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Entertainment => Film & TV Talk => Pinoy Entertainment => Topic started by: Noel_Vera on Jul 27, 2002 at 03:31 AM

Title: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Jul 27, 2002 at 03:31 AM: The thin line between genius and sanity

Noel Vera

It's easy to call Mike de Leon one of the greatest if not the greatest Filipino filmmaker who ever lived; he's done only a handful (nine features and three shorts), but every one displays an amazingly high level of technical proficiency. In terms of sound design, cinematography, and editing, his films sound and look and flow better than almost any other Filipino filmmakers'; it may be argued that De Leon has never made a bad film--that his batting average runs a near-perfect 95 or even 100%.

That said, De Leon does seem to have his blind spots. He's never done a big-budget picture before (the only one he's ever attempted, GMA Studio's "Jose Rizal," he walked away from after spending so many months and so many millions of pesos preparing). He never does explicit sex scenes, and almost never shows human sensuality in any form. He also seems to have trouble portraying women--they are either passive or impotent or almost totally absent from his films. For all of De Leon's supposed range and versatility, you could almost chart his career on what he will or will not do, as if some complex formula secretly ruled his life.

And perhaps there is. De Leon's reputation for technical perfection is both boon and bane for anyone trying to assess his films; most critics only see the surface perfection--bow to it, hang garlands upon it, burn incense and chant hosannas to its holy presence. They don't seem in any way aware of the turmoil beneath that perfect surface, a hidden turmoil the dynamic of which mars as often as strengthens his films, and is the true source of their power.

De Leon's first directed feature, "Itim" (Black, 1976) tells the story of a young woman (Charo Santos) haunted by the spirit of her dead sister. The film is full of memorable visual sequences--the séance, for example, where Santos is channeling her sister's spirit, the room spinning about as if the camera itself were possessed. Or the antiseptically white clinic where a photographer (Tommy Abuel) investigates the photographs hidden away by his father, a scene that evokes the otherworldly eerieness of Nicholas Roeg's "Don't Look Now." "Itim" is such a stylish exercise in atmosphere that you don't really notice that the story itself is actually thin, a mere investigation into a long-past mystery--the bells and whistles of a supernatural thriller (well-made they may be) taking the place of real dramatic conflict. When the final secret is discovered (involving Abuel's paralytic father, played by Mario Montenegro), retribution is swift, almost anticlimactic; we never really understand Montenegro's reasons for doing what he did, nor do we learn what Santos' and Abuel's ultimate reactions might be to the revelations.

The true interest of "Itim" is its position at the forefront of De Leon's career, representing as it does his first, faltering steps towards true mastery. He has introduced a few of the characters he will repeatedly include in his films--the malevolent father, the passive young man, the victim/prize of a heroine--but has not yet fleshed them out. He has struck a note of Gothic foreboding, but has not yet articulated the story he truly wants to tell--that comes later.

De Leon's second feature, "Kung Mangarap Ka't Magising" (Should You Dream, then Awaken, 1977) is more of a character-driven piece than "Itim," delineating a love affair between a young man (Christopher De Leon) and an older married woman (Hilda Koronel). De Leon himself disparaged the picture, calling it "the proto-Viva Film" years before Viva Studios (known for its glossy middle-class love stories) was established.

What sets the film apart is its introduction of the first true De Leon protagonist--the strangely subdued young man who has difficulty bridging the gap between people, much less the woman he desires. It's a delicate, fully formed character, as conceived by De Leon the director and played by De Leon the actor (the two are not related). Where in "Itim" De Leon seems to be showing us what he's learned about atmosphere and style, in "Kung Mangarap" he seems to be showing us what he has learned about creating rounded, complex characters and making them interact in a non-melodramatic manner.

From 1980 to 1982, De Leon did a trilogy of films. "Kakabakaba Ka Ba?" (Worried? 1980) is a comedy about a band of friends (led by, again, Christopher de Leon) chasing an audiocassette tape made out of heroin fashioned by the Japanese Yakuza; later the Chinese Mafia and ultimately the Catholic Church join the chase. The film is a mishmash of absurdist non-sequiturs and subtle in-jokes--subtitled Japanese and subtitled Chinese vie for screen space, ultimately finding themselves jumbled together; periscopes pop out of swimming pools to monitor plot developments; a nun belts out a glitzy Broadway number, lifting her habit to reveal a sexily pantyhosed thigh.

De Leon reveals a different side of himself here--the dry wit and satirist, the skeptical observer of human folly; what's missing is the emotional intensity hinted at in his two earlier works. "Kakabakaba" is a comedy, tinted slightly dark, but urbane and ultimately tasteful--not the kind of qualities you expect from De Leon. The original story was reportedly much darker, with vicious jabs at the Catholic Church; we may never learn what happened to transform that possibly more interesting project into this lighthearted, somehow insincere romp.

With "Kisapmata" (Blink of an Eye, 1981) De Leon created his masterwork. The plot bears striking similarities to "Itim"--the latter might have been an important first draft--but with a crucial difference: De Leon has freed the father figure stalking the margins of the previous film from his crippling paralysis, and allowed him to take center stage. As incarnated by Vic Silayan, he is a retired police sergeant with an unnatural stranglehold over wife (Charito Solis) and daughter (Charo Santos). His claustrophobically enclosed world is threatened when Santos finds herself pregnant, and forced to marry a young man (Jay Ilagan). Silayan attempts to extend his influence over his son-in-law, who resists; there is a confrontation...

De Leon tells what is essentially a horror story, at the heart of which is a creature all the more terrifying because he's so familiar--a garrulous, unshaven old man with a huge belly and hidden .45 caliber handgun. He could be someone you know; he could be your next-door neighbor. Along with that "neighborly" feel is the sense of utter conviction that De Leon brings to the material, to the conflict between domineering father and (yet again) passive son-in-law. It's as if De Leon knew these characters well--identifies with them intensely. The film is unsettling in the way it seems so close (because of the intensity) to the filmmaker, the same time it's so close (because of the realism) to you. As if the gap between our world and De Leon's more forbidding one is as little as, well, the blink of an eye...
Title: con't
Post by: Noel_Vera on Jul 27, 2002 at 03:32 AM: "Batch '81" (1982) sublimates the tyrant father into an all-encompassing organization, the college fraternity; for the mental torment of "Kisapmata" it substitutes the largely physical torment of fraternity pledges. This is possibly De Leon's way raising the stakes, by moving from closed family to closed fraternity, the fraternity standing in for the fascism of then-president Ferdinand Marcos' administration. De Leon does achieve scenes of intense claustrophobia, though not as intense or claustrophobic as in "Kisapmata"--it's difficult, if not impossible, to improve on an essentially perfect work. An interesting note: De Leon's now-familiar tyrannical patriarch--in the guise of one pledge's father--makes a cameo appearance, in a horrific sequence involving electrocution.

"Sister Stella L.," one of De Leon's most highly regarded works (the film came out in 1984, when Marcos' dictatorial powers were still largely intact), is also, ironically, his least characteristic. De Leon must have been trying to break new ground by focusing on a strong female lead character (Vilma Santos--as a nun, at that) and her emerging political consciousness. The end result is a film of excellent craftsmanship (taut editing, intelligent camerawork) in the service of a Pete Lacaba script, Labaa being one of the strongest voices in Philippine political cinema. It's his milieu and sensibility that shines forth, not De Leon's; the director seems to be subjugating his inimitable style here, presumably in the service of liberation theology. Interestingly, the one sequence that feels most characteristically De Leon--and for me, the moment when the film truly comes to life--is in the torture of the strike leader, played by Tony Santos Sr.

"Hindi Nahahati ang Langit" (The Heavens Indivisible, 1985) was De Leon's one bid for commercial success, an adaptation from a popular "komiks" serial; when the film was released, De Leon insisted on removing his name. It's one of the few films in Philippine cinema not to display a director's credit; it's also De Leon's one and only boxoffice hit.

Even stranger than De Leon's curious rejection of the film is the fact that the film isn't bad at all--it's actually a smart, tersely told version of a convoluted melodrama, with layers of startlingly complex emotional undertones. What makes the film truly interesting, however, is the relationship at the heart of the film, between the wealthy young man (Christopher De Leon) and his stepsister (Lorna Tolentino). They start out as childhood antagonists; when De Leon's father dies, De Leon becomes Tolentino's legal guardian. He attempts to remold Tolentino according to his image of how a young woman should behave--attempts that Tolentino resists violently. Tolentino escapes to lives her own life, but their paths eventually cross again, the tension and growing attraction between them no longer to be denied...

If De Leon sleepwalked through "Sister Stella L.," he's wide-awake here, giving the relationship between De Leon and Tolentino his characteristic touches--the shifting roles between dominator and dominated, the unnaturally close family ties, the claustrophobic intimacy between the two lead characters. That De Leon denies auteurship of the film is a real puzzle, as the film looks and feels so much like a De Leon film...

In the years since, De Leon has worked three more times--on a video feature, a comedy short set in the future, and a black-and-white feature on Philippine national hero Jose Rizal. The darkly obsessed artist glimpsed in "Itim," "Batch '81" and "Hindi Nahahati ang Langit," that stepped out fully into the light in "Kisapmata," does so one more time for "Bilanggo ng Dilm" (Prisoner of Darkness, 1987)--an adaptation of John Fowles' "The Collector," about a man who abducts women and keeps them in his isolated mansion, trying to subject them to his will. I've seen the William Wyler version starring Terence Stamp, which is a complete and far more faithful adaptation of the Fowles story. For Wyler, however, it was a job--to be fair, one that likely interested him; for De Leon, the story apparently holds deeper, more personal significance...

In the meantime..."Aliwan Paradise" (Pleasure Paradise, 1993) takes its characters from Lino Brocka's "Maynila sa Kuko ng Liwanag" (Manila in the Claws of Neon, 1975), for which De Leon had acted as producer and cameraman. The short, a segment from "Southern Winds," an omnibus collection of Asian shorts, takes the Brocka classic and projects it into the future, where he stands the premise (that people suffer from hunger and poverty) on its head (that people can live off the entertainment value of hunger and poverty). De Leon's camerawork in "Maynila" made his name as a brilliant cinematographer, perhaps one of the best in the country, and it put Brocka on the highest pedestal, as the patron saint of Philippine cinema--De Leon's merciless lampooning of film and director is a startling, and rather courageous, act of effrontery. "Bayaning Third World" (Third World Hero, 2000) explores one by one the various means of filming the life of Philippine national hero Jose Rizal, and concludes that not one of them are feasible. It's a Rizal film about the impossibility of making a Rizal film, as neat a feat of intellectual prestidigitation as anything I've seen in recent Philippine cinema, and a splendid practical joke on the Filipino people.

Judging from his recent work, De Leon seems to have exorcised his demons and is content to do clever, even brilliant, comedies; the anguished artist has given way to the urbane, sophisticated satirist. Which is fine and good, unless you happen to catch a screening of "Kisapmata," either in a retrospective or on cable, and notice how ten years later it still hasn't lost any of its power to disturb or shock--that, in fact, it's one of the greatest Filipino films ever made. Then you want to ask: "When is De Leon going to do something worth obsessing over again? When is he going to do films that matter again?"

(Longer version of article done for the Mike de Leon retrospective at Cinemanila 2002 (www.cinemanila.com.ph), August 1 to 15 at Greenbelt 2, Makati, and at the CCP).

