Don Escudero's masterpiece

If they have newspapers in the world beyond (maybe they just gaze down at us to check our earthly activities), I’m sure Don Escudero would be surprised to read this piece about him.

We were never friends and I distinctly recall meeting him only once. This was in 1997. I had a meeting at the old Gene’s Bistro along Tomas Morato Avenue and on my way to the bathroom I passed by a table where sat a man who was obviously taller and bigger than ordinary Filipinos. He had a dinner companion with him, but I had to intrude because that it would have been rude if I just went past their table without me saying hello.

Although we had never been introduced to each other, I knew that was Don Escudero, a two-time Urian winner for Best Production Design for Oro, Plata, Mata in 1982 and Misteryo sa Tuwa in 1984 (sharing screen credits for both with Rodell Cruz). I was not a Manunuri member yet during his Urian wins, but I knew that was Don because the entertainment industry is small (even smaller back then — prior to indie films).

I was already doing television work that time and the introduction was easier between us because clearly I was no stalker.

Had we not been both busy that time in our respective tables, I would have loved to sit down with him for a chat and perhaps work on a friendship. In the process, I could have sapped some of the knowledge stored in his brains because I believe that friends should learn from each other. Of course, he would have gotten the shorter end of the stick because, heck, what could he have learned from me?

I have a long list of regrets in my life and a minor one would have been that missed opportunity to know Don Escudero better. I have no idea what he was like as a person, but I was familiar with his work — and I admire him for that.

Now that chance is completely gone because he passed away last July 11 after a battle with colon cancer.

But I guess it’s not too late for me to pay tribute to one of the most respected artists in Philippine cinema.

Don began as a script supervisor for Mike de Leon’s Kung Mangarap Ka’t Magising, but shifted to production design in Marilou Diaz Abaya’s Tanikala (after apprenticing with Mel Chionglo).

His work in Peque Gallaga’s Oro, Plata, Mata, however, will always be his best in my book. Maybe because I will always be the film’s biggest fan.

In my possession is an Oro, Plata, Mata bootleg copy (if it is available in video shops please tell me) that I watch over and over again not only for Gallaga’s masterful direction, but also for such divine production design.

This film has three major locations: The city home of Nena Ojeda (Liza Lorena), the hacienda of Inday Jalandoni (Fides Cuyugan-Asensio) and the nipa hut in the bowels of the forests where the characters seek refuge to get away as far as possible from Japanese soldiers.

In the opening party scene alone, the viewer sees the richness of the production design — what with all the food the affluent Filipinos in the ’40s ate spread out on dinner tables. The entire setting looks so authentic that as a viewer I feel transported back to those times.

The clothes the characters wear on screen all have the right shade to it. Maybe it was because — as Mitch Valdes later told me — the production design team went to the extent of soaking most of the garments in coffee to get that right look.

The production design work in Misteryo sa Tuwa may not have been as monumental a task compared to Oro, but it was a difficult and tricky film to work on just the same since this is set in the ’50s — in some far-flung area where a plane crashes and part of the debris is a huge amount of cash that makes life miserable for the lead characters. 

A memorable scene for me there is this part where Tony Santos brings home canned goods they find from the plane’s wreckage. There is Spam and they don’t bother to cook it (I like my Spam coated in egg and fried). Neither do they slice it. That pinkish slab of meat is simply passed around and everyone bites into it along with rice.

Like in Oro, Don (and Rodell) also saw to it that even the minutest piece of prop belonged to the time of the story’s setting. And in his every film he has nice little touches for the viewer’s delectation — like that crystal dulcera where Fides kept her candies in Oro.

Aside from production design, he also wrote scripts and eventually branched out into directing films, but as far as I know he only made one: Hindi Magbabago, which is one of my favorite romantic comedies that starred Carmina Villarroel and a pre-Bebe Gandang Hari Rustom Padilla. I found it to be a very entertaining viewing fare and it is in this film where the Manunuri finally acknowledged the talent of John Estrada (playing Carmina’s heel of a suitor) and rewarded him with an acting nomination.

It’s just too bad that Don didn’t pursue his directorial career. After all, Hindi Magbabago was both a commercial and critical success.

But that’s done with. He is gone and heaven must be an even better place now — what with its new resident prettifying everything about it with his award-winning production design.