Facebook repost: May 18, 2017

MIGRATION AND CINEMA. 6. The Filipina as nurturing figure in the world's imagination: the nanny, domestic help, the caregiver.

Inadvertently, the massive response to the publication of Filipino American journalist, the late Alex Tizon's personal essay about his family, in particular of his lola, practically a "kasambahay" or domestic help in the US, prompted me to re-visit films that explore this modern phenomenon - mostly Filipina domestic workers working in foreign lands, a character so pervasive that it has been solely the Filipino's as an identifiable, so ethnically-specific when seen through the eyes of non-Filipino filmmakers.

Not that Filipino directors failed to dramatize the stories of the help because they do, most exemplified by Eddie Garcia's much acclaimed film, ATSAY (1978) with Superstar Nora Aunor in an iconic role which served to cement her enduring image as the oppressed, maligned and ill-treated character.

What is intriguing and not-so-surprising is the consistent characterization of the Filipina/o as a nurturing figure - be she/he a caregiver, a nanny or a domestic helper - in foreign films.

To cite a few films.

- Swedish filmmaker, Lukas Moodysson's MAMMOTH (2009): Filipina actor Marife Necesito, in a role as a nanny in New York that for me, eclipsed those of Hollywood stars Michelle Williams and Gael Garcia Bernal, that more or less, defined early on, this Filipina character on the world stage, her split-screen conversation with her son in the Philippines is simply heartbreaking;

- Israeli filmmaker, Etgar Keret's JELLYFISH (2007), with Mane-nita de la Torre as a domestic help finding difficulty in communicating with her ward, one of the three women characters whose lives depict the travails of secular life in Israel;

- Singaporean filmmaker, Anthony Chen's debut film, ILO ILO (2013), with Angeli Bayani as the nanny with whom the young boy developed an emotional relationship. Incidentally earler, another Singaporean filmmaker, Kelvin Tong had a horror film, THE MAID (2005), the Filipina domestic help/nanny (Alessandra de Rossi) in a battle between good and evil, found the truth to the murder of another Filipina domestic help in the same household.

With these, uncomfortable it may seem, can we re-set the dial and forge our own voice, create our own image?

- Mauro Feria Tumbocon Jr, Director, FACINE

58Robert Cerda, Fiel Zabat and 56 others

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• Teresa Opaon-Ali

  this is nice mau, tama ka , but remember the famous flor contemplacion? also that vilma santos and claudine movie about hongkong domestic helper i forgot the title

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    Mauro Feria Tumbocon Jr

    Just included here those films directed by a non-Filipino; hence, in the foreign imagination, what strikes is a Filipina as a domestic help.

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  • Danilo Galang

    I guess if you do one from Philippine cinema, the list will be really long. The pain and suffering of alila have been one of many staples of Philippine movie stories... from the alipin of historical dramas to Crispin and Basilio, to the OFWs of today.

    

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  • Teresa Opaon-Ali

    hahahaha oo nga

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The presidential snub of Nora Aunor as National Artist reveals not her supposed "ineligibility" but the administration's lack of accountability, hence its incapacity to govern

Nora Aunor on the cover of Philippine Graphic Magazine

(Image from NFF - Nora's Friends Forever - facebook page)



Well into a week and more since the Philippine President Benigno Aquino III's  announcement of the list of new National Artists, where its most anticipated candidate, Superstar Nora Aunor, was visibly omitted, the decision sparked public outrage - from the artistic/cultural community, the movie industry, fans and admirers, political pundits; from across all walks of life, from across generations, beyond borders - that was unprecedented in scope and impact.

Clamors for explanation from Malacanang, by National Artists Bienvenido Lumbera and F. Sionil Jose and even from the head of the National Council for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), Felipe de Leon, Jr. (NCCA and the Cultural Center of the Philippines are two agencies tasked to supervise and manage the screening and deliberations of candidates) went unheeded, only the president's functionaries invoking presidential prerogative as the reason for the president's continued silence on the matter. (De Leon has since recanted his statements, including an absurd claim it was the media that was to blame for the mess.)