(Comments? Email me at [email protected])
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: flyderman on Oct 22, 2002 at 07:22 PM: And before this thread closes, just let me say that Mike De Leon is my most favorite Pinoy filmmaker of all. Not that I've seen much Pinoy movies, but hey. ;D
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: Phobos on Oct 22, 2002 at 11:03 PM: Who's closing this thread? I'm not closing this thread. God knows we need more threads about Filipino films and filmmakers. I was only able to see Bayaning Third World and I loved it. If it's any indication of what he has done in the past then I'm sure it's all good.

By the way, I took the liberty of using the new Split function to what I initially thought was to copy Noel Vera's post from this thread:

Filipino films (http://www.pinoydvd.com/yabbse/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=4987)

to this one.

Unfortunately, I misunderstood the intent of the Split function. Instead of "copying" Noel's posts, I separated removed them from the original thread and moved them here. Sorry, my bad.

Since the posts are more relevant here anyway, I've decided to live with my mistakes and leave them here. If Noel wishes to re post his article in the first thread, then by all means.
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Oct 23, 2002 at 12:42 AM: If I have to post here once a month, I'll post.

Incidentally--Kisapmata, a brand new print, is in the works.

Watch for it!

American Film Institute's Film Comment Magazine did an extensive article on Mike de Leon. Their conclusion: he's brilliant, and insane. And they only saw Itim and Sister STella L.; they have yet to see Kisapmata.

YOU guys, all of you, can be bigger experts on Mike than these Film Comment people. You just have to keep eyes and ears open re: showings of his films...
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: kakabanas on Oct 23, 2002 at 01:14 AM: I never saw Sister Stella L .. but so far I did like Itim, Batch '81 and Kisapmata . I do have a copy of the the first and third one ...
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Oct 23, 2002 at 01:24 AM: You're not missing much with Sister Stella L. It's more a Pete Lacaba film than a Mike film. I prefer Hindi Nahahati ang Langit, his one and only komiks movie, and his one and only boxoffice hit.
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: Centurion Obama on Oct 23, 2002 at 01:54 AM: I would like to have a Mike de Leon Festival in Brash, if possible.
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: sungit on Oct 23, 2002 at 01:57 AM: i've been kicking myself for the longest time because i failed to catch Bayaning Third World.

i really wish we had dvd's of pinoy movies. it would make getting acquainted with filipino cinema a much much easier job. ::)
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Oct 23, 2002 at 02:07 AM: People have been falling all over Bayaning Third World without understanding it very much either, I think. Nestor Torre practically falls on his knees when you mention Mike's name. That's partly why I wrote the above article--to put all his films in perspective.
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: kakabanas on Oct 23, 2002 at 04:10 AM: Quote from: joeypogi on Oct 23, 2002 at 01:54 AM
I would like to have a Mike de Leon Festival in Brash, if possible.

Well, you own the Brash right ? You can make it happen if you want to .. ;D I'm willing to make you a copy of Itim and Kisapmata. Geez, I'll even cut out the commercials for you. ;D

8)
k
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: Centurion Obama on Oct 23, 2002 at 08:10 AM: but aren't you in the States, kakabanas?

Noel, do you think you can get access to Mike de Leon films on VHS or VCD?
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: Lex Luthor on Oct 23, 2002 at 09:00 AM: Quote from: sungit on Oct 23, 2002 at 01:57 AM
i've been kicking myself for the longest time because i failed to catch Bayaning Third World.

i really wish we had dvd's of pinoy movies. it would make getting acquainted with filipino cinema a much much easier job. ::)

if you can take the poor quality of VCD but just to satisfy your curiosity of the film, i think VCDs of Bayaning Third World have been around video stores (Astrovision, VideoCity) for quite sometime...
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Oct 23, 2002 at 02:53 PM: When or how will I ever see Batch 81?
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: kakabanas on Oct 23, 2002 at 06:22 PM: Quote from: joeypogi on Oct 23, 2002 at 08:10 AM
but aren't you in the States, kakabanas?

Is that a problem ? I can mail it to you ... or give it to friends going home this December. Either way, it's not going to be too soon though.
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: flyderman on Oct 23, 2002 at 07:14 PM: Quote from: rmn on Oct 23, 2002 at 02:53 PM
When or how will I ever see Batch 81?

I have a (relatively clear) copy of Batch '81. So if Joey finds any use for it, I'd be more than willing to lend it :)

So far, I've seen Bayaning 3rd World, Kakabakaba Ka Ba?, and Batch '81. The first two are just a shock to me-- I never realized a Pinoy could do it! Batch '81 feels inconsistent, but it's okay.

What's common between these 3 films is that the editing's just great: great timing, very snappy cuts.

BTW, Bayaning 3rd World is my most favorite Pinoy film as of now. :)
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Oct 23, 2002 at 08:51 PM: Doy del Mundo (who, I think, is his favorite scriptwriter) and Mike came out with a book (from DLSU Press) featuring the screenplay of the Rizal that they were supposed to do for GMA and the screenplay for B3W along with some production notes.

Is it true that Mike and Lino Broka had a falling out?
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: kakabanas on Oct 23, 2002 at 09:05 PM: joeypogi, I also have Kakabakaba Ka Ba .. now you "have" 4 films for your Mike de Leon mini-festival.

8)
k
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: ßartmaniac on Oct 23, 2002 at 09:30 PM: Quote from: rmn on Oct 23, 2002 at 08:51 PM
Doy del Mundo and Mike came out with a book (from DLSU Press) featuring the screenplay of the Rizal that they were supposed to do for GMA and the screenplay for B3Was well as some production notes.

Here's more info about the said book courtesy of www.dlsupress.com:

(http://www.dlsupress.com/rizal.jpg)
Rizal / Bayaning 3rd World (http://www.dlsupress.com/rizal.html)
Dalawang Dulang Pampelikula
nina Clodualdo del Mundo, Jr. at Mike de Leon

Ang kolaborasyon nina Mike De Leon at Clodualdo del Mundo, Jr. ay nagsimula noong 1974 sa pelikulang Maynila... Sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag. Si Mike ang prodyuser at direktor ng potograpiya at si Doy ang sumulat ng screenplay na dinirihe ni Lino Brocka. Pagkatapos ng pelikulang iyon, nagsama uli sina Mike at Doy sa ilan pang pelikula -- Itim, Kakabakaba Ka Ba?, Batch 81, Kisapmata, Aliwan Paradise -- at ilan pang proyektong hindi naisapelikula. Noong 1996, ginawa nila ang screenplay ng Rizal para sa Cinemax (ngayo'y GMA Films) na gagampanan sana ni Aga Muhlach bilang Jose Rizal. Dahil sa samut-saring problema, ang proyekto ay hindi naging pelikula. Noong 1997, naisip nilang gumawa ng kanilang sariling pelikula tungkol sa pambansang bayani. Pagkaraan ng mahigit na dalawang taon, pinalabas ang Bayaning 3rd World. Sa tomong ito, mababasa ninyo ang dalawang screenplay na maituturing nating pinakamahalagang obra (sa kasalukuyan) nina Mike De Leon at Doy del Mundo.
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: keng001 on Oct 24, 2002 at 02:14 PM: Quote from: Noel_Vera on Oct 23, 2002 at 12:42 AM

American Film Institute's Film Comment Magazine did an extensive article on Mike de Leon. Their conclusion: he's brilliant, and insane. And they only saw Itim and Sister STella L.; they have yet to see Kisapmata.

Noel, would you know which issue of Film Comment (month/year) did you see the article? I've seen that magazine at our city library. Hopefully its a recent issue.
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Oct 24, 2002 at 06:45 PM: I have to ask the durn owner of the durn issue.

Then again, I think it's available online...
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: quark on Nov 07, 2002 at 12:12 PM: oy joey, i have pretty good copies of itim and kisapmata. actually, we should ask erwin romulo since he's pretty close to direk mike and should be able to have clear copies of any film you want. i think he's also helping score the dvd release of kisap. exciting!

mike de leon is my absolute favorite filipino director and batch 81 is part of my top 20 films of all time :) i don't have a copy so i always obsessively watch it every time it's in a film festival. it's just so craping mindblowingly brilliant. coming in at a close second is kisapmata, the sort of film that just leaves you stunned after watching it because you don't know what to make of it. it's just wonderful that mike de leon is our one and only true feature film artist (and lav just might be the next!) who's never compromised. i hope he makes it to national artist this year.
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Nov 07, 2002 at 08:58 PM: I have ambivalent feelings towards Mike's films, but yes, he deserves the national artist award more than any filmmaker at present. Except one, maybe...
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: quark on Nov 07, 2002 at 11:46 PM: yeah yeah noel, mario o hara :) hehehe. but honestly, i think the fact that mike has never done an explicit sex scene is a sign of strength rather than weakness... especially when you're a filmmaker in the philippines. pretty much every director from lino brocka to laurice guillen and even marilou diaz-abaya have done "bold" scenes, right? i think mike de leon's not doing sex scenes has more to do with him being uncompromising rather than afraid of sensuality.
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: sungit on Nov 08, 2002 at 01:37 PM: ok that's it. joey i demand a mike de leon filmfest. educate me. i know nothing about pinoy films.
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Nov 08, 2002 at 03:24 PM: I think a VHS copy of Batch '81 can be had from the archives division of Sampaguita Pictures, Inc.

Check out: http://www.geocities.com/sampaguita_pictures/p3.html
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Nov 09, 2002 at 12:52 PM: Quark, I really suspect Mike de Leon is a virgin. Ask Cesar Hernando. No, forget it, Cesar won't confirm that.

The guy has no social skills. He literally doesn't know how to deal with people, much less have sex with them.

And I argue this isn't necessarily a weakness. Emily Bronte kept pretty much to her own world, and wrote Wuthering Heights. Alfred Hitchcock is terrified of sex (look at his films) and that terror is what makes his films great. This is the same with Mike, I think--his films are full, not of sex, but of a FEAR of sex and all it represents--intimacy, closeness with an Other, love. The height, width, and depth of Mike's aversion/obsession on the subject is really a reverse tribute to its power to disturb.

O'Hara encompasses EVERYTHING--sex, sadism, cruelty, compassion, tenderness, intellect, imagination, magic, spirituality, anger, humor and irony (of a dark kind). Even the point of view of women he can successfully evoke (see Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos)--he's got enormous powers of empathy. I'd call him the diametrical opposite of Mike, only he's got few social skills himself.

The difference between Mario and Mike is that Mike is a genius (and madman) who shut himself off in his own world. Mario is a genius (or a madman) not exactly engaged with the world, but endlessly observing it, every day, from every angle. He's literally the only filmmaker I know who doesn't use a car--takes jeeps, buses, but his prime method of transport is on foot. Wals from Malate to Binondo sometimes, via Roxas Boulevard, and back.
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Nov 09, 2002 at 02:45 PM: Quote from: Noel_Vera on Nov 09, 2002 at 12:52 PM
Quark, I really suspect Mike de Leon is a virgin. Ask Cesar Hernando. No, forget it, Cesar won't confirm that.

The guy has no social skills. He literally doesn't know how to deal with people, much less have sex with them.

Wow! Errr.. Perhaps we should ask Doy del Mundo?
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Nov 11, 2002 at 09:44 PM: No comment on Doy del M's sexual preferences... ;D
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Dec 15, 2002 at 05:45 AM: By way of special request, am posting this article I wrote on Bayaning Third World...which I have not posted on this forum, apparently...

