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06/05/07
The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros (2006)
88 %
Reviews Counted: 17 Fresh: 15 Rotten:2 Average Rating: 7.2/10
Rated: 15
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins
Theatrical Release: 01-06-2007
Synopsis: Just like the flower in the opening scenes, 12-year-old Maxi is a beautiful accent in the gritty underworld on the outskirts of Manila, where he lives. Living with his outlaw father and two older brothers, Maxi dutifully infuses everything he does for them with love. From cooking and sewing to... [More]
Genre: Foreign Films
Director: Auraeus Solito
Reviews
1 - 19 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Top Critic Top CriticClick to read the article
05/31/07
Top Critic
Veering from adorable and light to bleak and tragic, Maximo Oliveros is all over the emotional map, but in a realistic way, sort of like life itself.
08/15/07
If this represents the best of Philippine cinema, I'd hate to see the worst!
08/05/07
Yet after all of the muck has been racked, the film's saving grace is the marvellously compelling naïveté and too-early reality-test of its star. Perhaps if queers were the majority there would be less senseless death and more fashion conscious citizens!
02/07/07
Okay, aside from the gay angle, this is actually a rather conventional film. Had Maxi been a girl, no one would have even thought of exporting this thing. But it isn't and it's saved by the brilliant work of young Nathen Lopez, who swishes and preens his
09/30/06
One of the finest Filipino films, shimmering with folkloric charm without softening its view of the harshness and injustice of a life of poverty.
09/28/06
Top Critic
One of those all-too-rare films that handle preadolescent queerness with intelligence and unflinching honesty.
09/28/06
Preteen sexuality is a sensitive subject, but director Auraeus Solito handles it with dignity, never becoming exploitative.
09/22/06
The newcomer Nathan Lopez delights as the flamboyantly gay Maxi, the youngest son in a family of thieves who falls in love with handsome police officer.
09/21/06
Top Critic
This debut feature by Filipino director Auraeus Solito is a neatly observed take on Manila street life.
04/19/06
Top Critic
A neorealist coming-of-age story infused with the pulse-pounding anxieties and excitement of first love.
03/29/06
A 12-year-old boy's initiation into the adult world where even those who seem virtuous are capable of giving into the enticements of money and power.
03/19/06
The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros is a lo-fi Technicolor ode to this memorable protagonist, a neorealist homo noir.
03/08/06
An unusually low-key Filipino drama whose neo-realist air generally triumphs over the script's violent, tearful contrivances.
01/27/06
Top Critic1 - 19 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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(ND/NF)-THE BLOSSOMING OF MAXIMO OLIVEROS in NYC's New Directors/New Films festival!!
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by: REEL_REVIEWER 11/28/06
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