Ever since Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s luxuriantly lengthy “Drive My Car” waited until after a 40-minute prologue to announce itself on screen, the late title-card drop has become a mark of the sophisticated, cine-literate art film that works to its own schedule and rulebook. But Isabel Sandoval’s new film “Moonglow” may be going for a new record, at least proportionally. The title floods the screen, in lavishly flowing script, a whopping 49 minutes into this 108-minute neo-noir, not far off the halfway mark. Such an affectation can signal a structural pivot or tonal shift, though in Sandoval’s film, it rather underlines what audiences may already be feeling: With nearly an hour on the clock, this elegantly appointed story of police skulduggery and rekindled romance in 1970s Manila doesn’t really feel like it’s got started.
Early expectations were high for “Moonglow,” the fourth feature from U.S.-based Filipino actor-writer-director Sandoval,…
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.imdb.com ’
ADVERTISEMENT
