in independent filmmaking for 2005, were announced on March 4, 2006. It was hosted by Sarah Silverman.

Guerrilla filmmaking refers to a form of independent filmmaking characterized by ultra-low micro budgets, skeleton crews, and limited props using whatever resources, locations and equipment is available. The genre is named in reference to guerrilla warfare due to these techniques typically being used to shoot quickly in real locations without obtaining filming permits or providing any other sort of warning.

<i>Funny Ha Ha</i> 2002 American film

Funny Ha Ha is a 2002 American film written and directed by Andrew Bujalski. It has been described as the first mumblecore film. The film was shot on 16 mm film on a very low budget. It deals with the lives of people in their twenties as they try to come to terms with life after college and confront the responsibilities of adulthood, if only to put them off for as long as possible.

<i>Eagle Eye</i> 2008 film directed by D. J. Caruso

Eagle Eye is a 2008 American action-thriller film directed by D. J. Caruso and with a screenplay by John Glenn, Travis Adam Wright, Hillary Seitz and Dan McDermott from a story by McDermott. The film stars Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan and Billy Bob Thornton. It follows two strangers who must go on the run together, after receiving a mysterious phone call from an unknown woman who uses information and communications technology to track them. The film was released on September 26, 2008, and, despite mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, grossed $178.8 million worldwide against an $80 million production budget.

<i>Cell</i> (film) 2016 American film

Cell is a 2016 American science fiction horror film based on the 2006 novel of the same name by Stephen King. The film is directed by Tod Williams, produced by John Cusack, with a screenplay by King and Adam Alleca. The film stars John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, and Isabelle Fuhrman. The film was released on June 10, 2016 to video on demand, prior to a limited release scheduled for July 8, 2016. Cell is the second film adaptation of a King story to co-star Cusack and Jackson, after the 2007 film 1408. The film's story follows a New England artist struggling to reunite with his young son after a mysterious signal broadcast over the global cell phone network turns the majority of his fellow humans into mindless vicious animals.

<i>Aamir</i> (film) 2008 Indian film

Aamir is a 2008 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film written and directed by debutante Raj Kumar Gupta and produced by Ronnie Screwvala under newly spun-off UTV Spotboy, the avant-garde project arm of UTV Motion Pictures. The film stars debutante Rajeev Khandelwal as the titular Muslim doctor who upon returning to Mumbai is coerced into a terrorist conspiracy by a mysterious caller and his henchmen. Gajraj Rao voices the unknown caller.

<i>Munyurangabo</i> 2007 Rwandan drama film

Munyurangabo is a 2007 drama film directed by Lee Isaac Chung. Filmed entirely in Rwanda with local actors, it is the first narrative feature film in the Kinyarwanda language. It premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival on 24 May and won the Grand Prize at the 2007 AFI Fest. American critic Roger Ebert calls it "in every frame a beautiful and powerful film — a masterpiece."

<i>Compliance</i> (film) 2012 American film

Compliance is a 2012 American thriller film written and directed by Craig Zobel and starring Ann Dowd, Dreama Walker, Pat Healy, and Bill Camp. The plot of the movie is closely based upon an actual strip search phone call scam that took place in Mount Washington, Kentucky in 2004. In both the film and the real-life incident, a caller posing as a police officer convinced a restaurant manager and others to carry out unlawful and intrusive procedures on an innocent employee.

<i>The Call</i> (2013 film) 2013 American film

The Call is a 2013 American psychological crime thriller film directed by Brad Anderson and written by Richard D'Ovidio. The film stars Abigail Breslin as Casey Welson, a teenage girl kidnapped by a mysterious serial killer and Halle Berry as Jordan Turner, a 9-1-1 operator, still suffering emotionally from a prior failed botched 9-1-1 call, who receives Casey's call. Morris Chestnut, Michael Eklund, Michael Imperioli, and David Otunga also star. The story was originally envisioned as a television series, but D'Ovidio later rewrote it as a film. Filming began in July 2012 and spanned a period of 25 days, with all scenes being shot in California, mainly Burbank and Santa Clarita.

<i>A Good Marriage</i> (film) 2014 film by Peter Askin

A Good Marriage is a 2014 American psychological thriller film directed by Peter Askin and written by Stephen King, based on King's novella of the same name, from the 2010 collection Full Dark, No Stars. It stars Joan Allen, Anthony LaPaglia, Kristen Connolly and Stephen Lang. It was released on October 3, 2014, by Screen Media Films.

<i>Bride for Rent</i> 2014 Filipino film

Bride for Rent is a 2014 Filipino romantic comedy film directed by Mae Czarina Cruz starring Kim Chiu and Xian Lim. It is produced by Star Cinema as its opening salvo for the year. The film achieved numerous milestones: it became the second highest grossing Filipino romantic comedy movie of all-time after It Takes a Man and a Woman; the sixth highest grossing non-MMFF film after Hello, Love, Goodbye, The Hows of Us, Maid in Malacañang, The Unkabogable Praybeyt Benjamin, and It Takes a Man and a Woman; and the highest-grossing Filipino film to be released in January.

<i>Rome & Jewel</i> 2006 American film

Rome & Jewel is a 2006 American hip-hop musical film adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet set in Los Angeles that deals with interracial love. The film stars Nate Parker as Rome and Lindsey Haun as Jewel. The 2008 re-release had modest box office results and mostly negative critical commentary.

Default is a 2014 American action thriller film directed by Simón Brand and featuring David Oyelowo.

<i>When a Stranger Calls</i> (film series) American horror-thriller film franchise

The When a Stranger Calls franchise consists of American psychological-thriller installments, including the original 1979 theatrical release, its television movie sequel, and its 2006 theatrical remake, and also the 1977 short film The Sitter, which started it all. The plot centers around a teenage high school student who works as a successful babysitter, who one night is harassed with disturbing phone calls from an unknown man while she is caring for an isolated home. As she continues through the night, the calls become more threatening and she urgently seeks the help of local law enforcement, the location of the assailant is revealed to be closer than she would like; forcing the young woman to fight for her life.

References

  1. "Cavite". IFFR. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  2. ""We have taken the adaptation rights of Cavite for Aamir" – Vikas Bahl". filmciti.com. 9 May 2019. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  3. 1 2 "Cavite". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved March 25, 2014.
  4. Koehler, Robert (12 July 2005). "Review: 'Cavite'". Variety. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  5. Gleiberman, Owen. "Cavite (2006)". EW. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  6. Crust, Kevin (26 May 2006). "Smart suspense on a shoestring". L.A. Times. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  7. Lim, Dennis. "Micro-thriller a Blockbuster at Heart". Village Voice. Retrieved 25 March 2014.