tagal ko nang hindi nakapag-update. i hope you dont mind. then again, you cant really do anything about it. medyo busy lang ako. ive so much to tell and no time to tell (or encode). ill see if i could fit it in my sked… im usually asleep by 12 kasi… =) ciao!
batang west side
last june 28, the UP Camera as Art Movement screened Lav Diaz’s Batang West Side at the UP Film Center. They didnt know it was my birthday that day 🙂 anyway, that’s not the point of my story. we were required to write a review and this is what i came up with. this is medyo edited na from the original original. i submitted this to an independent college paper which is still waiting to be printed. anyhow, hope youlll get something out of this:
Batang West Side, clocking in at 5 hours, has sent heads reeling at the unimagined viewing experience they have to endure through Lav Diaz’s latest work, turning off people as well as captivating his would-be audience. Arguably the longest Filipino film to be made (a close second would be Oro Plata Mata at 3.5 hours), Batang West Side has sparked controversy, intrigue, and debate primarily for the necessity of its length. Will the Filipino movie-going public be ready for this? Will it be worth their while?
Personally I’ve also struggled as it challenges my very being as cinephile and artist. Interestingly enough, Lav Diaz shot this film based on his screenplay that previously won a Palanca Award for Literature. It also won most awards from the Urian (including Best Picture, Director and Actor) and in the Singapore Film Fest, thus accounts to the film’s significance as a valid work of art, hailed by both critic and colleague, regardless of the preconceived negative issues it entailed.
Batang West Side (titled West Side Avenue for international release) chronicled the investigation of the killing of a boy who was found killed on West Avenue, JC. Joel Torre (previously seen in Bayaning Third World) stars as Detective Juan Mijarez, a former military officer who unwittingly faces his own past as he delves deeper into the case. Yul Servo turns in a pleasant performance as Hanzel Harana, the title character who surfs through a series of events that leads to his own undoing. Others in the cast include Gloria Diaz as Hanzel’s mother, Priscilla Almeda as his girlfriend, Ruben Pizon as the grandfather, and Arthur Acuña as his mother’s lover.
This movie is not your typical detective movie. It could have been though, as it should be so many other things and yet, it is not. It has its funny moments and dramatic instances but the film belongs to neither genre. Lines here haven’t been defined and perhaps it’s best that it didn’t. I believe that makes the Batang West Side all the more interesting, and arresting to watch. To be categorized in genres and set expectations would have risked its potential to touch on what is imperative. Real life often dwells on the grey obscurity of morality rather than the extremes that spell what is right or what is wrong. Surely the characters in Batang West Side may have their own skeletons hidden behind oak wood cabinets but oftentimes they are just puppets or slaves to unavoidable circumstances that plague their celluloid existence. Case in point, Juan Mijarez comes off as a foil to the negative stereotype painted on Filipinos overseas. He is smart, hardworking, legally employed, and a professional in dealing with his cases. Little would we later realize that his own checkered past is not at all pretty. Even the menacing Bartolo, painted as a ruthless extortionist, exhibits a soft spot for his dog. Nothing and nobody is really as they seemed to be. That includes the film itself.
It did strike me how the film felt so alien yet so Filipino at the same time. Batang West Side played out with a sensibility uniquely Pinoy without resorting to melodrama and other such film devices that continually plague local cinema. Towards the end of the film, Batang West Side has already established itself and transcended into “art film” status (for one thing, its length made commercial distribution virtually impossible). The film also never really ends, denying us a straightforward resolution, yet rightfully so. As with real life, we are never given keys to the mysteries of the galaxy or a certainty on how we would turn out in the future. In the last frame of the film, we see a video image of Juan Mijarez looking out to West Side Avenue and possibly questioning the merits of his own existence. Resigned and broken, he turns around and walks away into the dead of night. Strangely enough, the image is charged with a determination for Mijarez’s character to survive. Novelist Josephine Hart did write once, “damaged people are dangerous, because they know they can survive.”