This is not a Rizal film

Noel Vera

Bayaning Third World (Third World Hero) is Mike De Leons long-awaited film on Jose Rizal. It took over three years to complete, beginning way back in 1996 with the announcement by GMA Films of a massive, P70 million epic starring boy-toy Aga Muhlach as Rizal. Then Muhlach left, reportedly because De Leon was taking so long; eventually De Leon himself abandoned the production, to announce that he was making his own, independently produced film. No less than three other Rizal films were initiated and finished while De Leons picture maturated: Tikoy Aguiluzs Rizal sa Dapitan (Rizal in Dapitan); Marilou Diaz Abayas Jose Rizal (ironically, the same production GMA Films intended De Leon to direct, rumored to have an even bigger--P120 million--budget); and Mario OHaras Sisa. The picture was invited--sight unseen, mind you--to the Directors Fortnight at Cannes International Film Festival (which it failed to attend). There were long periods when no one knew what was happening--the project was shrouded in a secrecy as tight and mysterious, it seemed, as Kubricks own latest (and last) work, Eyes Wide Shut.

I finally saw the finished product last week, and can personally testify to the atmosphere of electric anticipation that hovered over the audience. Some eighty minutes later, when the films end credits began to roll, an image and six words popped into my mind. The image: Magrittes famous painting about a pipe, and its enigmatic label. The six words: this is not a Rizal movie.

Or, its not a Rizal film any more than Magrittes pipe is not a pipe.

The film follows two filmmakers (played by Ricky Davao and Cris Villanueva) as they attempt to do pre-production research on a film on Rizal. The two get into endless, impassioned debates; they propose all sorts of absurdities (Rizal Underarm Spray), and make witty observations (Rizal on a devalued one-peso coin is still number one). They go out and interview people from Rizals life--his brother Paciano (Joonee Gamboa), his sisters Trining (Rio Locsin) and Narcisa (Cherry Pie Picache), his mother, Dona Lolay (Daria Ramirez), his (reputed) confessor, Father Balaguer (a hilariously villainous Ed Rocha), and his (reputed) wife, Josephine Bracken (Lara Fabregas).

Their conclusion (people who wish to stay surprised may want to skip to the next paragraph--though doing so may ultimately prove pointless) after much hemming and hawing basically boils down to this: Rizals life is unfilmable. Its the long, shapeless and rather inactive life of an intellectual bum (something I concluded myself long ago, when I was involved in writing the screenplay of Rizal sa Dapitan). De Leon (with his scriptwriter and co-director, Clodualdo Del Mundo) go so far as to allow that many interpretations can be made from Rizals life--roughly translated, to each his own Rizal. But significantly, the film lacks certain basic elements of traditional narrative film: there is no dramatic story, and no recognizable dramatic characters--no one who is changed or transformed during the course of the film (the two filmmakers, who get star billing, are named filmmakers 1 and 2). Significantly, the last shot of the film shows filmmakers 1 and 2 (stand-ins for De Leon and Del Mundo?) throwing up their hands and walking away from the project. This is a Rizal movie about the impossibility of making a Rizal movie. In short, this is NOT a Rizal movie!

Possibly the single most brilliant director of the Philippines (alive or dead) and his closest and best scriptwriter have played a joke on the long-expectant--three years in the making, not to mention the waiting--Philippine public. And what a joke! Its long, multi-layered, and elaborate; its richly allusive--drawing not just on practically everything we know about Philippine history and our national hero, but also on everything Mike De Leon knows (which is considerable) about film and filmmaking. And the punchline works like a time bomb: you may find yourself laughing your head off hours after seeing the film, or--thinking about it a few days later-- chuckling irrepressibly. Or you may find yourself not laughing at all--to each his own reaction to the film.

The film is simply stuffed with jokes and references. The films structure, for example, models itself on Orson Welles Citizen Kane: the first twenty or so minutes is a fast and funny recapitulation of Rizals life and significance (a la Kanes life, recapitulated in The March of Time). Later the interviews begin, with the different people who knew Kane--I mean, Rizal--bringing up and debating various issues. One shot, of a Filipino declaiming in front of a huge banner, recalls a similar one in Welles film, where Kane is giving a speech; several times we catch the filmmakers poring over a huge blow-up of Rizals execution, a direct quote from Michaelangelo Antonionis film Blow Up. De Leons favorite German Shepherd makes several appearances in the film--gently mocking Alfred Hitchcocks tendency to make personal appearances in his films.

Other jokes: Cris Villanueva, talking to different people and concluding that their lifes story would make a better film than Rizals. Father Balaguers testimony of Rizals last days in prison, which De Leon mercilessly lampoons in all kinds of subtle ways (having read part of Balaguers testimony, I can say that De Leon manages to make fun of him without once exaggerating him). My personal favorite, however, is the moment when the filmmakers finally confront Rizal himself (played by Joel Torre): his replies to the filmmakers questions prevaricate hilariously, as befits a true student of Jesuits (What did you do the night before your execution? The Spaniards did what they had to do; I did what I had to do).

Some reservations: despite the astonishingly wide range covered by this relatively short film, De Leon fails to bring up the matter of money--the difficulty of funding a Rizal film, or any film for that matter (De Leon in the years after his GMA debacle should be more than familiar with the subject). Lara Fabregas ruins the fascinatingly unreliable character of Josephine Bracken (did she marry Rizal, or didnt she?) with a cartoon English accent straight out of Repertory Philippines--I mean, neyewbahdie tahwks loyk thaht! And De Leon blunts the sharpened point of his joke with a voiceover statement at the very end of the film--to sit through all that ambivalence and ambiguity, only to have everything cleared up at the very last second! Del Mundo admits, though, that that final voiceover is still tentative, and may be removed during the films final sound remixing (heres to hoping they do).

Where does De Leons film stand in comparison with other recent Rizal flicks? I cant comment regarding Rizal sa Dapitan for obvious reasons; for equally obvious reasons, though, I think Bayaning Third World is a far superior film to the monumental Jose Rizal. The first in its eighty short minutes covers more of Rizals life than the second does in three hours, with more clarity and historical accuracy. It gives proper--that is, primal--importance to the question of Rizals retraction, framing the issue thus: if Rizal didnt retract, then he stuck to his principles and died a hero (and a heretic). If Rizal DID retract and returned to the Church, then he went against everything he had written and said and died a coward (or, as I would put it, a recognizably human being). Jose Rizals implication that Rizal retracted and is still somehow a hero is, as De Leons film so eloquently points out (without once directly pointing it out), a complete contradiction in terms.

I cant quite call De Leons film superior to OHaras Sisa; both recognize the difficulty of filming the life of Rizal, both use diametrically opposite approaches--Bayaning Third World filling up the gaps with wit and intellectual speculation, Sisa with imagination and heart. Bayaning Third World displays remarkable ingenuity in trying to make what should have been a dry historical debate lively and involving; Sisa displays equally remarkable ingenuity in trying to make a coherent and even moving historical drama out of an impossibly small P2.5 million ($25,000) budget, shot in ten days (Bayaning Third World, though I cant be sure, must cost at least P5 million or more, shot for over a year). Calling one better than the other is probably a matter of taste (personally--and I think you can see this coming a mile away--I plunk down in favor of imagination and heart). Both films, however, should be a matter of modest pride for all involved: Rizal finally, brilliantly deconstructed on film--twice. This may not be a Rizal film, but its a remarkable Rizal film nevertheless.

(Comments? Mail me at <[email protected]>)
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Dec 15, 2002 at 05:59 AM: And this is even more off-topic, but please bear with me: it's about de Leon's favorite subject (Rizal, or one of his loved ones) and I'm guessing y'all could stand a little eddication... ;D

Rizal Weather (or: Undressing Josephine Bracken)

By Noel Vera

WE WERE IN THE CHAMPAGNE ROOM of the Manila Hotel, talking to Austin Coates, Rizal biographer, novelist, historian, and a former high-level official of Hongkong. "We" were film director Tikoy Aguiluz, Monica Feria, managing editor of Graphic Magazine, George Asiniero, and myself. The weather outside was a blustery grey, sheets of rain splattering against the hotel windows.

"Rizal Weather," Coates declares. He was a neat, elderly man with immaculate white hair. "We were in Heidelberg one morning when we looked out the window and saw that the sky was pouring. We had plans in the afternoon, now the trip was spoiled. And--God--quarter past two, just when we were prepared to go, the sun came out. It always happens. The rest of the day was a glorious afternoon, and I remember we loved the sunset. When we got back at 6:30 it was pouring again. It rained for another three weeks. There you are--Rizal Weather."

Tikoy started the interview in earnest: "We used several sources for our film on Dapitan: one of them is Leon Ma. Guerrero. We felt he was writing from the Church point of view, however."

"Personally," I said, "I feel your biography was the best written of the lot."

"Yes. Leony. Yes." Coates said. It took me a moment to realize "Leony" was his nickname for Leon Guerrero "The trouble with Leony is that his book isn't a book about Rizal; it's really a book about Leony." He gives a delighted laugh, his eyes twinkling with mischief. "Trust me, he was that type of man. You'll find that Rizal isn't born until about page 3."

"His writing is, uh, a bit dry," I ventured after Coates had finished chuckling.

"The strange thing is," Coates said, "in person he's an ebullient man. Very nice, very engaging companion."

"We're curious about Bracken," Tikoy continued. "We found a lot of fake manuscripts sold by people to make money. We weren't successful in tracing anyone who knew her."

"There isn't anyone left alive who knew her," Coates said. "I've interviewed literally everyone who did know her, back in 1950. There's nobody left. There were very few even in the '50's. Her adopted father, Taufer--"

"He was American, wasn't he?" Tikoy asked.

"He had an American passport. He got one on the basis of his parents emigrated from Germany. His brother was a much nicer, much more reliable person. George Taufer was an out-and-out womanizer. And he had syphilis as well. That was why Rizal couldn't treat him at all.

"You're the only one that mentions that Bracken was Eurasian." Tikoy said. "All the rest say she was Irish. Guerrero says she was Irish."

"Oh she liked to say she was Irish, and her father definitely was Irish. You see, James Bracken was on the verge of retirement--he was an army soldier. He had gotten a girl into trouble; she gave him a daughter. He was stuck with finding somewhere to put her. It was a question of honor, an unwritten code with the British that after whatever you've done the child should be well looked after. And afterwards, the same thing probably happened the next year! He was that type of person. When Elizabeth Bracken died, it was Taufer who suggested that Josephine be registered as Bracken's legitimate daughter. The army had no way of knowing that his wife was dead; the death of a soldier's wife was recorded London, not Hongkong, and that was how he was able to pull it off. But not in the cathedral register; the cathedral register is true."

Tikoy asked: "There's a story that the Rizal family, who lived in Hongkong, and the Taufers , living next to each other, knew each other."

"That's part of the Josephine myth," Coates replies. His eyes roll. "Oh, the myths about Josephine!"

"What about Manuela Orlac?" Tikoy asked.

"Manuela Orlac was a carrier. The Dominicans were always plotting against the government. They didn't use a telegraph service; they used Manuela as carrier, and there have been others. She would carry messages from Hongkong, hidden here," he indicated where she would hide the note between her breasts, "so that the Governor-General wouldn't be able to see it. The Dominicans are such unmitigated bastards!"

"They were the invisible government at that time," Tikoy said.

"They were rather visible too," Coates said. "Syphilis and all."

"How did Taufer contract syphilis?" Tikoy asked.

"You see, there were three women in Taufer's life," Coates said. "Two were actual wives. And the circumstances of the wives' death, I hear, was that both wives were syphilitic."

"We heard that Rizal was set up by sending Bracken to Dapitan," Tikoy said.

"Maria, Rizal's sister, suspected," Coates said. "I think everybody did. Trinidad was absolutely sure; you sensed this sort of thing."

"What was Orlac's relation to Bracken? Was Bracken like an agent?" Tikoy asked.

Coates thought about it. "No. Josephine was too simple."

"About Josephine's miscarriage," Tikoy continued. "They say that Bracken miscarried because she was confronted with the rumor that she was working for the friars. What do you think of that?"

