Name: Nothing Deep
ISBN: 9786219675109

Richard Bolisay

In his second collection of essays, Richard Bolisay speaks to personalities from Philippine cinema and shares their stories. Weaving together incisive critique and tender storytelling, Nothing Deep contains instances and other dispatches from the alleyways of Filipino film in the 2010s and offers time capsules of its joys, sorrows, and transformations. For Bolisay, the pieces collected for this book gave him opportunities "to move away from the conventional form of criticism that goes hard and feisty to see the imprints of [Philippine] cinema in a different light."

Nothing Deep

★★★★★ // “at some point, this has become a standard definition of Philippine cinema — the existence of dominant industry that welcomes all but does not necessarily include all, a delineanation disctated by political geography — and this has been accepted since no stronger alternatives have emerged.”

“it is not completely wrong to suggest that there is an uncanny parallelism between the country’s political ground and the film industry, with how filipinos are triggered by social events to take action and make art that reflects on the struggles of living in present society.”

“films have always been a tool of remembrance.”

i am so glad that a book about Philippines cinema exist, and so well-written at that. a documentation of our local film history. Richard Bolisay talks about a multitude of things: from loveteams and romance films, profiles of important actors and directors in the industry, to the past and present condition of Philippines cinema. oftentimes, i find myself in tears or overwhelmed with emotions, vicariously living through these accounts of how the people i look up to continue to do their crafts and make more art.

i have several favourite essays. but i guess my top two were “Impressions” and “Why Ricky Lee”

— in “Impressions”, Bolisay wrote a profile about Marilou Diaz-Abaya and her legacy as a female filmmaker who quite literally made films until her last breath. this one made me think of Agnès Varda in that both directors made art even if their bodies are failing them.

— in “Why Ricky Lee”, Bolisay made a case about how it is high time that Ricky Lee becomes a National Artist (this is an old article, and Ricky Lee is a National Artist now). i have alwayss been a fan, but i never realized how big of a part he is of the film industry. wrote so many classics and continues to be a part of big productions until today. this piece is also a reminder of the importance of writers in any production, when they are so often relegated to the background.

reading this essay collection made me love our own cinema and history even more. i truly cannot get over the fact that such a book like this exists.

Nothing Deep

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