Is 5 hours worth it? My answer would be yes. Sitting through the screening was undoubtedly challenging but the film style and pace called for it. Lav Diaz employed a laid back approach to his shots and the natural telling of events would require unnaturally longer time frames to properly take effect. There is a certain theatricality to the staging of the scenes, employing long shots and probably influenced by André Bazin’s misé-en-scene. This particular approach worked well as it allowed the actors to take their time, and lent a more realistic and natural turnout. Even critic Noel Vera dismisses the 3-hour TV version saying that although it was impressive, the 5-hour cut would be essential to grasp the full impact of the film. Surely the length has broken film records and Batang West Side is now a milestone in Philippine Cinema, as well as a benchmark for other films to come. Batang West Side might spell out to be either a Waterworld or a Titanic in local cinema, although it seems to lean more toward the latter.
Lav Diaz has challenged much with the creation of this film. I initially questioned his authority and took it as arrogance. However, upon introspection Diaz as an artist would have as much authority to cut his film to that length as I would have artistic license to paint a sky red-green simply because I want to. Calling the shots as a genuine auteur, Diaz stands to be regarded as god, at least in the perimeter of his films. Lav Diaz battled off issues on commercialism and mass media to come up with Batang West Side, breaking out of conventions and challenging a revolution. In a released statement I read online, Diaz explored his aesthetic goals for a reawakening in local cinema. He urges the ushering in of a new age where the Philippines could be a real contender in the scene of World Cinema. Breaking through Filipino sensibilities towards Hollywood standards may be a hard thing to do but that shouldn’t stop us from trying. Lav Diaz’s own contribution to the rally of innovation and change in Philippine Cinema comes out loud and strong. I just hope it is loud enough to wake up other artists and filmmakers to do their own part too.
i just came from a 2-day, 2-night vacation in camiguin! i had great fun siempre dami beach dun. super island! we took the boat off the port of balingoan to benoni, camiguin at 3pm tuesday afternoon. we arrived yesterday thursday at 5.30 from the ginsiliban port in camiguin. we were able to swim in the ardent hot spring, magting, the sunken cemetery, white island, mantigue island and the macao cold springs. super pagtong ko karon, it hurts to move around. but that’s a small price to pay have enjoyed God’s wonderful camiguin, and swim swim swim like tomorrow would never end. ill divulge more details later.
my summer vacation’s almost over and id say it was great fun. one of the things i enjoyed the most was going to cogon market. yes, cogon market. it’s kinda like quiapo in manila, the center of all legal and illegal trade. it’s where all public transport converge, and i mean all! if you can figure out how to navigate yourself around cogon market you wouldnt get lost in cagayan de oro (well, not really – if you can figure out nazareth then youre bound to survive cagayan). all you could possibly need is found there (well almost). it’s where i get my pirated cds. and it’s where i do my ukai-ukai (i bought a pair of speedo black swimming shorts for PhP40 only). it’s where we go to eat chicken ala cart and puso when we find ourselves hungry late at night. but the one thing i recently experienced and enjoyed is eating inside the market. the scene would be your typical market with people screaming and the heat invading your sweat glands like ants invading your picnic. the smell is, well, interesting. you could smell the canals and the raw meat and the stale water, fish and its entrails, rats, people and more people, etc. etc. despite all that, youd be surprised to find really good food (besides, most of the food you eat out of cogon market is sourced there). my cuzin, manong alain, took me out for lunch at the SM (sulod sa mercado). i was to partake of the notoriously famous (famous because it’s really good, notorious because you eat it with rats the size of cats scurrying about you) humba they serve in cogon. id say it was one of the best ive had. the meat’s really tender and jellyish, the sauce is very humba, perhaps the kind of stuff borne out of dreams only. the whole scene wasnt mind-blowing but the experience was. if you non-cagayan-anons can visit us here perhaps i could take you there and have a taste of what humba should taste like. 🙂