Coates frowned, then said carefully: "The Rizal family would know. They were there."

"What about the marriage at Fort Santiago?" Tikoy asked.

"Did it ever happen?" I asked.

"There were documents that recorded it," Tikoy observed.

Coates shook his head; his answer was forceful and emphatic: "At no account whatever, in whatever circumstances, under Spanish military law, would the wife be allowed into the prison on the day of a convict's execution."

Tikoy nodded. "How about the priests?"

Coates eyes rolled. "Ooo," he said, which made all of us grin.

"No? Never?" asked Tikoy.

"Never. Anyway, the prison was largely dominated by freemasons." Rizal was a mason, which meant--if Coates was right--that the prison guards would tend to be on his side.

"Oh," Tikoy said. "There's a story that Josephine, after Rizal died, went to Hongkong and contacted the Freemasons there. She went to the masons one night, told the story of her and Rizal. We have the name of the Englishman mason, I don't know if you've ever heard of it."

Coates frowned. He leaned forward in his most serious manner "The Josephine myth--" Tikoy laughed. Coates smiled. "There's no end to it. No end to it, really. The number of people who ask 'where is Josephine's monument--tear it away!' Oh, dear."

"She died in Hongkong," Tikoy said.

"Yes, as a pauper."

"Do you know where?" I asked.

"In the colonial cemetery, somewhere. There is no record of a pauper's grave."

"Do you have any record of her getting Rizal's property?" Tikoy asked.

"She tried to get control of the library."

"She never got it," Tikoy said. "She wasn't his wife."

"That's exactly it. When she got to Hongkong, she wrote to Jose Maria Basa, Rizal's friend. She lived with the Basa family for about two--three months. And then, unknown to the Basas, her adopted half-sister, Sarah Taufer, returned from the Philippines with her husband. He was English. They were truly down and out, terribly poor. That Sunday afternoon, in the middle of August, 1897, she slipped out--and was never seen again. No member of the Basa family ever heard anything about her.

"The next thing that happened was that a solicitor's letter arrived, saying 'The widow of the late Jose Rizal required possession of his library.' Which was in Basa's safekeeping. Basa went to see the solicitor. He asked: 'Are you sure this is the real widow of the late Jose Rizal?' It would have been very easy for the solicitor to find out; all he had to do was contact the Cardinal of Cebu. When Josephine heard that, she changed tactics.. She invented a nonexistent will, signed by Rizal, and wrote to Blumentritt, asking his help in rescuing the library.

Monica, quiet all this time, spoke up. "What did she want to do with the library?"

"She didn't want it, it was Sara's husband. Sara's husband was English mind you, and he was employed as a godown nightwatchman--a job done by very poor Indians."

"So why would he want the library--?" Monica asked.

"Money. They were desperate. They lived in a cubicle. A truly ghastly place, four houses in an awful location. One was a sailor's guest house. That was where Josephine met Abad, her husband. He was a throwout. His family, who owned the Farmacia Abad in Binondo, a reputable firm, they didn't want anything to do with him."

con't
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Dec 15, 2002 at 06:02 AM: con't

"So the Abad Josephine married was a disowned Abad" said Monica.

"He was playing a highwayman's game with his family. When Josephine was having her baby, he was writing his family: either his family sent him enough money for him, Jospehine and the child, or he would come home. And while Josephine was pregnant, the men of the Abad family would go back and forth by steamer from Manila to Hongkong, desperately trying to keep this terrible man from coming back to Manila. They eventually came to a compromise. They agreed that Josephine and the child would be received by the family, but not Abad. Abad was to stay in Hongkong.

"All this very nearly stymied the marriage. Josephine was married when she was eight months gone with child. The child was born three weeks after the marriage. The marriage picture of Abad and Josephine was taken--you can see she was not pregnant--after the baby was born. The picture was taken in a Chinese shop, and they were both wearing hired clothes, which were hired from the Chinese photographer. It's a very sad, terrible story.

We were silent for a moment. "What puzzles me" Tikoy finally said, "is that when Rizal left Dapitan, he left things with this friend and that, but nothing to Josephine."

"She was going with him. She would be looked after by his family."

"He never planned to die," Tikoy said. Coates nodded.

Monica spoke: "You wrote your book on Rizal thirty years ago."

Coates smiled. "Did I really?"

"My question is--now, today, is there anything you would have written differently?"

Coates sat up. "Oh, what an interesting question. No. No--no. Except there was a mistake--no, two. Once a year the galleons came bearing silver, not gold. Because the Chinese wouldn't trade except in silver." He started leafing through a copy of the book for the other mistake.

Monica persisted. "What about the things that have been discovered since?"

"No, I'll tell you why. There's been a great deal more discovered since about him, yes. But you see, a biography, to be readable, must have life. You ask yourself: did such and such a thing that happened reveal anything about Rizal? If it didn't, cut it out. Because it's an enormously documented life. I can get quite ruthless on that sort of thing." He spread the book open. "Yes, here we are: 'Early in 1898, after the death of her adopted father she returned to her birthplace.' That's not true. She returned in 1897, after spending three weeks in Cavite."

"She joined the Revolution," Tikoy said.

"She was up there for about three weeks," Coates said.

"Not three years?" Tikoy asked.

"She was completely useless. Well, with the life she was used to, she couldn't adjust. I mean, carrying water from a well--where she came from, water came out of a tap. Josephine had never seen a field until she reach the Philippines. She was there for 21 days, then Paciano (Rizal's elder brother) got her back."

I ventured a question. "You wrote in your book that Taufer attempted to molest Josephine--"

"Oh, absolutely, there's no question about that Taufer."

"How far did he get?"

Coates was stopped completely on his tracks. "Why--why I haven't any idea. Josephine, she was scared of him..."

Tikoy tactfully intervened. "Rizal was her saviour then," he observed.

"Yes."

"I heard a story that she was a Shanghai dancer...entertainer...uh..."

"There was no such thing as European women entertainers in either Shanghai or Hongkong. Only Chinese." Coates said firmly.

"But she was Eurasian?"

"Who would see a Eurasian dancer? Singing and dancing Chinese entertainers, yes. No, there's no possibility, except--" Coates grew thoughtful. "She had a little way about her. Those 'come hither' eyes, see. That's a description of her. You can see why Filipinos...got this idea of her character."

"Did Rizal love her?" Tikoy asked.

"Yes, he did, there was no question."

"But he fell in love with all the women in his life." Tikoy pointed out.

"He was himself attractive to women and attracted to them."

Tikoy changed tack. "If you were approached by a producer to write a screenplay about Rizal, how would you go about it?" I had to smile: it wasn't a subtle question, but it was interesting.

"I would never write it. It isn't a movie thing."

"Why not?"

"Well... there isn't a romantic thing in it...it ends up in a dreadful trial and death. It's an intellectual life, far too complicated."

Tikoy persisted: "How would you bring him to the masses, to ordinary men?"

"Well, if you can take bits of Rizal, incidents...a short interlude, some incident..."

"Like Dapitan..." I offered.

Coates nodded. "Like Dapitan. But you see it's something an artist wouldn't like...there's no action..."

"I'd like to see what kind of character would you give Rizal" Tikoy said. "Is he a reluctant hero, the indio who's equal to any Westerner, the Renaissance Man?"

"Was he self-absorbed?" I asked.

Coates looked besieged. He frowned. "He was absolutely--European."

Tikoy nodded. "He felt he was their equal."

"I don't think it would have occurred to him that he wasn't their equal," Coates said. "Teodora Alonza, his mother...was a great, grand lady. They were superior to any Spaniards they came across. The Rizal family was superior to those ghastly friars...terrible people who stank of sweat."

Monica asked: "How did you come to learn about Rizal?"

"February, 1950. I came to Manila, leading a HK delegation to the Jaycee World Congress. I was staying here, in Manila Hotel. I got up early in the morning, and saw this monument--the Rizal monument in fact. I went out to look at it, find out who it was. I remember I saw that name on a postage stamp when I was a schoolboy. And I thought it was a Latin American dictator!

"I knew Mahatma Gandhi. I knew the Tagore Family. I never met the poet, he died three years before I met anybody. I knew the Sun-Yat-Sen family all along. We were very close indeed. And I thought: this was absurd. Now here was evidently a very important person, and I knew nothing about him. So I disappeared into the bookshops that morning and came away with everything I could find about Rizal."

The rest of the interview was small talk. Tikoy showed Coates pictures of the film he was doing, titled Dapitan, about Rizal and Bracken and their life together. He showed Coates an Asiaweek photo of the lead actor, Albert Martinez, and asked if he looked the part.

Coates looked at the photograph. "His nose is a bit sharp," he pointed out. "But--yes. Oh yes. And he has Rizal's stance, his posture."

Monica had one more question: "Why Rizal? You mentioned Rabindranath Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Sun Yat Sen in your book. Why spend sixteen years of your life writing about this man?'

Coates' final answer was as direct and illuminating and lively as his prose. "So much has been written about Mahatma Gandhi. As for Tagore, everything he writes reveals volumes about himself. Dr. Sun Yat Sen is difficult to write about; he's such a complex, contradictory character I would imagine only a Chinese can do it properly. Nowadays, I'd add Mao Tse Tung, who's just as famous.

"Rizal had ideas and achievements as important as they had, but he's relatively less known." Coates shrugged and smiled. "I thought I'd do something about it."

From The Manila Chronicle, September 96
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: tonedeaf on Dec 15, 2002 at 10:51 PM: Any update on the DVD(or VCD) release of Itim?

I saw it first, a long time ago, on free tv, and didn't catch the title. But I couldn't get Vic Silayan off my mind. I don't know much about films, i just like watching them, but I loved that it had only 4 major characters, no sidekicks, no gossipy neighbors. It was like they were the only 4 people in their world.

When I was still a subscriber of SkyCable, I was able to watch it again (and again), and that was when I learned that it was by Mike de Leon. I've only watched 3 of his films - Itim, Bayaning Third World and the Lorna-Boyet komiks adaptation - wish I had the foresight to sit through Batch '81 when it was shown.

As for Itim, up to now, I can't imagine Vic Silayan playing the good guy in any movie.
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Dec 16, 2002 at 11:24 AM: HERES SOMETHING I READ ON BAYANING THIRD WORLD...

When Mike de Leon first received na invitation from the screening comittee of the Cannes Film festival, B3W was not yet complete. The second time around, Mike de Leon was so frustrated and disappointed that his film was a flop (it cost him more or less 12 million to produce), he sent a copy to Cannes without subititles! In other words, B3W, was not screened.
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Dec 17, 2002 at 12:38 AM: If it has Vic Silayan in it, it's Kisapmata. Itim had, uh, Mario Montenegro in it.

Cannes doesn't know what it's missing. It's been very dismissive of recent Filipino cinema, and wouldn't know a good Filipino film if you stuffed it up its heinie. A more responsive festival is the Autumn Festival organized by Cahiers du Cinema. Also, Hong Kong and Singapore Film Festival are very "on" to what's hot in the Philippines.

'Course, both festivals ask me for titles... ;D
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: Phobos on Feb 07, 2003 at 11:11 AM: I interviewed Ricky Davao the other day and he had a lot of interesting things to say about Mike de Leon. One of which was this story:

While they were filming Bayaning 3rd World, Ricky was under the impression that they were doing a serious movie, so he and co-star Cris Villanueva played their parts with that at the back of their minds.

During the screening, Ricky was surprised by the audiences' reaction to the movie. They were actually laughing out loud during the movie!

He would later find out that Mike de Leon purposefully did not correct him about his initial impression of the film thinking that it would be funnier without the actors knowing that it was supposed to be funny.

The story reminded me a lot of a similar anecdote about Alfred Hitchcock on the set of Rear Window
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Feb 07, 2003 at 08:30 PM: Care to share a little more? Hehe! ;D
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: kakabanas on Feb 08, 2003 at 09:21 AM: Just saw Sister Stella L. Eh, it's ok. Not one of his best. It felt forced. Tony Santos was good in it ... so was Jay Ilagan and Liza Lorena.

The best line was when Liza Lorena said to Jay Ilagan something like "Ang tigas ng ulo mo, dapat diyan ipukpok sa pader. Alam ko naman kung bakit mo pinagpipilitan isulat ang welga. Gagamitin mo lang ito para ilabas ang sama ng loob mo. Si Sister Stella pa rin ang problema di ba ? Baka akala mo kapag naisulat mo ang welga nila mapapalabas mo siya ng kumbento. Eh kung nung hindi pa siya madre wala kang nagawa ngayon pa? Tingnan mo ang sarili mo para kang nauulol. Nakakahiya ka, babae na, madre pa"
Title: I Love Liza
Post by: Reuven Malter on Feb 08, 2003 at 11:56 AM: Liza Lorena is always a scene stealer. I loved her latest perf in La Vida Rosa.

Her mere uttering of the word jeep in May Minamahal was priceless!
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Feb 09, 2003 at 10:56 AM: I was at the CCP hoping to watch Batch '81 but Sir Ed Cabagnot said they misplaced their (betamax) copy of the film. Ended up watching something else...(Manila by Night)
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Feb 10, 2003 at 01:05 AM: They really need to get their act together. That's one of the silliest things I've ever heard.
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Feb 10, 2003 at 12:04 PM: Quote from: Noel_Vera on Feb 10, 2003 at 01:05 AM
They really need to get their act together. That's one of the silliest things I've ever heard.
I plan to take my ojt there at the CCP's film dept. Let's see if I help can straighten the place out. Hehehe!!! ;D
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Feb 11, 2003 at 12:27 AM: Hm. Some people were offended, somewhat, by my supposedly revealing comments upthread about some of Mike's collaborators.

So, to clarify: I don't think it's a good thing to ask Cesar about Mike's sexual orientation because he probably won't tell you. I asked a question on a different subject and he wouldn't answer me. The remark is meant to imply Cesar's loyalty to Mike, not his homosexuality. On that score I really don't know.

Similar with some differences with Doy Del Mundo: I wouldn't know his orientation. For the record he has a wife and kids. I know that may not absolutely prove anything, but there it is. I do think his scripts show a lack of interest in matters sexual, but I'm speaking my opinion as a film critic, not as someone in the know.

Hope that clears things up.
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: rse on Feb 12, 2003 at 04:08 AM: For those interested, I just found out the Batch '81 is now available on VCD. Check out these links:

http://www.kabayancentral.com/video/vcd/viva/vvb81.html
http://www.koleksyon.com/default.asp?cid=104&cid1=126&pid=8818
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Feb 12, 2003 at 11:29 PM: Is it available locally? They should eventually release it on DVD!
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: tonedeaf on Feb 13, 2003 at 12:05 AM: Quote from: Noel_Vera on Dec 17, 2002 at 12:38 AM
If it has Vic Silayan in it, it's Kisapmata. Itim had, uh, Mario Montenegro in it.

I stand corrected, it is Kisapmata :)
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: kakabanas on Apr 02, 2003 at 04:51 AM: Hey, any news on the DVD of his films ? I read in a different thread he's doing some restoration to be released on DVD ... I want to get my hands on some of those.
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: tonedeaf on Apr 02, 2003 at 10:13 AM: Quote from: rse on Feb 12, 2003 at 04:08 AM
For those interested, I just found out the Batch '81 is now available on VCD. Check out these links:

http://www.kabayancentral.com/video/vcd/viva/vvb81.html
http://www.koleksyon.com/default.asp?cid=104&cid1=126&pid=8818

FYI, I was able to buy a VCD of Batch '81 about 2 weeks ago from Radio City (Shangri-la branch). No DVD though.
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: Lex Luthor on Apr 02, 2003 at 10:35 AM: Quote from: tonedeaf on Apr 02, 2003 at 10:13 AM
Quote from: rse on Feb 12, 2003 at 04:08 AM
For those interested, I just found out the Batch '81 is now available on VCD. Check out these links:

http://www.kabayancentral.com/video/vcd/viva/vvb81.html
http://www.koleksyon.com/default.asp?cid=104&cid1=126&pid=8818

FYI, I was able to buy a VCD of Batch '81 about 2 weeks ago from Radio City (Shangri-la branch). No DVD though.

got mine at Astrovision Robinson's Galleria. saw copies at other Astro branches too...
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: Centurion Obama on Apr 02, 2003 at 07:03 PM: BTW, I'd just like to announce to everyone, that Mike De Leon reads this thread.

And so I would like to tell everyone to say a big,

HI MIKE!

and shame on you, noel, hehehe. ::)
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Apr 02, 2003 at 07:40 PM: No kidding, Joey... ??? :o Its past April fools.
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: kakabanas on Apr 02, 2003 at 10:59 PM: Ah, so is he or is he not ......

reading this thread ? ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Apr 02, 2003 at 11:32 PM: Look, whether he's reading these threads or not, it's not going to do trying to greet him; he probably won't answer. And putting your greetings in large bold letters isn't going to evoke a respond.

Let em read in peace (if he's reading, mind you). Let's just pretend he isn't there.

Okay?

Writing this post...pretending no one in particular is reading this thread...

Easy.
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Apr 19, 2003 at 05:40 PM: I just saw 'Di nahahati ang langit and I have to admit that it was pretty cheezy ;D ( The look, the crystal swans, the acting, the dialogue and the music) I can sort of understand why he disowned it.

*SPOILER*
I loved the scene where Edu gets into an accident... ;D
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: moviestar on Apr 21, 2003 at 04:55 PM: count me in!
im a big fan of mike de leon.
yun lang. =)
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Apr 24, 2003 at 11:10 AM: I already gave my two cents on Hindi Nahahati upthread. Liked it a lot better, myself, would rate it above Sister Stella L, which I think is his least personal film.
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Aug 29, 2003 at 10:58 AM: He is currently expoloring DV filmmaking. :)
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: edsa77 on Oct 09, 2003 at 05:36 PM: Hindi ko mawari ang kahulugan ng palakpakang namayani sa loob ng UP Film Center* pagkatapos ng pagpapalabas ng obra ni Mike de Leon, ang Aliwan Paradise na isa sa mga apat ng pelikulang bahagi ng Southern Winds. Isa ba itong pagpupugay sa matagal ng retiradong direktor o isang paraan ng dagliang paglimot sa malaking mensahe ng pelikulang ito.

Mula sa panulat ni Doy del Mundo, ang Aliwan Paradise ay tumalakay sa kalagayang pampolitikal at pangsosyal ng Pilipinas halos 12 taon na ang nakararaan sa isang paraang pangkomiko. Isa itong kabuuang deskripsyon ng Pilipinas na ang buhay dito ay isang malaking palabas sa enteblado, na ang bawat Pilipino ay isang aktor na gumaganap sa mga katauhang nabuo mula sa isang iskript na nasulat ng panahon. Ngunit ang kagandahan ng pelikula ay sumalalay sa kakayahan nitong maging kapana-panahon kahit na nasulat at ginawa ito 12 taon ang nakakaraan.

Ayon sa sinopsis nito, isa raw itong futuristic na pagtalakay sa kalagayang panglipunan ng Pilipinas. Ngunit para sa akin, walang tiyak ng timeline kung saan at kung para saan ito nasulat. Ang gurong kumain at nagbuga ng apoy ay kumatawan sa mga hinaing ng mga guro bago ginawa ang pelikula, ng ginagawa ito, ngayong taong 2003 at maaring 50 taon pa mula ngayon. Malinaw na ipinapahayag ni del Mundo at de Leon na ang buhay sa Pilipinas ay isang siklikong proseso, paulit-ulit, pabalik-balik, walang pag-usad. It's the same crap we've been doing for the past 300 years and might be the same crap we'll have 100 years from now if we will not address these social and politicial issues.

Katulad ng mga ibang obra-maestra ni de Leon, maituturing ang Aliwan Paradise bilang isa mga perpektong pelikulang Pilipino : mahusay na pagkakaganap ng mga pangunahin at pangsuportang tauhan, akmang cinematography sa istorya,at isang screenplay na susubok sa kakayahang pang-intelektwal ng mga manonood.

Sampung taon mula ngayon, muli ko itong panonoorin at maaring ang kutya, sampal, at tadyak sa aking pagka-Pilipino ay nandito pa rin.

* Para kay Nick Tiongson, MAS MASARAP SA TENGA ANG UP FILM CENTER KAYSA SA UP FILM INSTITUTE.
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: indie boi on Oct 09, 2003 at 10:17 PM: May balak bang baguhin ang pangalan ng UP Film Center? Ang pagkakaalam ko, ang UP Film Institute as isang bagong tayong "kolehiyo" na inihiwalay na sa College of Mass Communication -- at isa sa mga sinasaklaw na responsibilidad nito ay ang pagpapatakbo ng UP Film Center.
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Oct 09, 2003 at 11:12 PM: Aliwan Paradise is pretty good--de Leon satirizing Brocka. People keep praising de Leon for being a prime dramatist, but not enough attention is drawn to the fact that he's also a very witty filmmaker. Basic requirement to be a witty filmmaker is good timing, precise editing,which de Leon has in all his films. He can get a bigger laugh out of me with a particularly inventive cut than hours of Andrew E. and his butt-ugly face.

I think Aliwan is funnier and more imaginative than Kakabakaba Ka Ba, actually, which I think is a touch overrated (tho still head and shoulders above most Filipino films, of course).
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: renato on Apr 06, 2004 at 05:17 AM: :)Excellent Mike de Leon essay Noel, it made my day!

I heard that Mike de Leon appeared in a Wim Wenders documentary called Chambre 666(1982).Has Anybody seen it?
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Apr 06, 2004 at 11:21 AM: Thanks!

I haven't, sorry. So De Leon put out for Wenders? I much prefer his (Mike's) movies...
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Apr 06, 2004 at 12:17 PM: Quote from: rene requiestas jr on Apr 06, 2004 at 05:17 AM
:)Excellent Mike de Leon essay Noel, it made my day!

I heard that Mike de Leon appeared in a Wim Wenders documentary called Chambre 666(1982).Has Anybody seen it?

i havent seen the said docu but, yes, he did appear in it. it was made during one of the cannes film festivals held in the eighties wherein various directors entered a room (chambre 666???), faced a camera, and answered the question: "what is the future of cinema?"
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Apr 06, 2004 at 12:25 PM: Shoot, now I remember--it's listed in De Leon's imdb credits, as "apperance as an actor" or some such credit.

Wish I saw it, anyway...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Apr 12, 2004 at 09:04 PM: Whatever happened to the dvd box-set of his movies? Wala na yata update.

I'm dying to see again ITIM on the small screen last Holy Week perfect timing for that occasion but the vhs was out when I went to Video 48.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: renato on Apr 15, 2004 at 08:16 AM: I've been waiting for an update on that 'box set' too.

I saw several Mike de Leon movies-ITIM,KAKABAKABA KA BA?,KUNG MANGARAP KA'T MAGISING -for sale at kabayancentral.com for 25$.Does anybody know the quality of the print of the vintage videos that they are selling?