Given the absence of formal statement on the reasons for Aunor deletion from the list, one can only speculate:
> Was it really a question of morals, as a lot of opinionators and tambays would suggest - Aunor's alledged lesbian affairs, her run-ins with the law for tax evasion, for her substance use -
> or was it a case of political maneuvering/manipulation - 2016 presidential contender Jejomar Binay is rumored to court Vilma Santos as his vice-presidential running mate, Santos being Aunor's most fierce professional rival; and Aquino is also planning to have her as his manito, Mar Roxas's running mate, hence so as not to antagonize Santos, he better removes Aunor from the National Artists list -
> or was it a mere case of whim, based on advice of Aquino's younger sister, Kris, who is an avowed Vilmanian - this is gaining traction since Kris Aquino's statement on the latest episode of her show, The Buzz - or her preference for the late Dolphy, based on her friendship with ZsaZsa Padilla, Dolphy's last live-in partner

Perhaps, much to the chagrin of both the establishment right and orthodox left, the incident directly inquires into how this president makes his decision, questioning his capacity for deep thinking and reflection on matters of national interest especially; it has laid bare the insensitivity of this morally-bankrupt government, so steeped in corruption and inefficiency (think: Yolanda victims, for one), while Aunor became the vessel with whom citizens expressed their frustration and desperation.

For it is no longer the burden on Aunor to prove herself, a long litany of her accomplishments in recorded music, cinema, theater, live entertainment has long been cited for her eligibility as National Artist, but I dare say as summation of her works attest to, it has been her artistic instinct and leadership that separate her from the rest, her peers before and after her, that make her singular and exemplary.

How this incident has unfolded this past week is short of historic: moves to continue promoting her legacy through discussion meetings, symposia, publications; initiatives to educate masses of people on her art and life; calls for reforms in the selection of National Artists with minimum of politicians' interference.

The Superstar lives on! Indeed.

Important to recognize that Lav Diaz's NORTE, HANGGANAN NG KASAYSAYAN/Norte, the end of history is part of his continuing critique of the Marcoses regime of plunder and murder, while representing a point in a career trajectory that saw the pursuit of a distinct film aesthetic

NORTE, HANGGANAN NG KASAYSAYAN/Norte, the end of history
250 min, Philippines, 2013
Kayan Productions, Wacky O Productions
Distributed by The Cinema Guild (US), New Wave Films (UK)
Directed by Lav Diaz
Written by Lav Diaz, Rody Vera
Stars Sid Lucero, Angeli Bayani, Archie Alemania with Angelina Kanapi. Soliman Cruz, Hazel Orencio, Mae Paner

To fully appreciate a Lav Diaz film, in this case NORTE, HANGGANAN NG KASAYSAYAN, and especially in this particular film, one has to know his nation’s history, understand his politics.

Hence, to see this work through the prism of a Dostoyevsky novel, although appropriate but convenient, may not suffice considering how the film chooses to both reveal and obscure certain aspects of history it purports to explore, at the same time presents an expansive terrain of people and events, both vital and incidental, depicting in startling detail a landscape of devastation wrought by a long history of neglect and plunder.

Sid Lucero as Fabian, the murderer in a photo still of NORTE

In a film that follows parallel stories of the murderer – a student of law (and history, as well) that is an uncanny allusion to a young Ferdinand Marcos, who was himself a student of law when indicted for murder of a political rival in his native Ilocos Norte, where the film is also set – and the aggrieved family of a poor laborer who was wrongly convicted of the said murders,  it is both very  important to recognize NORTE as part of Diaz’s continuing discourse on the Marcoses’ martial law regime, considered as the darkest period in the nation’s contemporary history, and also mark it as a film that is at a certain juncture of a career trajectory that saw a pursuit of a distinct film aesthetic not seen in Philippine cinema – long, contemplative with minimum of mediation, diegetic sound and music, among its salient attributes – a cinematic style that sadly, has alienated a mass audience and a few serious film viewers, used to popular, commercial movies.

Angeli Bayani as the wife, Eliza, walks the parched earth with her two children

in a photo still of NORTE

Archie Alemania as Joaquin, being whisked away from his worksite, wrongly convicted for murder

in a photo still of NORTE

Because finally, NORTE,  if based on the acclaim it has so far received not only in foreign film festivals but also locally, via limited theatrical screenings, either by choice or by circumstances of its production and distribution - the film, in contrast to his previous long works, is now less static, given to more lively exchange of dialogue - may point to a particular moment when a Lav Diaz film can slowly find its way to a mass audience consciousness, hence the possibility of his past works getting their larger, rightful audience is better, a time of urgency when the threat of history being revised constantly by the very evil that has made his films so vital – the return of the Marcoses to power, for one – then, it is not for naught.

