Where the Heck is Marinduque?: The Mole Agent-One of the Best Documentary Film This Year

Planning to Visit the Philippines Soon?

There are hundreds of tourists attractions in the Philippines. But as a lover of the Island of Marinduque (Home of the Morions and Heart of the Philippines), I am indeed partial to its beauty, charm and its friendly and hospitable residents. Therefore, help me achieve my dream of seeing this island becomes a world tourist destination, by telling all your friends and relatives about this site. Welcome, to you all, new readers and faithful followers of this site! The photo above is Poctoy White Beach in Torrijos, Marinduque with beautiful and majestic Mt Malindig in the background. Some of the photos and videos on this site, I do not own. However, I have no intention on infringing your copyrights.

Wednesday, June 2, 2021

The Mole Agent-One of the Best Documentary Film This Year

I finished watching this film on Netflix a few months ago. It made me cry and I can fully identify with the story and sentiment in this film being an octogenarian myself. I highly recommend this 2021 Oscar nominated documentary to all and specially to Senior Citizens and their relatives.

Here's a short write-up from Wikipedia.

The Mole Agent (Spanish: El agente topo is a 2020 internationally co-produced documentary film directed by Maite Alberdi. It was screened at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival in the World Cinema Documentary Competition. At the 93rd Academy Awards, It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and was selected as the Chilean entry for Best International Feature Film, making the shortlist of fifteen films.

A private investigator (Rómulo) hires an elderly man (Sergio) to go undercover in a nursing home in Chile. The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on 25 January 2020. In August 2020, Gravitas Ventures acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film, and set it for a 1 September 2020, release. The film will be broadcast on PBS on 25 January 2021, as part of their POV program. It was released in the Netherlands on 10 December 2020, by Cinema Delicatessen.

Critical response

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 94% based on 51 reviews, with an average rating of 7.50/10. The critical consensus reads "Warm and funny, The Mole Agent offers audiences a poignant reminder that it's never too late to forge new connections and embark on new adventures." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 69 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Glenn Kenny of The New York Times gave the film a positive review commenting: "The film’s people are moving, and the payoff is compassionate, humane and worth heeding.". Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com rated the movie three stars out of four writing: "The documentary succeeds with its tenderness, while vividly reminding us how easily society can forget its elders.".

Awards and nominations

The Mole Agent has received several awards and nominations, the documentary was the Chilean entry for the Goya Award for Best Iberoamerican Film, achieving the nomination being the eighteenth Chilean nomination in that category since its creation and the second for Alberdi after La once was nominated in 2015. At the 93rd Academy Awards, the film made the shortlist for two categories, for Best International Feature Film becoming the third Chilean entry to make the shortlist after No and A Fantastic Woman made the shortlist and received a nomination with the latter winning, though The Mole Agent did not received a nomination for this category, it achieved one for Best Documentary Feature, the other category where it was shortlisted.

Award	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipient(s)	Result
Academy Awards	25 April 2021	Best Documentary Feature	The Mole Agent	Pending
Goya Awards	6 March 2021	Best Iberoamerican Film		Nominated
Independent Spirit Awards	22 April 2021	Best Documentary Feature		Pending
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards	February 8, 2021	Best International/Foreign Language Film		Nominated
National Board of Review	January 26, 2021	Top 5 Foreign Language Films		Won
Cinema Eye Honors	9 March 2021	Audience Choice Prize	Maite Alberdi	Nominated
		Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Score	Vincent van Warmerdam	Nominated
		the Unforgettables	Sergio Chamy	Won

Meanwhile: I just finished watching another movie, Philomena. I enjoyed this movie very much and I also recommend it. Here's the trailer!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHjt8DWo9F8

Philomena is a 2013 drama film directed by Stephen Frears, based on the 2009 book The Lost Child of Philomena Lee by journalist Martin Sixsmith. Starring Judi Dench and Steve Coogan, it tells the true story of Philomena Lee's 50-year search for her adopted son and Sixsmith's efforts to help her find him.