Oh,and I read somewhere that Room 666 will soon be released on dvd(Region 1).It would be interesting to see what Mike De Leon looked like in 1982.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: jdv1229 on Apr 15, 2004 at 04:39 PM: Quote from: rene requiestas jr on Apr 15, 2004 at 08:16 AM
I've been waiting for an update on that 'box set' too.

I saw several Mike de Leon movies-ITIM,KAKABAKABA KA BA?,KUNG MANGARAP KA'T MAGISING -for sale at kabayancentral.com for 25$.Does anybody know the quality of the print of the vintage videos that they are selling?

Oh,and I read somewhere that Room 666 will soon be released on dvd(Region 1).It would be interesting to see what Mike De Leon looked like in 1982.

they are very good quality. KAKABA KABA KA BA? & KUNG MANGARAP KA'T MAGISING are both widescreen versions & ITIM is pan & scan unfortunately they pulled out ITIM from their list due to copyright issues. if you're a huge fim buff like i am, you will avail of these important films on video although they are a little too pricey but it's worth having.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: renato on Apr 16, 2004 at 06:19 AM: Thanks for the info,Jojo.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Apr 17, 2004 at 03:43 PM: over the holy week break, i caught again, for the third time i think, kisapmata on channel 2. And i was deeply saddened by the quality of the copy. the original opening credits has been replaced by a computerized one with a still shot of the house as a background. in certain parts, it was very dirty. but, be that as it may, it is still, without a doubt, an excellent movie. sigh...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: mykoleo on May 05, 2004 at 07:27 PM: I hope Mike de Leon will do a Nora Aunor film. Talk about a collaboration of two creative titans in Philippine cinema. These are my dream roles for Ms. Aunor under de Leon

1) a crime investiagtor or forensic expert with a baggage of guilt or trauma
2) a spirit medium plagued with identity crisis
3) a lonely museum curator who sexually preys on the museum's janitors and security guards
4) a creative artist--- musician, playwright or painter--- with suicidal tendencies
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: jdv1229 on May 06, 2004 at 07:57 AM: you know what Myke? Noel told me that Mike de Leon told Mother Lily na bagay kay Nora ang Sister Stella L to which Vilma said ''akin 'yan! akin!" ;)
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: mykoleo on May 06, 2004 at 05:50 PM: Quote from: Jojo Devera on May 06, 2004 at 07:57 AM
you know what Myke? Noel told me that Mike de Leon told Mother Lily na bagay kay Nora ang Sister Stella L to which Vilma said ''akin 'yan! akin!" ;)

The Sister Stella L role would have been perfect Ms. Nora, I agree. Only she has the gravitas apt for that character. And what a missed opportunity to see her with Laurice Guillen again. It would have been a reunion of sorts from their roles as nuns in "Fe, Esperanza, Caridad." Ganda ng chemistry nila doon. It's also my dream to see both Ms. Nora and Laurice perform in Nick Joaquin's stage play "Larawan."
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on May 07, 2004 at 03:13 AM: Well, it wasn't as clear-cut as that; the story as told to me (I'm probably getting some details wrong) was that Mother was talking to Vilma, selling her on the idea of doing Sister Stella L. The clincher was when she called Nora (or Nora called her) and offered her the role, to which Vilma said she'd do it. It could have been a ploy to land Vilma.

Mike and Nora? I don't know, Mike does like understated acting and Nora's best when she's understated or even silent, but when you watch Mike's movies you don't get the sense that it's all about the stars, or the characters, or even the movie. It's all about Mike's vision of the world, as filtered through what story he's telling at the moment. The performances (excellent tho they may be and I think Vic Silayan in Kisapmata gives the greatest male performance in all of Philippine cinema) are secondary.

That's not a negative comment, it's an observation. It's something almost unique to Mike's work. In Bernal, Brocka, O'Hara, Ad. Castillo, Aguiluz, lumilitaw ang performances, ang mga characters; in de Leon (and possibly Raymond Red), yung concept ang primera.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: mykoleo on May 08, 2004 at 11:39 AM: Quote from: Noel_Vera on May 07, 2004 at 03:13 AM
Mike and Nora? I don't know, Mike does like understated acting and Nora's best when she's understated or even silent, but when you watch Mike's movies you don't get the sense that it's all about the stars, or the characters, or even the movie. It's all about Mike's vision of the world, as filtered through what story he's telling at the moment. The performances (excellent tho they may be and I think Vic Silayan in Kisapmata gives the greatest male performance in all of Philippine cinema) are secondary.

That's not a negative comment, it's an observation. It's something almost unique to Mike's work. In Bernal, Brocka, O'Hara, Ad. Castillo, Aguiluz, lumilitaw ang performances, ang mga characters; in de Leon (and possibly Raymond Red), yung concept ang primera.

Precisely just the ideal directorial temperament that Ms. Aunor, with her genius for subdued and self-effacing performances, ought to bask in. I'm sick and tired of directors like Lamangan who bludgeon the viewers into cowering that she's such a great actress by wringing out "pang-award" highlights for her. I like it best when her interpretation of a given role just weaves seamlessly into the fabric of the film's narrative as in "Merika," among others.

Aside from her uncanny instinct and intelligence in cottoning up the undercurrents of nuances from the script, there's something about her presence and her silences sharpened by those legendary eyes that I believe can sizzle up De Leon's flavor of filmmaking: sort of gothic, kind of twisted.

Really, it isn't so hard to imagine what she could do if the domineering figure in "Kisapmata" were the matriarch and Charo's role were a wimp of a son. And yes, she'd do just as fine if she were to play Charito Solis' tremulous role.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on May 09, 2004 at 03:38 PM: Oh, it'd be interesting, that's for sure. I'd watch it, if it ever happens.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: renato on May 12, 2004 at 04:29 AM: Mike should direct an action movie. It would star Dante Rivero as an aging cop...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on May 12, 2004 at 04:42 AM: It would probably be a thriller, with more suspense setpieces than action. And a very inward-looking protagonist. Sort of like Truffaut's Shoot the Piano Player.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: renato on May 15, 2004 at 04:39 AM: I think that Dante Rivero would be perfect for the 'malevolent father' role in De Leon's films.He was great in Azucena and in episodes of Maalaala...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on May 15, 2004 at 09:19 AM: I was looking for MIke's...BILANGGO SA DILIM straight to video film but Video 48 doesn't have it.

Any info for this movie...guys? ???

It stars Joel Torre & Cherie Gil if I'm not mistaken.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on May 15, 2004 at 01:54 PM: Bilanggo sa Dilim showed several times in Cinemanila. If you look at their program, they might show it again.

I've seen William Wyler's adaptation of John Fowles' The Collector before, with Terence Stamp in the Joel Torre role. Wyler's version is far more faithful, and more complete, but it's just another movie for him, tho with interesting subtexts. Bilanggo is far more eerie because it feels more personal; actually all of Mike's films are eerie because they (well, almost all) seem so personal...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on May 15, 2004 at 01:57 PM: Quote from: mykoleo on May 08, 2004 at 11:39 AM
Really, it isn't so hard to imagine what she could do if the domineering figure in "Kisapmata" were the matriarch and Charo's role were a wimp of a son. And yes, she'd do just as fine if she were to play Charito Solis' tremulous role.

Now a matriarch seems really unlikely for Mike de Leon. He's really more comfortable getting into the heads of men (despite eliciting excellent performances from women). I can see Nora doing any number of roles for Mike, tho, maybe opposite Ricky Davao or Joel Torre.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on May 15, 2004 at 02:33 PM: Quote from: Noel_Vera on May 15, 2004 at 01:54 PM
Bilanggo sa Dilim showed several times in Cinemanila. If you look at their program, they might show it again.

I've seen William Wyler's adaptation of John Fowles' The Collector before, with Terence Stamp in the Joel Torre role. Wyler's version is far more faithful, and more complete, but it's just another movie for him, tho with interesting subtexts. Bilanggo is far more eerie because it feels more personal; actually all of Mike's films are eerie because they (well, almost all) seem so personal...

Mike should do a straight horror film with no pretentions like the ones done by Dario Argento.

He can surely matched or even surpassed them.

BTW...Noel, what's next on his agenda?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on May 16, 2004 at 09:27 AM: I'm not sure Mike is capable of doing a straight anything--look at Hindi Nahahati ang Langit, his one attempt at a straightforward commercial project, and how disturbing it really is. He's going to put his mark on a film whether he likes it or not.

Oh, wait, there's Sister Stella L. But that's not his favorite of his films.

I don't know, any number of things. Last I heard was a documentary on Dona Sisang, plus DVD releases of LVN movies including Maynila. Someone might have an update.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Jun 07, 2004 at 02:32 PM: " Rizal will never be out of my system. He's still interesting to me... It's a fascination with the past which I feel we as a culture don't have." -Mike de Leon

I can't help but wonder though why he chose Aga Mulach, apart from him saying that the production needed a "big name star", to play Jose Rizal in the 1st Rizal movie bankrolled by GMA Films but was never completed.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Jun 07, 2004 at 03:28 PM: If I remember right, Aga was foisted on Mike.

He was never comfortable with the GMA project; he just doesn't like dealing with a big production, big crew, lots of cares and woes and details, and studio pressure. He's happier doing his own small production. Bayaning Third World is every bit a de Leon film that the projected Rizal biopic was not.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Jun 07, 2004 at 03:36 PM: Is Bayaning Third World MIke's biggest flop...I saw it on its ist day and Jeez....empty seats inside the Sm Cinema.

Its like you were trapped in a haunted cinema.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Jun 07, 2004 at 03:45 PM: Naw; if I remember right, he's never made a moneymaker...except Hindi Nahahati ang Langit, after which he got offers left and right to do more komiks.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Jun 07, 2004 at 03:49 PM: And it cost him 12-15 million to produce, which is pretty big for an independent production
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Jun 08, 2004 at 12:39 PM: I'd say it was about the size of a well-budgeted commercial film--like 20 million for a Viva or Star Cinema production today. But hardly in the epic neighborhood of the GMA production.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Jun 09, 2004 at 01:48 PM: *SPOILER*

Noel, could you be kind enough to explain to me the "disclaimer" that appeared in the ending of B3W? It pretty much contradicted everything that he was trying to say in the film (which sorta ruined things) and really left me scratching my head.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Jun 09, 2004 at 03:08 PM: SPOILER?

You mean the voiceover at the end? Actually, it confirms what the film was trying to say, that Rizal did not recant his heresy and that he did not go back to the church faith (unlike the ridiculous ending of Diaz Abaya's Rizal--if he did this, how can they show him as heroic? Now that's contradictory). I agree, I don't like it, but because it made his conclusion too clear--he spelt out what he was trying to say, instead of suggesting it. I said as much to Doy del Mundo after I saw a preview, but apparently, Mike left it the way it was...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: commentary on Jun 09, 2004 at 08:09 PM: The thing with Bayaning 3rd World is that it attempts to give un even-handed trail of the case of the retraction, however the film (and De Leon), as it's conlcuding voiceover affirms, had a firm stance throughout. The films aesthetics and visuals point clearly to this conclusion.

That's not to say, however, that I don't like the film. I think it's brilliant. But the voiceover does take something away from it.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Jun 10, 2004 at 12:11 PM: The voice over adds an editorial, where the rest of the film makes its case as if it's merely presenting the facts (it's not, but that's a difficult balancing act it's doing), facts which point--subtly, quietly--to that conclusion. Putting that voiceover there tends to ruin the beautifully achieved appearance of objectivity.

I like to think (now, anyway) that it's the kind of flaw that makes a work of art all the more fascinating. Like I think The Bicycle Thief is flawed if you realize all the protagonist had to do was put a lock on or keep better watch of his bike, or that King Lear's basic premise--that he'd divide his kingdom while he's still alive--is silly. Ultimately it doesn't matter.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RitchieNolasco on Jun 11, 2004 at 10:11 AM: I really loved watching Bayaning 3rd World. It's very deep and interesting to watch, even rivals JFK when it comes to conspiracies, speculation, mysteries, etc.

