Kaleidoscope World tells the story of hip hop dancers Lando and Elsa (Sef Cadayona and Yassi Pressman). The two are from different worlds. Lando is a working student supporting his family. Elsa, on the other hand, grew up in the US and is staying with her congressman uncle. The two meet at an audition to get into a prestigious dance crew that’s going to compete in an international competition. The two promptly fall in love. It ought to be a simple story; just a basic framework for the tribute to the music of Francis M. But inexplicably, Kaleidoscope World mires itself in overwrought dramatic elements that have nothing to do with the music or hip-hop culture as a whole. It stretches everything out to an unbearable length, the film growing more cringeworthy with every passing second.
The trouble in this case has to do with politics, and a connection between the families of the two main characters. It involves a vague scandal that’s never fully explained, and a suicide, and a bunch of other things that have very little to do with two kids falling in love. It involves Elsa’s Tita Carmen (Alma Concepcion), who is a cartoon villain. She is living caricature so divorced from reality that it weakens the plight of the main characters. The film as a whole, while staying within a realistic milieu, seems averse to any sort of verisimilitude.
It didn’t need to be complicated. The brilliance of Francis M is that he was so straightforward, crafting these hip-hop anthems that were largely about people in this country coming together. It might be noted that the names of the characters (and the film’s climax) are taken from a song that isn’t even by Francis M. Elsa and Lando are taken from Gloc 9’s Lando, a song that only features Francis M singing the refrain. It’s a really strange choice. The song is a lot darker than what is usually associated with Francis M, and it seems to me like it’s a poor tribute to the artist.
It’s not a very good production as well. The film looks terrible from start to finish, and it sounds even worse. More than half of the dialogue is completely inaudible. This is simply unacceptable, especially when given a stage as large as the Metro Manila Film Festival. The acting is broad and cartoonish. What bits of dialogue we hear don’t sound much like anything people would actually say, and so the acting follows suit. As mentioned earlier, Alma Concepcion is basically made to play Cruella Deville. Her commitment to that idea is admirable, but it results in a completely terrible performance. Sef Cadayona and Yassi Pressman share some chemistry, but neither is up to the task of making these badly written characters feel genuine.
Kaleidoscope World stretches on for two whole hours. And it’s completely inexplicable. In all that time, it doesn’t produce anything remotely worth seeing. It isn’t able to tell much of a story. It doesn’t feel young or vibrant. The production values are well below par. And worst of all, it doesn’t really do justice to the music of the man it’s paying tribute to. It is a completely baffling experience, one that doesn’t deserve the benefit of being screened during the MMFF period. It’s two hours worth of cringing; a complete and utter embarrassment projected on screen.
My Rating:
