Meeting the Mad Messiah: A conversation with filmmaker Celso Ad. Castillo

We’re doomed,” I told Noel as the van crawled through Saturday afternoon-long weekend traffic on Ortigas Extension. “We’re late for our interview with the Messiah of Philippine Cinema. I expect hellfire and brimstone, something out of Patayin Mo Sa Sindak Si Barbara.”

Celso Ad Castillo, rumored madman, auteur of Burlesk Queen; Pagputi ng Uwak, Pag-itim ng Tagak; Ang Pinakamagandang Hayop Sa Balat Ng Lupa; Asedillo; Patayin Mo Sa Sindak…; Nympha; Ang Alamat Ni Julian

Makabayan; Paradise Inn; Snake Sisters; and the infamous Payaso lives in his hometown of Siniloan, Laguna. This is where he receives the moviegoers who come to pay tribute  these days, young film critics who have just discovered his oeuvre.

I’ve always known of Celso Ad Castillo  I remember critics and artists yelling at each other over Burlesk Queen’s victory at the Metro Manila filmfest. It was my first inkling that Cinema is War. I’d seen some of his movies and written pompous driveling reviews in the high school newspaper, but I didn’t really get what the fuss was about until I saw Burlesk Queen two years ago. It was like a punch in the face. So when Ronald Arguelles asked me if I’d like to interview Mr. Castillo for the Cinema One Originals Catalogue my immediate reply was, “Hell, yes.”

And then we kept him waiting for three and a half hours. By the time we got to Siniloan I expected him to throw us out, but he didn’t. We had an excellent conversation. He was candid, pleasant, and utterly lucid, occasionally making pronouncements that gave us whiplash where we sat. Pronouncements like, “Nympha (the bomba movie from 1970) might yet become my Citizen Kane.”

Good thing Noel allowed himself to be dragged to the interview because he remembered to ask our subject what “Ad” means. It’s short for “Advento.”

Philippine Star: There are so many memorable images from your movies, but the two that automatically pop into our heads are Vilma Santos’s long dance near the end of Burlesk Queen, and Gloria Diaz riding that horse on the beach in Ang Pinakamagandang Hayop Sa Balat Ng Lupa (The Most Beautiful Animal on the Face of the Earth). How did you conceive these visuals and how did you shoot them?

Celso AD. Castillo: I don’t storyboard. I don’t write the scene, I create it during the actual shoot. It’s different from writing the script and having people follow it while shooting. I create the scene right there on the spot; I am at my best when confronted by the elements. I thought I was a freak until I read that many other directors work this way. I thought I was the only one.

The good thing about Gloria Diaz is that she’s a trouper; if she weren’t I would’ve had a tough time. As a trouper she was my willing victim. I just made sure she would look glamorous in the movie, I used portraiture shots to make her look really beautiful. There were scenes where I shot her between slits of bamboo to project the quality of her being stranded on the island. As if she were inside a cage.

One time, while we were waiting for nighttime, sitting on the beach, I saw a horse. It was a workhorse used for carrying copra. I remembered reading that Gloria was an equestrienne. I said to her, “Can you ride that horse?”

She said, “Yes.”

“Even without a saddle?”

“Yes.”

“Please show me.”

She got on the horse, galloped around the beach, and that was it.

I told my staff, “Don’t let the horse go, I’m using it tomorrow.”

So that image we remember wasn’t even in the script.

When it was time to shoot the climactic dance scene in Burlesk Queen, Vilma Santos didn’t want to do it. She offered to return her talent fee. I’d already set up at the theatre with 500 extras when her assistant arrived and said she wasn’t coming.

The following day I scheduled filming again. I informed William Leary who was her manager at the time. That night it was William Leary who showed up and said Vilma would return her fee.

I said, “You’re not making sense. That’s not possible. We’ll schedule this again for tomorrow night. Kung hindi pa siya dumating, pupunta ako sa bahay niya, kakaladkarin ko siya papunta dito.” (If she still doesn’t show up, I will go to her house and drag her out here.)

She showed up on the third day with a peace offering: a basket of fruit. I knew she was still afraid. I wanted her to give her best. I gave her some brandy and said, “Tell me when you’re ready.” Then I set up  my cameraman had memorized the setup by then. We did the whole final dance sequence in one night. Finished it.

Vilma Santos was amazing in Burlesk Queen. How did you get that performance out of her?

Magaling siyang artista. (She’s a brilliant actress.) Besides, we had already worked together on Tag-ulan Sa Tag-araw.

At a film festival we met a British cult movie distributor who was restoring your film, Snake Sisters. He called it “out of this world”  you even invented a language for your protagonists.

I produced Snake Sisters myself because nobody else would. Snake Sisters started as my version of Paradise. A grotesque version. Traditionally the story of Paradise is about the forbidden fruit. My characters, the three sisters, are born as snakes inside the cave.

Upon reaching the age of emancipation, they have their first menstrual period. They’re shocked, they consult their father. The father python says, “You have reached the age of puberty. You are being allowed to leave this cave and live as human beings, to appreciate the wonders of nature that God has created for Man. But there is one rule: Do not fornicate with a man, or you will become snakes once more.”

It’s the story of The Fall.

So they leave the cave, they fornicate with a man they meet on their journey, and return to the cave as snakes one by one.

We were at the location. I had the story but no script. Ganyan ako, wala ring script ang Pinakamagandang Hayop. (That’s how I work, The Most Beautiful Animal… didn’t have a script either.) My staff says, “What are the actresses going to wear?”

I said, “Well, they were born without sin or malice.” Basically, nothing. Why would they wear clothes in the cave? Bottoms, maybe, for hygienic purposes, but there is no reason for them to wear tops. It took me two days to rationalize that and decide on wardrobe.

Meanwhile the actresses were getting nervous. Finally on the third day I said, “No tops, if you’re not happy you may leave.” So that was resolved.

Next question: “What is their dialogue?” I said, “They can’t speak any established language. So I created my own language. “Ugta” is sister. Eventually we came up with a working vocabulary.

Everyone was shocked by Snake Sisters, even the Board of Censors, which banned it. Fortunately there was the Experimental Cinema of the Philippines. Snake Sisters ran for nine days at the Manila Film Center before it was pulled out because there were protests from the Catholic Women’s League, etc. Fortunately we made our money back before that.

Our indie directors have been recognized at international film festivals. Thanks to affordable digital technology anyone with an interest in cinema can now become a filmmaker. What advice can you offer aspiring filmmakers?

Do not make the mistake of thinking that digital filmmaking is one way of getting away from the mainstream  that you can simply make a movie of your own, with your own language. It’s elating that you can make your own movie with your own small camera and call yourself a director. But the real joy comes when your movie is watched by an audience. You’re not making movies for your own pleasure. Film is an art that becomes a business when it’s good.