If you ask me, I believe that Rizal NEVER retracted and with this I was gravely disappointed with the GMA Jose Rizal flick since they showed that our hero DID retract.

During the movie, there was a movie poster of one of Lino Brocka's films. What movie is that and was it a classic? Could Mike De Leon be involved in that film?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: mykoleo on Jun 11, 2004 at 12:11 PM: During the movie, there was a movie poster of one of Lino Brocka's films. What movie is that and was it a classic? Could Mike De Leon be involved in that film?

It was "MAYNILA SA MGA KUKO NG LIWANAG." Mike was the film's cinematographer. God, how I wish Mike will do another masterpiece again.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Jun 12, 2004 at 08:59 PM: Come to think of it Mike de Leon & Stanley Kubrick have similarities in common.

They are both rarely photographed, no interviews, both have total independence with regards to their movies, disdain commercial formulas except for Mike's HIndi Nahahati ang Langit (komiks material).

Studios cannot interfere with their works, the late Stanley Kubrick can command whatever he wants at Warner Bros that only he & Clint Eastwood can do.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Jun 13, 2004 at 10:11 AM: Kubrick is de Leon's idol. His films show Kubrick's influence, and there are several tributes to The Shining in Kisapmata.

Personally, I prefer Kisapmata to The Shining.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Jun 13, 2004 at 01:21 PM: Since the late Stanley Kubrick was perfectionist, fond of hundred takes, is Mike also obsessed with dozen takes before shouting CUT?

On the set of The Shining, Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall endured the bloody takes of Stanley. ;D
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Jun 14, 2004 at 05:25 AM: Obviously he doesnt' have the budget to do a hundred takes...but I think that speaks well of de Leon in comparison with Kubrick. That hundred take thing, I think it's more self indulgence than anything. To do it well and right on at least the first few takes requires discipline and balls.

That said, de Leon is a perfectionist. You can see it in his films, where everything is technically and visually perfect. His films are even technically better than Brocka's, Bernal's, O'Hara's. It helps that he has his own lab.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Jun 14, 2004 at 02:51 PM: Apart from his own production outfit Cinema Artists, it turns out Mike de Leon was involved in other endeavors:

Cine Video Arts-- purportedly the first CGI animation house in the country which he set-up and later sold.

Graffiti-- a graphic design studio.

Of course, he was briefly the general manager of LVN (http://www.lvnpictures.com.ph)

Another little bit of info...

Ateneo GS'59/HS'63/Coll'67
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Jun 14, 2004 at 07:00 PM: Quote from: Noel_Vera on Jun 14, 2004 at 05:25 AM
Obviously he doesnt' have the budget to do a hundred takes...but I think that speaks well of de Leon in comparison with Kubrick. That hundred take thing, I think it's more self indulgence than anything. To do it well and right on at least the first few takes requires discipline and balls.

That said, de Leon is a perfectionist. You can see it in his films, where everything is technically and visually perfect. His films are even technically better than Brocka's, Bernal's, O'Hara's. It helps that he has his own lab.

That set him apart from Kubrick...the hundred take thing. I can see that Mike is a perfectionist when it comes to his films.

BTW Noel, RMN...who did the production design for ITIM? The house of Tommy Abuel looks creepy and you can smell the whole countryside where the film was shot.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Jun 15, 2004 at 12:02 PM: Mel Chionglo did the production design. Apparently becoming a film director was a big mistake.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: JdelaCruz on Jun 19, 2004 at 02:58 PM: There's a Mike de Leon Festival on Cinema One. One night a week this June, I think. Featured films that I recall are Kakabkabakaba, Hindi Nahahati, Kisapmata... I forget the rest. Will post details as soon as I see the plug.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: jdv1229 on Jun 20, 2004 at 01:48 AM: Quote from: Noel_Vera on Jun 15, 2004 at 12:02 PM
Mel Chionglo did the production design. Apparently becoming a film director was a big mistake.

i agree Noel that Mel Chionglo is a great production designer but do you honestly think that it was a mistake for him to become a film director? he's done a number of good films like Playgirl & Sinner or Saint. he even wrote the screenplay for Ina. kapatid, Anak. Mel was also Mike's production designer for Kung Mangarap Ka't Magising & Bernal's for Ikaw ay Akin.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Jun 20, 2004 at 12:22 PM: Quote from: Jojo Devera on Jun 20, 2004 at 01:48 AM

i agree Noel that Mel Chionglo is a great production designer but do you honestly think that it was a mistake for him to become a film director? he's done a number of good films like Playgirl & Sinner or Saint. he even wrote the screenplay for Ina. kapatid, Anak. Mel was also Mike's production designer for Kung Mangarap Ka't Magising & Bernal's for Ikaw ay Akin.

Check out his Lagarista and Lahar. He doesn't have an eye, or a storytelling sense, or even a logical train of thought in his head.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: jdv1229 on Jun 20, 2004 at 11:47 PM: Quote from: Noel_Vera on Jun 20, 2004 at 12:22 PM

Check out his Lagarista and Lahar. He doesn't have an eye, or a storytelling sense, or even a logical train of thought in his head.

i saw both films... i guess you're right! you can also add Kapalit to the list.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Sep 07, 2004 at 04:41 PM: I just caught again 'Di Nahahati ang Langit and I have to say that the movie, over time, has started to grow on me and that I might have unfairly dismissed it in the two times previous times that I saw it.

While the performances are terrible (Christopher is, as expected, over the top and Dina I never really liked) and it does have its cheezy moments, I've realized Mike de Leon's directing here is great and that the story isn't at all that bad...it was, actually, quite good and the characterization quite complex. You really can feel the mood in the intense scenes.

In fact--and I can't believe that I'll actually say this--it's a very competent and respectable piece of work as far as melodramas go, specialy when compared to those 80's Viva releases.

So there. I take back what I've previously said about 'Di Nahahati. I can now see why Mike is proud of thsi one.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Sep 07, 2004 at 07:12 PM: About Hindi Nahahati ang Langit, I thought he removed his name from the credits so why is he proud of this movie? ???
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: mccoy on Sep 08, 2004 at 12:57 AM: the only mike d film that i have seen is ITIM and i was blown away! i never thougth we could make films like this one! excelent excelent!

oh i have also seen bayaning 3rd, but i'm still not too sure if i liked it or not. ???
i felt it was trying to be too clever at times [opinyon ko lamang po]...

: AYUZ! >:(
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Sep 08, 2004 at 09:02 AM: Quote from: keating on Sep 07, 2004 at 07:12 PM
About Hindi Nahahati ang Langit, I thought he removed his name from the credits so why is he proud of this movie? ???

It was a disagreement with Charo Santos over...I'm not sure, opening day, maybe?

I didn't think Chris de Leon or Dina were terrible in the movie at all; they do well enough, and better than their usual attempts at acting.

Like I said, I like it better than Sister Stella L., and so, apparently, does Mike.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Sep 09, 2004 at 01:32 PM: I dunno, but it seems that Mike de Leon has some sort of affinity to Baguio. I mean, Kung Mangarap ka't Magising, Kakabakaba ka? and Di Nahahati were shot or partly shot in Baguio.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Sep 09, 2004 at 02:04 PM: Climate suits his temperament, I suppose.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Oct 14, 2004 at 03:14 PM: What I'm pretty curious about is how Mike de Leon handles his actors. Does he give them a freehand to interpret a scene? Does he instruct them? Hmmm...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Oct 16, 2004 at 08:52 AM: There's a story about Vic Silayan in Kisapmata. He was suppose to enter a room carrying a gun. Silayan entered, eyes rolling, yelling, waving his arms about, classic contrabida style. Mike pulled him aside and told him to just walk in, don't do anything else but walk in. He did, and it's one of the most frightening moments in the film.

Oh, and I hear he courts his actresses and collaborators outrageously--sends them flowers and stuff. Women have crushes on him, believe it or not. Ask Charo Santos. ;D
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Oct 16, 2004 at 08:25 PM: I read another thing about Vic Silayan and Kisapmata. They were rehearsing the scene where Vic's character suffers from a migraine headache. Charito Solis, hesitantly, fearfully, hands him a bag of ice which he grabs unexpectedly. This, literally, scared the hell out of everybody on the set. Mike de Leon replied: "Oh, Vic, medyo napaaga ata..." But in the end, Vic Silayan interpreted the scene differently.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Oct 16, 2004 at 09:03 PM: Quote from: Noel_Vera on Oct 16, 2004 at 08:52 AM

Oh, and I hear he courts his actresses and collaborators outrageously--sends them flowers and stuff. Women have crushes on him, believe it or not. Ask Charo Santos. ;D

Ayon kay Charo, mentor lang daw niya si mike... ::)
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Oct 17, 2004 at 02:57 PM: Quote from: RMN on Oct 16, 2004 at 09:03 PM

Ayon kay Charo, mentor lang daw niya si mike... ::)

Ha! ;D
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Oct 18, 2004 at 10:19 PM: On KISAPMATA....its sad to know that only Charo Santos is the sole survivor among the major cast. :(
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Nov 07, 2004 at 06:57 PM: "Sabi ng mga tao, may topak daw ako. Totoo yun."

-Mike de Leon to Joel Torre
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Nov 07, 2004 at 07:24 PM: Not news. But glad to know he admits it! ;D
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Nov 13, 2004 at 08:57 PM: When I asked Ricky Davao how he reacted when he first got hold of B3W's script, he had this to say: " Hindi ko maintindihan talaga. Habang nag sho-shooting kami, at hanggang sa huli, sinusubukan ko pa rin siyang intindihin. Kaya nagulat ko kapag sinabi ni Mike de Leon na 'cut!', tawa siya ng tawa. Hindi ko alam, black comedy pala siya at serious na serious naman yung acting ko. Had I known na black comedy siya, I would've changed my acting style."
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Nov 14, 2004 at 11:44 AM: Quote from: RMN on Nov 13, 2004 at 08:57 PM
Had I known na black comedy siya, I would've changed my acting style."[/i]

Which is probably why Mike didn't tell him... ;D
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Dec 15, 2004 at 04:34 PM: Five points to those who can answer this. (Noel, your disqualified from this one)

Who is xox and what is his relation to Mike de Leon?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: nailbiter on Dec 28, 2004 at 02:40 AM: B3W, the Filmmaker's Dog. Mike's dog. What do I win? ;D
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Dec 28, 2004 at 01:08 PM: I didn't know that! >:(
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Jan 03, 2005 at 04:49 PM: Mike on Sister Stella L:

"It looks dated to me...to didactic. But I guess we were all sincere."
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Jan 03, 2005 at 07:54 PM: From Sister Stella L also......the eccentric Mike de Leon would get notes from Father Remy Monteverde stressing that they were businessmen, not political propagandists.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Jan 04, 2005 at 12:57 AM: Quote from: keating on Jan 03, 2005 at 07:54 PM
From Sister Stella L also......the eccentric Mike de Leon would get notes from Father Remy Monteverde stressing that they were businessmen, not political propagandists.

Which is funny because looking at the film you'd be hard pressed to name just what business the factory is in, much less what the workers are striking about. It looks like one of many textile factories, but you get a better sense of detail about the workings of the business in Brocka's Bayan Ko (another script by Pete Lacaba, who I consider the real autuer of these films).
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: wedge on Feb 04, 2005 at 07:40 AM: Was searching for a Mike de Leon film in the net, instead I found this article. If I'm right this is the one Noel had mentioned in his posts early in this thread. This was previously published in Film Comment. Read on:

A Season of Philippine Cinema.

