The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros

The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros
The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros
	Official poster
Directed by	Auraeus Solito
Written by	Michiko Yamamoto
Starring	Nathan Lopez; JR Valentin; Ping Medina
Production; companies	UFO Pictures; Cinemalaya
Distributed by	Unitel Pictures (Philippines); Star Cinema (Philippines); Peccadillo Pictures (UK); Unico Entertainment (US); Cathay-Keris Films (Singapore)
Release dates	July 13, 2005 (Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival); November 30, 2005 (Philippines (selected cinemas));
Running time	100 min.
Country	Philippines
Language	Filipino

The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros (Filipino: Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros) is a 2005 Filipino coming-of-age drama film directed by Aureaus Solito in his directorial debut, based on a screenplay by Michiko Yamamoto. Set in the slums of Manila, the film is about a gay teen who is torn between his love for a young cop and his loyalty to his family. The film stars Nathan Lopez in the titular role with JR Valentin, Soliman Cruz, Neil Ryan Sese, and Ping Medina in supporting roles.

The film premiered at the 1st Cinemalaya Film Festival in 2005 and was the official entry of the Philippines to the 79th Academy Awards.^[1]^[2]

Plot

Maxi (Nathan Lopez) is a 12-year-old effeminate gay boy who lives in the slums with his father and brothers who are petty thieves. The story primarily revolves around the conflict between his love for handsome young police officer Victor (JR Valentin), and his family's illegal livelihood. Neo-realist in orientation, the film is a tale of lost innocence and redemption amidst the poverty of Manila's slums.

Maxi behaves like a girl, wearing clips or hairband in his hair and bangles on his wrists and even wearing lipstick. He is teased by neighbors and former school friends. His sexuality is, however, fully accepted by his two brothers and by his father. One night, he is accosted by two men who attempt to molest him, but is saved by the appearance of Victor. Victor does not have a girlfriend and his sexuality is kept ambiguous. However, he does rebuff Maxi's advances. In a key event, Maxi's father, his brother Bogs, and Bogs' friends hatch a plan to teach Victor a lesson for snooping into their business. They leave him bloodied and beat up. Just as Victor saved him, it was Maxi who arrived to clean Victor's wounds and cook breakfast for him. Maxi felt sorry and felt somehow responsible for his injuries. Victor then affectionately stroked Maxi's hair and Maxi gives him a kiss on the cheek.

After Maxi's father is killed by Victor's boss which Maxi witnesses, Maxi resists Victor's attempts to renew their friendship. The closing scene shows Maxi walking past Victor who has parked by the roadside on Maxi's way to school. He ignores Victor as he passes him, hesitates momentarily as he crosses the road, then goes on his way. This last scene is a homage to the final scene of "The Third Man".

Cast

Nathan Lopez as Maximo Oliveros
Soliman Cruz as Paco Oliveros
JR Valentin as Victor Perez
Neil Ryan Sese as Boy Oliveros
Ping Medina as Bogs Oliveros
Bodjie Pascua as New Sergeant
Elmo Redrico as Sarge
Ivan Camacho as Art
Lucito Lopez as Police
Jett Desalesa as Leslie
Anastacio Cruz as Nar
Roychell Torre as Monique
Peter Antony Tumbaga as Peter
Edwin Pamanian as Isko
Rodney Luengu as Mang Axel
Claudine Najera as Janet
Rebecca Padilla as Lolet
Arnold Cruz as Onnie

Release

The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros premiered at the 1st Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival on July 13, 2005, and was released theatrically in Metro Manila on November 30, 2005. The film was screened at the 56th Berlin International Film Festival in Germany on February 11, 2006 and the 2006 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival in Spain on March 28, 2006.^[3]

Critical Reception

The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros received mostly positive reviews. V.A. Musetto of New York Post praised Solito's direction, "Preteen sexuality is a sensitive subject, but director Auraeus Solito handles it with dignity, never becoming exploitative."^[4] Critics also praised Lopez' performance. Nathan Lee of New York Times wrote "The newcomer Nathan Lopez delights as the flamboyantly gay Maxi."^[5] James Wegg of JWR described Lopez' acting as "the film's saving grace."^[6]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film currently has an approval rating of 89% based on 19 reviews.^[7] Kevin Thomas of Los Angeles Times described the film as "one of the finest Filipino film, shimmering with folkloric charm without softening its view of the harshness and injustice of a life of poverty."^[7] Ernest Hardy of L.A. Weekly wrote "One of those all-too-rare films that handle preadolescent queerness with intelligence and unflinching honesty."^[7]

Many critics categorized The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros as a neo-realist film. Keith Uhlich of Slant Magazine described the film as "a neorealist homo noir."^[8] Dennis Harvey of Variety wrote "an unusually low-key Filipino drama whose neo-realist air generally triumphs over the script's violent, fearful contrivances."^[9]

In June 2021, Slant Magazine included the film in its list of 100 Best LGBTQ Films of All Time.^[10]

Accolades

The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros received several awards and nominations. In the Philippines, the film was named Best Picture during the 2006 Gawad Urian Awards and was also named Best Filipino Film of the Decade at the 2010 Gawad Urian Awards. During the 2005 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival, the film received the Balanghai Trophy for Best Production Design for Clint Catalan. It also received a Special Jury Prize for Solito and Special Citation for Lopez.