                                                                           - o 0 o -

NORTE premiered at the Cannes Film Festival Un Certain Regard section to unanimous acclaim, eventually selected as one of the ten world's best films for the year 2013 by at least two influential film magazines, Film Comment in New York and Sight and Sound in the UK.

NORTE was recently selected as Best Film by the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino, the Filipino film critics group with three other awards including Best Screenplay for Lav Diaz and Rody Vera.

                                                                          - o 0 o -

SINE! says:

XO (crossover appeal): **

A+ (arthouse potential): ****

C> (cult film fav): *

H! (hometown prime): **

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Rody Vera, co-writer of NORTE

Given that the story idea for NORTE came from someone else, how did you proceed to start writing the script? In this case, what was the idea/concept given to you and how did you fashion the final story?

The initial story came from the former producer of the film. She wanted a movie based on the story of this prisoner who kept waiting and waiting for his wife to visit him, making one parol each Christmas for seven years. He was about to lose hope when suddenly, his wife arrived from the province and told him that for so long she hadn't had the chance nor the means to come to Muntinlupa to visit him. She went home with all the seven parols her husband gave her. That story was featured (daw) in one of the tv magazine docus (can't remember na.)

When Moira, Michiko and I sat down to brainstorm on the given story concept, I felt it only offered one path-- and that path was toward a tearjerker story. Parang dapat may iba pang layers. so I suggested Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. Why not juxtapose this with the story of the prisoner-- it may be a more interesting story of guilt and innocence, freedom and imprisonment. Para sa akin, it became more of juxtaposing Raskolnikov and the Book of Job. when Lav read the story pitch-- he related the Joaquin story to that of Leo Tolstoy's short story "God Sees the Truth But Waits", which may be more apt para Russian Lit na talaga ang mga peg.

When I wrote the script, lalong lumaki ang role ni Elisa. For me this became a sort of triangle where Elisa becomes some sort of fulcrum to this meditative portraits of "good" and "evil". IN the original script, Fabian stalks Elisa and, wanting to atone for his "sin" against Joaquin and his family, hires her. (IN the original kasi she was a labandera, which for me was more logical kasi that would explain her dire poverty and therefore inability to go visit her husband in Munti.) Anyway, Fabian showers her with kindness up to the point of intimacy, parang ganoon. Kung kaya Elisa is not exactly the devoted wife considering her situation. And at the same time, I wanted to show that Fabian, in trying to make things right-- destroys more lives. But Lav's rendition was no less interesting naman.

Moira loved the idea of astral travel and levitation when I suggested that Joaquin was turning into some sort of saint, literally. and it is there that he finds freedom while inside the selda. Samantalang papaliit nang papaliit ang mundo ni Fabian as we see him ostensibly "free" in the midst of the expanse of this wonderful Ilocos landscape.


If I am not mistaken, you share writing credit with Lav Diaz. How was the collaboration like; can you cite which part is entirely yours, which part is mostly his? How was it working with a director who, in most of his films, he himself is the writer?

I wrote the script and Lav rewrote it while shooting it. I gave him the draft and waited for the final dvd. There was no active collaboration, really. I think my instincts told me that Lav is an auteur-- a filmmaker who knows what he wants. and I respect that. And I don't want to quarrel with that.

Maliban na lang kung major issues na. Na wala namang nangyari malaking ganon.
Aside from the fact that I don't have the luxury of spending time for the shoot where Lav does most of his rewriting, etc-- I decided that it was better for him to do what he wants with the script. He consulted me, through Moira, about certain crucial decisions of the characters, pero overall, I stepped aside.

but let me clarify that I don't regret it. Because how the film turned out to be was more than I expected. I don't think it will be a matter of which version is better, mine or his, since 1, it's the same template and we sort of shared that same vision. and 2, I know my place in the scheme of film creation.

Maraming dinagdag na characters si Lav kung kaya lumaki din ang mundo in a way. there's Wakwak (Soliman Cruz), who replaced a gay character (original) in Muntinlupa. there's the sister of Fabian (played by Angelina (Mailes) Kanapi), and also there's Ading (the halfwit caretaker of Joaquin and Elisa's children)-- wala lahat yun sa original. and I believe they were all worthy additions to the story. there are also the teachers of Fabian (Moira and Perry).

Where we diverged actually is about Joaquin's outcome. Lav felt Joaquin should die. I felt he should not. Kasi for me, it would break the "equilibrium" between Joaquin and Fabian. Kung mamamatay si Joaquin, Fabian's evil will be meaningless. Yun yung yin-yang noon, di baga? Kaya sa ending ng film-- I think Lav intentionally made Joaquin's outcome ambiguous.