isa pa nga storya, i enjoyed maylin’s tri-colored ribbon pasta with tuna in white sauce. i dont like carbonara mainly because it gets tiring after a short while and there’s an aftertaste. however, ninang may’s white sauce is mostly cream and there’s less oil. lami gyud kaayu! daghan lang wala naka-appreciate kay dili sanay sa white sauce. sorry nalang, ako nagenjoy… 🙂
another story worth telling is about food again. weeks ago i found myself invited to help myself of tito mackie’s (our neighbor in 29 nacalaban street) caldereta. wow, grabe, lami gyud kaayu. the meat and veggies were super tender and the slices were filling, lami kaayu hubhub. the tomato sauce was rich and thick, and spicy. i wanted to cut down my food intake but it’s hard to do that in cagayan when there’s so much good food around! hahahay…
i missed out updating you on laya’s birthday 22 days ago. ill tell more when i have the pictures developed and printed (wala man gud na koy money busa… !hint !hint)…
and another kwentong pagkaon, last sunday tita becky invited everybody to dine at their place. they were serving stuffed crabs from butuan. i never really eat crabs (because im kinda allergic to those and to isda-sa-bato) but i was all for experimenting this summer so i helped myself. lami gyud siya pero i didnt eat more than i should otherwise id be itching all night long. but still, the crabs were really good, sayang dili ko kakaon ug daghan…
again i was transported to my childhood this morning my grandfather called me and asked if i wanted to go to the beach. i couldnt refuse so i said id go and i asked when. he said right now. ok. i just woke up then so i didnt even bother changing clothes. after an hour he got to the house with my grandmother and i was “whisked” off to opol. after an hour of swimming we then started for home. daddy oncgs (that’s what we call him) invited me to lunch at their house at 238 a.velez st. and i said ok so that’s where we went. i will still wet and sticky and havent rinsed off the saltwater when we boarded the feroza. this is funny to me because he used to do that when i was young. one incident was when i was around 7 probably and it was summer. cuzin ej and paolo were in cagayan. daddy oncgs took us all to the beach one morning and we swam by the bridge at opol. after about 30 minutes probably or an hour he called us to come out of the water coz we were to go home already. wet, sticky, salty and toasted brown all over, we huddled at the back of the volkswagen looking like what the cat dragged in from the rain. i didnt think my summer this year would be a trip to my younger years. it’s funny, in a way…
i got a text from kitty kits informing me of the new set of officers for UPCYM this coming school year. i would like to congratulate the newly elected set of officers: bootsie (president, last year’s int.vp), josh (int.vp), ianb (ext.vp for the second straight year), ketket (sec), tintin (treas), andres (int.pro), and aris (ext.pro). kitty kits was texting me and wanted to nominate me for president. i begged off saying i was too old to be president… again. 🙂 i dont think i have the strength anymore to lead the group. anyhow i know the new group will do a better job so i wish them all the blessings God would pour down on this group. bootsie, you have my support and please, if you need help ask ask.
it’s just 17 minutes after midnight so technically it’s laya’s birthday already. mamati and clapton are still in the kitchen cooking and preparing for her birthday later at 3pm. laya’s already sleeping but i believe she’s in my bed so i cant just sleep yet. later in the afternoon would be another party for her and the next day would be another year for laya to enjoy. i pray she grows up all healthy and lively and in God’s care. she’s quite a sunbeam you know, like tita an when she was younger. just hours ago laya was crying and i interrupted her. i asked her to sing that song from shrek and with tears still falling from her beautiful eyes she lalala’d the melody of princess fiona’s song. you cant help but fall in love with this kid. 🙂 happy birthday laya girl, God bless you!
avocado shake
my sister’s business with selling shakes is doing pretty good. she’s already expanded her usual fare of flavors from just mango to cantaloupe, watermelon and avocado. im particularly excited about the avocado shake. as i explained to maam yen, my sister’s business partner, avocado shakes bring me back to my childhood. you see, my dad used to buy lots of avocados when we were younger and in the evenings before he headed off to sleep he’d be whipping up shakes. and we’d be there watching him do it while in our pajamas. the avocados would be light green and all creamy and cool and all so wonderful. my first glass this morning this summer this year was also light green and creamy and cool and all so very wonderful it brought me back to my childhood. drink up!