The film also made the rounds of international film festivals.^[5] It received the Teddy Award (Feature Film) and Glass Bear-Special Mention (Feature Film) at the 56th Berlin International Film Festival. During the 2006 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival, the film received the Golden Lady Harimaguada and Lopez was named as Best Actor. The film was recipient of the Golden Zenith Award for Best Picture at the 2005 Montreal World Film Festival in Canada. The film was also given the NETPAC Award at the 2006 International Film Festival Rotterdam in the Netherlands "for the human portrayal of life on the margin and the touching performance of Nathan Lopez who plays 'Maxi.'

The film was awarded Best Picture during the 2005 imagineNative Film+Media Arts Festival in Canada and Best Film at 2005 Asian Festival of First Films in Singapore.

Awards

Year	Film Festival/Award	Award	Category/Recipient
2010	Gawad Urian Awards, Philippines	Gawad Urian Award	Best Filipino Film of the Decade
2007	Independent Spirit Awards, USA	Best Foreign Film (Nominee)
2006	Berlin International Film Festival, Germany	Glass Bear - Special Mention	Best Feature Film
	Berlin International Film Festival, Germany	Teddy Award	Best Feature Film
	Gawad Urian Awards, Philippines	Gawad Urian Award	Best Picture
	Las Palmas Film Festival, Spain	Best Actor	Nathan Lopez
	Las Palmas Film Festival, Spain	Golden Lady Harimaguada	Auraeus Solito
	International Film Festival Rotterdam, the Netherlands	NETPAC Award^[11]
2005	Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival, Philippines	Balanghai Trophy	Best Production Design (Clint Catalan)
	Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival, Philippines	Special Citation	Nathan Lopez
	Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival, Philippines	Special Jury Prize	Auraeus Solito
	Montreal World Film Festival 2005, Canada	Golden Zenith Award for Best Picture
	imagineNative Film Festival, Canada	Best Picture
	Asian Festival of 1st Films, Singapore	Best Film

References

^ Klemm, Michael D. (March 2009). "Secret Worlds". Cinema Queer.
^ "Philippines pic 'Blossoming'". Variety. September 2006.
^ "Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros Release Info". IMDb. 2005.
^ Musetto, V.A. (September 2006). "Filipino Flower". New York Post.
^ ^a ^b Lee, Nathan (September 2006). "Floating Above the Slums of Manila on a Current of Love". New York Times.
^ Wegg, James (January 2007). "The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros". JWR.
^ ^a ^b ^c "The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros". Rotten Tomatoes. 2005.
^ Uhlich, Keith (March 2006). "Review: The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros". Slant Magazine.
^ Harvey, Dennis (January 2006). "The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros". Variety.
^ "The 100 Best LGBTQ Films of All Time". Slant Magazine. June 2021.
^ "The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros". NETPAC. Retrieved 11 September 2019.

External links

[1] Klemm, Michael D. (March 2009). "Secret Worlds". Cinema Queer.

[2] "Philippines pic 'Blossoming'". Variety. September 2006.

[3] "Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros Release Info". IMDb. 2005.

[4] Musetto, V.A. (September 2006). "Filipino Flower". New York Post.

[:1-5] Lee, Nathan (September 2006). "Floating Above the Slums of Manila on a Current of Love". New York Times.

[6] Wegg, James (January 2007). "The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros". JWR.

[:0-7] "The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros". Rotten Tomatoes. 2005.

[8] Uhlich, Keith (March 2006). "Review: The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros". Slant Magazine.

[9] Harvey, Dennis (January 2006). "The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros". Variety.

[10] "The 100 Best LGBTQ Films of All Time". Slant Magazine. June 2021.

[11] "The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros". NETPAC. Retrieved 11 September 2019.

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v t e Teddy Award winners for Best LGBT Feature Film
1980s	Law of Desire (1987) The Last of England (1988) Fun Down There (1989)
1990s	Coming Out (1990) Poison (1991) Together Alone (1992) Wittgenstein (1993) Go Fish (1994) The Last Supper (1995) The Watermelon Woman (1996) All Over Me (1997) Hold You Tight (1998) Show Me Love (1999)
2000s	Water Drops on Burning Rocks (2000) Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001) Walking on Water (2002) A Thousand Clouds of Peace (2003) Wild Side (2004) A Year Without Love (2005) The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros (2006) Spider Lilies (2007) The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela (2008) Raging Sun, Raging Sky (2009)
2010s	The Kids Are All Right (2010) Absent (2011) Keep the Lights On (2012) In the Name of (2013) The Way He Looks (2014) Nasty Baby (2015) Tomcat (2016) A Fantastic Woman (2017) Hard Paint (2018) Brief Story from the Green Planet (2019)
2020s	No Hard Feelings (2020) Miguel's War (2021) Three Tidy Tigers Tied a Tie Tighter (2022) All the Colours of the World Are Between Black and White (2023) All Shall Be Well (2024)