You came from theater, writing for a number of PETA productions. How did you start writing for film? Is there a difference between writing for different media forms? If there are, can you mention a few.

Malaki ang difference sa akin. Kahit ngayon I have a real hard time writing screenplays. directors still find my scripts "talky", for one. so i try to lessen the "talk" each time I get the chance. I also leanred that there are a few screenwriting "styles" out there vying for "legitimacy" so to speak-- alternative scriptwriting baga-- breaking the 3act structure or going for real time or "found story" etc. I'm no adherent to any but i use whatever I feel suits my story and how I want to tell it.

Another difference would be the obsession of films to realism. which in contemporary theater is so limiting na. Kahit naman yung brand of realism in theater won't be always successful kapag translated to film kasi nga iba ang dramatic realism at iba and cinematic realism. In short madaldal nga. And if you try to simply "transcribe" the playscript into film-- it would still be like watching a play, instead of a film.

My script for Nino (dir. by Loy Arcenas) was something like that. The cinematographer (Lee Meily) was scratching her head when she read the script. she had a big problem kasi it had six major sequences around the dinner table, where the characters were always eating. How do you shoot that??? That was my first lesson. I mean Loy and mine- kasi we were both from the theater.


How does it feel being one of the few celebrated scriptwriters at the moment? In a sense, when a film credits you as the writer, there seems to be some expectations by serious filmgoers. Have you also written for tv?

Naku, sa maniwala ka o hindi, I don't consider myself "celebrated" dyusme. I guess it's because of my sober (and realistic) attitude about a screenwriter's "place" in the film business/art field. I realized early on that if I want to be a successful film writer, it will have to be in complete awareness that the screenwriter is only in control during the scriptwriting phase. Pag shinoot na iyan at inedit na iyan-- marami nang pwedeng mangyari (filmmaker, editor, producer). Even during the scripting phase-- pwede ring mapalitan ang writer-- which happened in Ellen Marfil's Boses kung saan ipinasa sa akin ni Froi Medina ang baton.

Again I'm not venting. I'm just stating a fact. and I don't think screenwriters like should even raise a ruckus about it dahil ganun talaga ang kalakaran. Unless of course the director is more like a "collaborator". Pero kahit pa, the director/producer will have their final say. isa pa iyang kaibahan sa playwriting. kasi as a playwright, I can easily have my script remounted by another director. Sa pelikula it take years or gazillions of pesos. Kaya, yes, I have accepted wholeheartedly that film is ultimately the filmmaker's realm. and I think the earlier screenwriters accept that, the better they will understand and lessen their frustrations.

Which brings me back to being touted as "celebrated"--- wasak talaga para sa akin. In the whole scheme of things therefore, I find it slightly oxymoronic for a screenwriter to be celebrated. hahaha. but that's just me. Kunsabagay si Ricky Lee was celebrated.

I rarely write for TV. But I did. Bayan Ko by GMA News TV was a six-episode series on corruption in a small town, starring Rocco Nacino and Pen Medina. Adolf Alix directed. and also long time ago noong panahon ng TeleSine sa GMA. Mga ganun lang. Not in teleseryes.


As a scriptwriter, what do you think make for a good script? Can you cite a few films, preferably Philippine films, that have inspired you or you can consider as great?

There really is no formula, meron ba? Ako, when I don't see the "seams" and when I get absorbed in the movie, forgetting about the actor as actor, and get into the story without being able to point out, "A,there's the atuhor's note!" o "A, the intentions are too obvious." when i get carried away totally-- or kahit hindi totally, kahit na lang when I find the "flaws' forgiveable dahil it transported me into that world kahit paano-- then bravo na. If it's melodrama, it must be a good melodrama, that hinges more on real issues and logic. I don't have any preferences. I mean hindi naman lahat ng magandang film ay 4 hours long. hahaha

but yes, films that have inspired me? Ganito Kami Noon, Maynila, Milagros (Marilou Diaz-Abaya), Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos, Kubrador (Jeffrey Jeturian), Insiang… are but a few.


Immediate plans--

still writing for film and theater. Pero medyo nakakapagod na rin. Pero directing films is something that never crossed my mind. I've directed plays and doon pa lang nauubos na ang energy ko. film pa kaya? yikes.

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