They start it in the preview. When the randomly selected (I bet they are) bits of the shows are running, the narrator shouts with usually not so intelligible words. It is as if he were warning you against stepping into the cinemas. It could be interpreted to the unaccustomed spectators as follows:

"The coming Saturday and Sunday Cinema Impero and Cinema Roma will be infested with such and such kinds of shows and I dare you watch them, come and pay!"

It is not only what they say and show but also the way they say it that is appalling than appealing.

However, most of us go to watch the shows believing the narrators do not mean what they are saying. It is true that they had shown us a man slapping a woman; a girl pleading with tears in her eyes; a mighty young man relying on violence to change things; and above all, they had stated that the film is no nonsense but a lesson about life that you can learn inside the cinema-another lesson in your leisure time. None of these would deter us from believing we would have fun inside the halls.

The only positive message the preview did would be announcing that a new film was being launched. The bits of the shows might help in proving the announcement was real.

The previews are not the only ones that keep you alert. The posters play the part of it. They forecast the miseries you would be witnessing for the two hours and the money you paid. The characters stare at you with their gloomy looks. You may even sense that they regret their being inside.

One more blow to the fun: the title is frightening. It can be "The Gates of Hell" or "Coma" or "Uneasiness" or any other title that leaves you uneasy.

Having gone through all these stumbling blocks, once inside with the show, one may feel things are not as bad as they seem from outside-at least there are plenty good actors and the techniques with the cinematography are improving.

But they are not always so. Our local films are blessed with faithful followers. It is rewarding to venture in this field of art. It is perhaps the same elsewhere. But here little effort is needed to win large audience.

If it is rewarding and you have great funs to back you up, the logic that should follow is you work hard not to disappoint the large audience. The reward becomes your resource to strive for further refinement.

Last Saturday's experience was different from this logic. I had a chance of watching a young acquaintance's production. If I am not mistaken this was the fourth film he directed. However, it was not better than the previous ones. He thought of what might attract the viewers and he came up with the idea of incorporating sports in the story. His effort was shown in the film. He ended up with sport and another story going side by side with the other story having weak conflict and unconvincing resolution. There was also music to spice up the actions. But for me it was a distraction.

The young and inexperienced are the ones that are mostly venturing in this cottage film industry. Maybe it is now high time that the more serious talented artists do something before the funs get disappointed.