The film gained critical praise and received several international film awards. Coogan and Jeff Pope won Best Screenplay at the 70th Venice International Film Festival while the film was also awarded the People's Choice Award Runner-Up prize at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.

The film was nominated for four Oscars at the 86th Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress (for Dench), and Best Original Score. It was also nominated for four BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globe Awards.

Fact: My Teacher-the Octopus won the Oscar for best documentary this year. I have also seen this documentary and I really enjoyed it very much.

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ABOUT ME

I am a retired (Chemistry Team Leader from USFDA) Filipino-American who loves writing, gardening and photography. My wife (of 58 years) and I enjoy the snowbird lifestyle between the US and the Philippines. We have a small but very private beach resort( see above video) in the beautiful island of Marinduque, Philippines. I have several blog sites(ten), a personal blog, blogs about retiring in Marinduque and our beach resort and conference center-CHATEAU DU MER. I also write for www.squidoo.com now owned by HubPages.com

Marinduque: A Photogenic Province and Tourists Destination

Marinduque is a photoblogger dream. The province is endowed with unspoiled white sand beaches, pristine blue waters, fringing reefs, virgin coral reefs, coves, limestone caves, meandering rivers, mountain peaks, cascading waterfalls and streams, fabled sulfur and hot mineral springs,old churches and of course beautiful sunsets. The Internet is filled with photographs of the scenic beauty of this island not only from the local professional photographers but also from amateur photographers all over the world. The province has more than six big islands popular to beach lovers, scuba divers and snorkeling enthusiasts. It has Mt Malindig known to mountain climbers and hikers. It has Bathala and Tarug Caves popular to spelunkers and just curious seekers. In one of the eight caves of Bathala, there is a resident python, believed to be enchanted. If he shows himself when you visit the caves, it is suppose to bring you good luck.

Sunset over Tres Reyes Islands- Photo from panoramnio.com The nearest and most accessible islands from the capital town of Boac are the Tres Reyes Islands ( Islands of the Three Kings), Gaspar, Melchor and Baltazar in the town of Gasan. The local names are Laki, Pangkog and Man-nga ( see map above). These islands are located southwest of the mainland. The other three group of islands bigger in area and more populated are Polo, Maniwaya and Mongpong Islands. These are located in the Northeast part of the mainland in the town of Santa Cruz. Maniwaya's Polo Maria White Beach is being develop as an alternative to Boracay. There is a bigger island, Salamongue Island which is not as well known to the tourists and residents.. I really do not know the reason, but I believe it is not as accessible from the mainland . Moreover, it is not as developed( no electricity or running water) compared to the other islands.

One of the most popular white beach located in the mainland in the town of Torrijos is Poctoy White Beach. It is about a 70 minutes drive from downtown Boac. Poctoy White beach with Mt, Malindig as the background is the most photogenic and the most photographed scenery in the island.

Just late last year, the former Elephant Island in Lipata, Buenavista, owned privately, was renamed Bellarocca Resort Island and Spa. It has been converted to look like Santorini Island, Greece with buildings all painted in white sticking in the cliffs. From what I heard, this resort is one of the most expensive and luxurious resort in Southeast Asia. The cheapest room charges $300 per night excluding meals and other amenities. When I was in Marinduque last year, I met a few rich and famous Filipinos( businessmen, actors and actresses, TV personalities)) from Manila as well as Korean and Japanese tourists at Masiga Airport in Gasan on their way to the resort. From the resort advertisement, I know that the most expensive accommodation is a 3-bedroom villa with its own pool and jacussi charging about $ 800 per night without meals. Dong Ho, Oggie Ramos, Ferdz Decena, Allan Barredo, Sydney Snoeck and Dennis Villegas are some of the photographers that I know who have photo blogs about Marinduque. Their pictures are beautiful, unique and mesmerizing. It is worth your time to visit their photo blogs sites. Looking at their photographs of Marinduque, its Tradition and Culture will surely make you proud of the beauty of our island paradise.