Tessa Maria Guazon
Jingle Lang ang Pahina (Film Development Council of the Philippines)
Directed by Chuck Escasa
Engaging, well-told and tightly edited, this documentary never once sagged. Interest is sustained by the careful placement of stories and accounts by musicians, writers and Jingle Magazine publishers. The chronicle of Jingle Magazine at the heart of music, protest and art is told with erudition by someone who lived and knew the 70s and 80s. Not succumbing to nostalgia, Jingle proves as multi-faceted as the magazine it revisits. Recollections are woven in measured gravitas and light-heartedness, yet the remembrance of the oppressive Marcos regime laces the narrative with menace. Having grown straddling these two very interesting decades (now retro fashion) yet quite removed from the strides and strums of Pinoy music of the period, Jingle lang ang Pahina is instructive and revives the power of art, music, poetry and criticism when they meld in harmonious promise. A
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