Lav Diaz’s scary Philippine scenario

Three weeks ago, I saw Lav Diaz and other talented new directors (including Jeffrey Jeturian) on Ces Oreña-Drilon’s Pipol show on ABS-CBN and I almost fell off my seat when I heard direk Lav lash out at the organizers of the Metro Manila Filmfest last December. The topic was direk Lav’s five-hour-long made-in-USA movie Batang West Side which didn’t make it to that Metrofest, presumably because of its unusual length that cuts down the screening hours and therefore redounds to loss of revenue especially on the part of the theater owners.

"I want to make it clear," direk Lav said, his face in extreme close-up with his long hair framing it, "that the Metro Manila Filmfest turned down Batang West Side… That festival of idiots!"

That harsh and definitely hurting remark came unexpected, I suppose, and it must have hurt and offended Tikoy Aguiluz (whose film Tatarin was one of the seven entries in the Metrofest) more than it did any or all of the six other directors because it was Tikoy who fought hard to include Batang West Side as an entry in CineManila 2001, held late last year, with Tikoy himself as organizer. In fact, the four lead actors of the movie romped off with the Best Actor honors.

There and then, even before Pipol wound up, I concluded that direk Lav is the new "enfant terrible" of Philippine Movies, replacing direk Celso Ad. Castillo who also touted himself as "the messiah of Philippine Movies," swearing, like direk Celso did, to "revolutionize" the local movie industry so it can make significant inroads into the international market.

If direk Lav himself were financing his films, he could easily give in to his whims and let himself fly on the wings of his "art," without having a producer breath over his shoulder to remind him that, wait a minute, negatives are getting expensive and, although it’s okay to satisfy himself and his "art," there’s also the audience’s taste to take into consideration. For how can any movie industry survive if filmmakers think only of their own ego trips and not mind their movies’ "commercial" appeal?

That’s why direk Lav should be thankful that there are producers like Tony Veloria (Batang West Side) and Regal Matriarch Mother Lily who launched his directorial career via the much-maligned Pito-Pito system (low-budget movies shot within a limited period – that is, no longer than three weeks) which produced other new and brilliant directorial talents (such as Jeffrey Jeturian who has so far done three films – Sana Pagibig Na, Pila-Balde and Tuhog).

Direk Lav made critics take note of him with his directorial "debut," Ang Kriminal ng Bo. Concepcion, followed by two others, all of which drew raves also from critics abroad. And now comes Hesus Rebolusyonaryo which paints a scary picture of the Philippines in Year 2011 (watch out, that’s only nine short years from now), such as this:

The Philippines is in ruin. Cities are decaying. Public and social services have broken down. Anarchy has replaced law and order. There is no freedom of the press. The government controls media. The country is under martial rule, a military junta rules the country with an iron hand. There is widespread unrest and dissent among the citizenry. A faction in the military has forged an alliance with the underground in the hope of toppling the dictatorship.

Cast in the title role is Mark Anthony Fernandez as a warrior, philosopher, musician and poet who defies the New Order and even a Strongman’s attempts to liquidate him after he (Mark) outlives his usefulness.

I suspect that the Hesus character is an alter ego of direk Lav who himself is a "rebolusyonaryo" in many ways (growing his hair that long is in itself a form of rebellion, isn’t it?).

Aside from Donita Rose as a deaf-mute, also starring with Mark in Hesus Rebolusyonaryo are Joel Lamangan as the colonel who at once cares for and terrorizes Mark; Ronnie Lazaro as the stone-hearted chief rebel; Orestes Ojeda as the heroic colonel who dares to fight the dictatorship; Marianne de la Riva as Donita’s mother; Lawrence Espinosa as the military junta leader; Arvin "Tado" Jimenez as the artist friend of Mark; Dido de la Paz as the brutal checkpoint officer; and Pinky Amador, Ricardo Cepeda, Richard Joson, Bart Guingona as the ill-fated revolutionary cell members.

Like the films of direk Celso at his prime, direk Lav’s Hesus Rebolusyonaryo is a film to watch. Don’t worry, it doesn’t run for five hours like Batang West Side; it’s only half of Batang West Side’s playing time. Rebolusyonaryo drags a bit in some parts but it’s an interesting film, one that warns all of us what this country might lead to if, based on direk Lav’s premise, the current political winds don’t change direction.

Hesus Rebolusyonaryo is not a horror film but it can scare you out of your wits.

Reader’s reaction

Here’s a reaction letter from a reader who hides behind the name "My Angel" (no address given in the e-mail):

I am so sad about the break-up of Joey Marquez and Alma Moreno. I thought that Alma had found a man who would stand by her through thick and thin.

Reacting to the article of Ricky Lo about someone saying Alma "got bored of the relationship," I beg to disagree.

In fairness to Alma, her live-in relationship with Rudy Fernandez was cut short when Rudy fell in love with Lorna Tolentino. Everybody already knew about Rudy’s love for Lorna, except for Alma.

With her long relationship with Dolphy that bore Vandolph, again all the people around them already knew Dolphy was courting Zsa Zsa Padilla and, in fact, Dolphy and Zsa Zsa flew to the US, leaving Alma behind not aware Zsa Zsa was with Dolphy. Dolphy made Alma believe that he still loved her.

I am not a fan of Alma. I am an admirer of women who can get up when things go wrong. Being a product of domestic violence, I wish I have the popularity, the money and strength so I can be like them.