laya upcoming
it’s almost the end of the month. by the 2nd it’s gonna be my niece laya’s birthday. hurray! she’s really big now and she calls me ben and she always looks for her stuffed doggie, a-aw. it’s fun she’s still grown up and you could talk her and it’s great on the other hand that she’s still such a baby that you just cant stop taking her in your arms and hug her and kiss her and all. 🙂
batangas trip
i wasnt able to share that during this year’s holy week i went to batangas. true im kinda guilty for not staying at home and going to the week’s services but, well, i cant justify that. anyhow i enjoyed the short vacation in batangas. i was with ronnie, gemini, macb, jeh, viejay and we all stayed with ken and his sister may at their batangas hideaway. may’s friends were also with us. while they had fun playing volleyball i had fun swimming. it was then that i realized i loved the ocean. i would snorkel and skin dive and from the depths id look up and see the surface all blue and bright. it’s a really spectacular view from way down there and it enriched the whole experience for me and i couldnt thank God enough. we’d all swim way up to moonrise and we’d have this really fantastic view of the moon, full and bright, above the silhouetted tree line and its light, brightly reflected on the waters. on the other side of the scene is the sky still washed with the sun setting and our shadowed forms would be framed with orange and purple and red. it was a great so-called kodak moment but i was more thrilled to be involved in the whole production of God’s greatness than be detached from it and play the photographer’s role. and somehow, it really didnt matter to me that i just missed one great photo opportunity because the image captured in my memory and the experience at hand is far better than on printed 4Rs.
last note on the batangas trip, it was one of those missed photo opportunities. macb and i were swimming early that black saturday morning and all the fish were out to feed on planktons. it was very exciting to be there, the sea was so alive and so real and to realize that we were practically living out a page of national geographic magazine! anyhow the medium suddenly changed to television and i was on discovery’s shark week for indeed, that very morning i saw my first shark up close and personal! it wasnt that big, about 2 or 3 feet long but it was a shark and it was real. i was really thrilled by that, i knew it wouldnt hurt me because sharks are territorial animals but their first instinct was to stay out of trouble. anyway, it was about 2 or 3 meters away from me before i lost sight of it. later on it was about 10 meters far from me. when i saw it the first we were still in waist deep waters. imagine that! i named him ramon (spanish exaggerated, you have to roll the Rs amd close on the n, like Rrrrrrramonne, kinda like in romy and michelle’s high school reunion). 🙂
i had a grand time in bohol. for 6 and a half nights, we would sleep in our cozy sleeping bags under the stars. in the morning we’d wake up drenched in the morning dew and being trampled on my early students wanting to raise h*** before the vcs actually started. just kidding, im exaggerating.
i was sick today, probably because i overworked my systems for 4 long months. i was a never-ending working machine, incapable of neither real rest nor emotions. i was haley joel osment! joke. i havent recovered yet from all the work i did during the sem up to the time we put in when i went to bohol. then again, every time i come home here in cagayan i almost always get sick. when i got here in cagayan, trabaho na pud. i helped my mom in the small eatery we have and i am presently the counter-person. it doesnt require much from me but my math skills were kinda necessary as i had to deal with money numbers. thank God my grade school arithmetic didnt failed me. tomorrow i might declare a day-off to fully recover from whatever im having right now.
today had been a good day. despite the intense heat i really had a great time. around 10 in the morning faisal alih came by the house and we went out to brother’s burger to eat their coño burgers. my friends from FA came to the house to resume work on the book we currently want to get off our hands. we did much today, and the book’s almost done except that we dont have money to have it printed. anyhow that didnt dampen my spirit today although it was still something we thought about the whole day. in the afternoon tootsie came home after getting her yearbook (she’s graduating earlier than i am — sigh) and we had a fun time looking through really great creative poses and okra-izing the really crappy ones too.
i left the house at 6 to meet up with pk and ronnie and we had a short meeting of sorts at the church. although before i left the house i cooked dinner pk, ron, and i went out to eat. butch later followed at the khas food stop where we ate. i had keema with chicken (they ran out of squid) and three cups of rice. then when we were heading for home and i was about to queue in for the katipunan jeep gemini texted me obviously wanting companionship for a lonely friday night. ron had to go to his frat’s party so gem was my date tonight. we went to gayuma and had coffee. i “unburdened” to gem all my travails in the past two weeks of work and play. later on ron caught up with us as we left the cafe. we hung out at the expresso in the strip (bad bad benjamin) and heard an earful from ronnie about my career options. now im home again, tired but still working. and still hungry. however i have to work on this graphic novel project. nevertheless im taking this break to “unburden” my baggage for tonight so that tomorrow i can fully enjoy life’s new blessings.
gracias ginoo
benjamin padero 