THE ITALIAN DAILY, Corriere Della Serra, hailed as ?extraordinary? the performances of actresses Anita Linda, 85, and Rustica Carpio, 79, in ?Lola,? the Philippine entry to the 66th Venice International Film Festival.
Incontention.com agreed: ?[The film] is a devastating portrait of the challenges and occasional indignities of old age, beautifully played [by Anita and Rustica].?
The two lead stars of Brillante Mendoza?s latest digital movie are tickled pink. In an interview with Philippine Daily Inquirer Entertainment, Anita said, ?Who?d have imagined that I?ll have a film shown in Venice at my age??
It?s actually her second entry in Venice, considered the ?grand dame? of film fests. She was in Mike de Leon?s ?Sister Stella L.,? screened there 25 years ago.
?It?s exciting and exhilarating,? Rustica told the Inquirer. ?It was very interesting to shoot in Malabon, riding the bancas and wading through the floods.?
?That helped us get into character,? Anita explained. ?I felt my character?s suffering, and the hardship of living in a place that?s flooded all year.?
Anita and Rustica were so convincing, that the Incontention.com reviewer thought they were ?untested? actors, real-life slum dwellers.
The two laughed off the confusion. ?Direk Brillante wanted us to be as natural as possible,? Anita said. She has acted in almost 200 movies (193, according to IMDb.com) since the 1940s.
Rustica has appeared in over 50 movies ? including 15 by Ishmael Bernal, beginning with the landmark ?Nunal sa Tubig.? She said this is her first time to share the screen with Anita. ?But we were in a play in the 1970s. We work well together.?
On the set of ?Lola,? Anita said, she and Rustica talked endlessly about their experiences working with Brocka and Bernal. ?We always played supporting characters. Now we are the lead stars!?
Anita is grateful to Direk Brillante, as well as to Adolfo Alix Jr. who directed her in ?Adela? last year. ?It?s good that filmmakers still hire us though we?re in our twilight years,? she said.
?They?re such pros,? Direk Brillante said of his two stars. ?They take their craft very seriously.?
