Crosspoint, according to the dictionary, is the point at which two things cross (mostly in electricity). In a way the entire film – from plot to production—came into fruition because of significant “crosspoints” central to which is Direk Donie Orlandes.
As a first feature film by Direk Donie and High Roads Production (Rav Bracero), stars aligned as Crosspoint found its strongest anchor points in the electrifying energy of their leads: Carlo Aquino & Emmy-nominated Actor Takehiro Hira (Shogun, Monarch).
Carlo Aquino as Manuel Hidalgo
Crosspoint is the confluence of seemingly unrelated events in the lives of Manuel Hidalgo (Carlo Aquino) as a struggling washed-up actor in the Philippines, and Shigeru Yamaguchi (Takehiro Hira) a businessman on the brink of financial ruin. Their lives intertwine when Manuel in desperation to alleviate his financial predicament especially as his wife is about to give birth to their first child, decided to travel to Japan to seek better fortunes in the entertainment business.
While a 90’s matinee idol in the Philippines, Manuel has been losing roles to newer faces in the industry – something that Carlo Aquino know too well. “In a way, I am Manuel Hildago”, as Carlo reflects on his 30-year career along its ups and downs.
What Crosspoint offers is a very different movie experience especially for a film that’s lead by Pinoy casts and crew members. Direk Donie Orlandes having lived most of his adult life in Tokyo, Japan, understood the nuances of migrant workers trying their luck in hopes of a better future in a foreign country. While most Pinoy-produced films that are shot on foreign soil tend to overtly romanticize the splendor of the place, Direk Donie along with the writers and producers made it a point to show the grittier side of things – places that may not be as openly accessible for your everyday tourist.
Seedy small-time host bars (not the ones that we see in SEGA’s Yakuza Series) help convey the dreariness and desperation that Manuel had to endure to bring some sizeable money back home. The writers weren’t shy to note that this is an illegal operation as Manuel flew into Japan with a tourist visa.
“I’d like to tell stories that are true. Crosspoint while entirely fiction is heavily inspired by actual events from people that I came to know in my many years in Japan”, Direk Donie muses during the press con that happened right after the red carpet premier last October 10, 2024 at the Gateway Cineplex.
Misfortune upon misfortune befalls Manuel in Japan which ultimate lead to a chance meeting with Takehiro Hira’s character, Shigeru, in an Izakaya somewhere in Nagano. But Shigeru has problems of his own: a teenage daughter (played by rising Star Magic talent Kei Kurosawa) that wants to pursue a music degree, and a business about to foreclose. Shigeru himself is at his wits end when Manuel unknowingly stumbles on a solution in the form of Sho Ikushima’s creepy portrayal of a serial killer on the run, Tatsuya Aso.
Sho Ikushima as Tatsuya Aso
Earlier in the day Manuel inexplicitly had an interaction with Tatsuya when he asked for the nearest pay phone. Upon learning this news, Shigeru suggested that they try to capture the fugitive and collect the 10-Million Yen bounty. A seemingly simple solution – except when all hell breaks loose during the capture.
Crosspoint while having a relatively simple story plot takes into account so much reverence to the individual backstories of the characters and their motivations. While marketed as an action-packed thriller, Crosspoint is more akin to a slow-burn thriller than having big action sequences from the get-go.
In fact, the entire first act leading to the second act hardly had a lot of heavy action sequences. There are a couple of chase scenes that I utterly adore (like the one they had in freakin’ Akihabara), but for the most part, a lot of the intense action is reserved for the final confrontation between Shigeru, Manuel, and Tatsuya – and thank God for that!
A moody Kei Kurosawa as Mayuko Yamaguchi
Crosspoint works because the film took its time slowly introducing us Manuel and Shigeru’s characters, as well as the world the two live in, and how this will clash with each other towards the end of the film. Unlike with standard Pinoy movie formulas, Crosspoint wasn’t rushing through expositions and successfully made us care about the protagonists. Every rejection, every setback made us sympathize with the main characters further. In a way, while watching, we are all Manuel Hidalgos.
There was one scene in particular that masterfully showcases this. Manuel, after evading immigration officers in Tokyo lands in Nagano to lay low after being advised by good friend Alvin (Ian De Leon) to seek out one of his contacts. With very little funds left, we see Carlo Aquino drag a piece of luggage across a very cold rural Japan.
It’s a pretty long sequence with very little dialogue but we feel each exasperated grunt from Manuel as fatigue and desperation set in. These character build-ups from both Carlo Aquino’s character and Takehiro Hira come to an explosive third act which makes the action sequences even more palpable.
While Takehiro Hira may find more action sequences in Shogun or Monarch, Carlo Aquino hasn’t portrayed many characters with this much physicality. The sequences are also almost shot in very tight spaces which means more precision has to be taken into consideration to prevent injury.
Part Art-House, Part Western Miniseries
There’s a certain quality in Crosspoint that’s hard to ignore – for the most part, it looks and feels like a foreign production even if it’s inherently majority Pinoy. This is thanks to the vision of Direk Donie who revealed that initially the idea is to create Crosspoint as an art-house film but ultimately made it much more commercially accessible.
In a press conference after the premier, Direk Donie revealed that initially he was toying with the idea of just telling Miguel Hidalgo’s side or Shigeru Yamaguchi’s side. It wasn’t until he saw news of a Japanese serial killer did he connect the two story points together. See? Crosspoint!
Cast and Crew of Crosspoint at the Red Carpet Premier (sadly Takehiro Hira can’t make it).
Part of the magic of the film is the cinematography as well. This is also the first feature-length movie of Hans Bobanovits and we’re loving each frame from the film. Mix use of long shots and over the shoulder adds to the dynamic visual story-telling of the film. And while there are scenes that are particularly dark, all of it was intentional to convey either the general mood of the characters or the dreary setting of the place.
Nuanced shots are included to give credence to the characters and their behavior. Heck, even the simple shot of Mayuko Yamaguchi (Kei Kurosawa) preparing a bath after a long day was shot so beautifully it reminded me of the bathtub scene from Perfect Blue. It’s these little details that elevate this film worthy of a global release.
A liberatingly fresh take on Pinoy Filmmaking
Dindo Arroyo plays Frank Hildago (Father of Manuel) while Sarah Jane Abad plays Melanie Hidalgo (Manuel’s wife).
Is Crosspoint a perfect film? Far from it, but it is a well-constructed piece of entertainment that you’ll end up leaving the cinema with a warm fuzzy feeling that we made a film that’s worthy of a global audience. The actors all brought their A-game even if they only have 1-2 sequences.
Case in point, Dindo Arroyo who plays Frank Hidalgo, Manuel’s father, only had 2 sequences in the film but made it a point to make his presence felt within those short sequences. And it’s not just the veteran actors that were putting in the work.
Kei Kurosawa revealed to us that she took a year’s worth of Japanese refresher course and a month of accent coaching to get her lines right as she has to play a Japanese-American teenager that’s somehow fluent in Japanese as well. Well, those lessons paid off because she sounded like a native speaker throughout the film. No easy feat considering Kei, while may know a bit of Japanese, isn’t a native Japanese speaker. Couple the fact that majority of her scene partner is Takehiro Hira. Safe to say, she was able to hold her own against both Hira-san and Carlo Aquino.
What I particularly love about the film is that you can feel everyone’s dedication to the craft. To borrow a local colloquial, walang tapon eh (nothing’s wasted). Everybody pulled their weight and it’s properly expressed in the finished product.
For a first feature film from a new studio, these guys came out swinging wildly and yes, it’s a definite hit.
Catch Crosspoint in theaters this October 16, 2024.