Titel: Death of Nintendo
We are in the Philippines in the 90s not far from an active volcano. Paolo (Noel Comia Jr.) is currently sitting at his Famicom (note: Nintendo Family Computer is the Japanese name of the Nintendo Entertainment System, NES for short) playing a round of Super Mario when the earth begins to shake and eventually even the power goes out and he has to interrupt his game with cursing. Only then he goes to safety under his desk. When his overprotective mother enters the room after the tremor, she immediately criticizes Paolo’s negligence, because he left his emergency backpack by the bed. If something bad happens, he has nothing vital with him. A circumstance that leaves Paolo rather cold, though. The next day his friend Kachi (John Vincent Servilla) joins him, who, unlike Paolo, doesn’t live in wealth. Paolo proudly presents him his newest achievement, an original Zelda Cardridge, which is unpacked by both of them in absolute anticipation. One more short blow into the cardrige and off we go until the power fails again. A little frustrated the two of them go outdoors to play basketball on an appropriate court. But even this moment is clouded by a boy, whose opinion is that the two have no business here. Without further ado they lie on the floor, but they are saved from further trouble by their two friends Mimaw (Kim Chloie Oquendo) and Gilligan (Jiggerfelip Sementilla).
At the kiosk the incident is discussed and the three boys decide to get circumcised as a solution to their weakness, because according to Gilligan they become real men, get bigger and the girls would stand in line. He also knows someone from another village who will perform the circumcision for all of them. A little hesitantly the boys agree to this plan. While visiting the swimming pool Paolo meets Shiara (Elijah Alejo), with whom he falls head over heels in love. Of course, this moment doesn’t go unnoticed in the group. Of course, it’s difficult for him to talk to her directly. While the three boys have withdrawn in the dressing room to enjoy themselves in a rather manly way, Mimaw gets in contact with Shiara. The girls are talking about an old legend about a dead woman, whose abdomen was buried in the cemetery and she has been up to no good ever since. Shiara would like to get to the bottom of this, but as a girl she needs escort in the dark, but who? When the four of them are together again and vegetate a little bit on an old tennis court, Memaw turns up after some time with Shiara’s request for help, which Paolo finds very interesting, of course. But Memaw’s reluctance to tell about it didn’t come out of nowhere, because actually she would rather spend time with Paolo. Nevertheless, she decides to stand by Paolo and her friends.
Conclusion:
Death of Nintendo is a rather light fare, which shouldn’t devalue the movie at all. It’s an original idea to travel back to the 90s and bring back to life some of the things that shaped that time. The friendship between the boys and the girl is a great constellation and it’s just fun to follow the story. Larded with some humour and also a package of Filipino life culture, Death of Nintendo never gets boring at all. The only thing that bothered me sometimes was the often used 16 bit sound from the video games of that time, to make a scene look more funny.
By the way, the Q&A after the premiere was special, too, where Noel Comia Jr. was surprisingly open for his age to certain scenes. Sentences like: “That’s what all boys or men do, isn’t it?” in reference to the scene in the pool changing room, gave the audience loud positive feedback for having the courage to say it clearly and unembellished on stage.
Actors:
- Noel Comia Jr. (Paolo)
- Kim Chloie Oquendo (Mimaw)
- John Vincent Servilla (Kachi)
- Jiggerfelip Sementilla (Gilligan)
- Elijah Alejo (Shiara)
- Cayden Williams (Jimbo)
- Agot Isidro (Patricia)
- Nikki Valdez (Maribel)
- Moi Bien (Lina)
- Angelina Canapi (Shirley)
Director:
Raya Martin
Information about the film including a short film excerpt:
https://www.berlinale.de/en/programm/programm/detail.html?film_id=202004256