This past summer's festival of Philippine cinema at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater was haunted by many ghosts. Most obviously, there was that of the Lino Brocka, the eminent director who died only a few years ago and whose work was retrospectively spotlighted. Ghosts figured prominently as well in the exhibition of three films directed by the elusive Mike De Leon, underscoring both the process of production and the precariousness of the medium.

First of the De Leons to be shown was The Rites of May/Itim (76), presented in a decent print from the British Film Institute that has only just begun to turn red. Jun is a young urban photographer returning for a visit to his rural home. He wanders the village snapping photos, including one of a beautiful young woman. He develops the photo and gives it to her when he encounters her again the next day in a church. The woman, Teresa, is understandably surprised, but they talk and soon become friends. He visits her home, where he sees a picture of her sister Rosa who has passed on; she visits his home, where she has a strange encounter with his ailing father.

Shot in a sparse, long-take style, Rites boasts a drifting soundtrack composed of equal parts oozing strings and psychotronic keyboard, mixed with just a dash of talk and freaked-out screaming. The film, too, drifts leisurely as Jun and Teresa's friendship develops, interspersed by the rush of a few short flashbacks, then breaks in a tidal wave of emotion and flashbacks when everyone comes together for Teresa's invocation of her sister's spirit, when all the secrets come out. It is a film worthy of comparison to those masterpieces of the precise long take and religious/philosophical reflection on the photographic image championed by the world cinema critical guard -- which is to say, the works of directors such as Dreyer, Ozu, Tarkovsky, or Kiarostami. I saw it one afternoon with about seventy-five Filipinos (including the film's writer, Gil Quito, who answered some questions afterward), Filipino-Americans, and others. It was an experience that will haunt at least one of us for some time to come.

De Leon's Batch '81 (82) was shown in a print housed at the Cultural Center of the Philippines whose colors have swirled into a light mahogany. A group of college students -- the "batch" of the title -- enlist in a fraternity and are submitted to an extensive hazing that is a clear allegory for the indoctrination effects of modern life. Things start out innocently enough. The guys are blindfolded and stripped before the senior members and, apparently, a group of women. Then they are paddled, blindfolded, sent running through the streets in their underwear, and instructed to call their seniors "master." The film gradually accelerates into pure mayhem. Scissor-pinches are applied to nipples, a number from Cabaret is performed in drag, a pledge is given electric shocks in front of an American observer (implying that the fraternity is a training ground for foreign powers), there is a drowning and finally an interfraternity rumble that leaves several dead.

In addition to Cabaret, Batch '81 is haunted at moments by such other intertexts as Potemkin and (according to Robert Stam) German director Volker Schlondorff's early film Young Torless. But the most obvious point of departure is Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange. One character dresses like Alex and his droogs, and the electroshock scenes recall the Ludovico treatment. During brawl scenes the camera breaks free from the customary austere long-take style, and moments of extreme violence are captured in stylized slow motion. The drone of a synthesizer creates an ironic counterpoint to the image, rather than an emphatic underscore. In both films, modern education is presented as a stripping of individuality, an accession to totalitarianism. Both are misanthropic, thinly disguised condemnations of their surrounding political environments, and scenes of violence and torture in both have provoked astonished cries from the audiences with whom I've seen the films. (An overhead light near the screen kept flashing on and off during the showing of Batch I attended; it seemed appropriate, as if the film's madness had infected the theater's wiring.) I would need to know Tagalog and be more familiar with Filipino cultural history to be able to truly judge De Leon's accomplishment against Kubrick's, but that the influence can be considered as more than doting hommage should suggest what a wallop the film packs.

The third and final print, also from the Cultural Center of the Philippines, had faded the least. Hardly a ghost story and not directly related to any film I know, Sister Stella L. (84) stands firm on its own as a solid, gritty piece of filmmaking. Workers at a cooking-oil plant have gone on strike; they are joined by two nuns, both named Stella, and a reporter who was once the boyfriend of one of the nuns. The nuns are threatened with excommunication, and the reporter's stories are barred from the magazines where he customarily publishes.

The style of Stella differs sharply from that of the previous two De Leon films. Instead of consistently long, steady takes roughed up by moments of swift montage, Stella is mostly standard shot-reverse-shot the whole way through. A few moments stand out, such as a woman's suicide, the subsequent mourning, and her burial conveyed in an elliptical series of five or so shots over about fifteen seconds; some public speaking events presented in very brief shots, jumping about at abrupt angles; some didactic direct-to-camera addresses against a plain white background. The film ends with such a shot, an explicit call to action for the Filipino people. The Walter Reade audience responded with cheers. Not as stylistically audacious, yet just as rigorously constructed as the previous two films, Sister Stella L. communicated its message effectively and elegantly to an audience of around two hundred Filipinos, Filipino-Americans, and others, fourteen years and tens of thousand of miles away from where it was made. That is quite an accomplishment.

One of the fundamental difficulties in writing about non-Hollywood cinema is a lack of materials, and when the films are from a land that has been as embattled over the first century of cinema as the Philippines has, the difficulty is compounded infinitely. Ephraim Katz's indispensable Film Encyclopedia, the first reference for every dedicated cinephile I know, has no entry on De Leon or on Philippine cinema in general. There is a brief note of one hundred or so words on Lino Brocka, as there are for other Third World auteurs who have shown regularly in Euro-American film festivals, such as Ousmane Sembene of Senegal, Satyajit Ray of India, or Youssef Chahine of Egypt. Other standard references, including recent single-volume histories of cinema, are necessarily selective. Of these, Kristin Thompson and David Bordwell's Film History: An Introduction offers the best overview of many Third World industries, including that of the Philippines, merging industrial and stylistic concerns. More focused accounts, such as John A. Lent's The Asian Film Industry, are often invaluable industry surveys, but details of personal history or film style are necessarily limited. When searching for such details, the critic or historian is fortunate to be in contact with people personally linked to the industry, such people as I was able to meet during the festival, and who provided me with some more extensive background.

(continued in the next post)
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: wedge on Feb 04, 2005 at 07:42 AM: (continuation of the mike de leon article):

The De Leons have long been an important family in Philippine cinema. Grandfather Narcisa was the founder of LVN, one of the vertically integrated "big three" studios modeled after the U.S. majors that were constructed soon after Philippine independence from the U.S. in 1948. Manuel, Mike's father, inherited the franchise and became a prominent producer, and Mike grew up surrounded by the business of cinema. He emerged on his own during the Seventies, when many former critics and studio children, among them Ishmael Bernal and Eddie Romero, as well as Brocka and De Leon, made up a Philippine New Wave. Like so many of their peers in New Wave movements across the world, filmmakers in the Philippine New Wave worked on one another's films and were often notably critical of conditions of film production, distribution, exhibition, and criticism. Their influence and prestige peeked in the late Seventies and early Eighties, winning local awards and earning recognition at European festivals such as Cannes. Apparently De Leon is still an important producer and occasional filmmaker, but his productivity has been slowed by inherited mental illness, a condition that may have become more pronounced because of domestic turbulence as well as the acute material and psychological difficulty inherent in filmmaking in the majority of the world. His most recent film was actually a video, made in association with Sony, which was experimenting with setting up video theaters to promote locally produced product. Today, he lives quietly in Metro Manila.

In this era of the new vertical integration of film production, distribution, exhibition, criticism, and preservation, it's entirely possible that none of De Leon's films will ever again be seen theatrically, anywhere. For those of us who were lucky enough to have been in the right place at the right time, this made the experience that much more precious, that much more haunting.

Ray Privett, who wrote about In the Company of Men in July-Aug97, thanks Joel David and Felicidad Lim for research assistance.

COPYRIGHT 1998 Film Society of Lincoln Center
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Feb 04, 2005 at 08:57 AM: That's the one. Think what he'd have to write about if he saw de Leon's real masterpiece, Kisapmata. Or even that video feature, Bilanggo sa Dilim, which is creepier than the William Wyler version ever was...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Feb 04, 2005 at 05:27 PM: What could be his next film? He is one of the saving grace of Philippine cinema.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Feb 16, 2005 at 02:33 PM: Mike de Leon's dad, Atty. Manuel de Leon, longtime general manager of LVN and the first director-general of the Film Academy, just passed away recently.

I saw Mike de Leon yesterday during the premier of Erwin Romulo's film Camiling Story.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Feb 17, 2005 at 05:22 AM: o'hara's dad passed away recently too--2002, i think. mom's still alive.

tragic.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Apr 18, 2005 at 01:28 PM: I just found out that Mike did a docu on the political situation during the cory presidency entitled, if i'm correct, sigma.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: renato on Apr 18, 2005 at 02:11 PM: Has anyone seen Mike's pre-Itim shorts, Bisperas and Monologo ?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on May 04, 2005 at 10:12 PM: Heads up, folks!

KISAPMATA is currently being shown on Cinema One.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Jul 05, 2005 at 02:13 PM: A newly restored version of Kakabakabakaba? has just been completed. Not only was the picture cleaned up, but the sound and folley was also restored and enhanced.

As of what I was told, the DVD box set Mike will release includes Portrait of an Artist as Filipino, Maynila sa Kuko, and Bayaning Third World.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Jul 05, 2005 at 02:41 PM: Any hopes of Kisapmata having a DVD release?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Jul 05, 2005 at 03:09 PM: There's a restored print, so let's hope that it gets to DVD.

BTW, the master copy of Kung Mangarap Ka't Magising has succumed to vinegar syndrome. :(
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Jul 05, 2005 at 08:12 PM: I hope they can restore also Mike de Leon's BATCH 81 and his first feature ITIM.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Jul 05, 2005 at 10:26 PM: Quote from: RMN on Jul 05, 2005 at 03:09 PM
There's a restored print, so let's hope that it gets to DVD.

BTW, the master copy of Kung Mangarap Ka't Magising has succumed to vinegar syndrome. :(

Damn.

It's sad. But if that were Kisapmata, I'd be in hysterics. :P
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Jul 08, 2005 at 09:30 PM: VILMA SANTOS on SISTER STELLA L

"Would you believe, I didn't take this movie seriously. But all the words that I said in that movie has meaning."
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Jul 18, 2005 at 02:38 PM: Has anyone here seen the original version of Sister Stella L., the one with additional 5 mins worth of footage of the Lakbayan rally in end? I hear that the action shots that Mike took of the rally is very powerful.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Jul 18, 2005 at 07:30 PM: Quote from: RMN on Jul 18, 2005 at 02:38 PM
Has anyone here seen the original version of Sister Stella L., the one with additional 5 mins worth of footage of the Lakbayan rally in end? I hear that the action shots that Mike took of the rally is very powerful.

Haven't seen it RMN, is this the scene after the monologue of Vilma Santos? ???
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Max on Jul 27, 2005 at 08:13 PM: I finally got a chance to see Itim and Kisapmata.
The lack of subtitles was a problem especially for Kisapmata.
I was able to fully enjoy Itim, though. I have to thank all the kind guys who helped me to see this movie. It proved my theories, but aside from this, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MOVIE!!! It has some really impressive scenes that stand in my mind. I, beeing italian, am as sensible as filippine people to christian religion issues, and the scene in the church with all the Jesus Christ statues is visually impressive!
I would like to talk about it longer, noting the similarities with Kaidan kasane ga fuchi by Nakagawa Nobuo and The innocents by Jack Clayton, but I'm too busy with finishing my thesis.
I need some help again.
I generally understood Itim, but there are some points that still are not completely clear. Can someone help me?
SPOILERS
ITIM
I would like to better understand what was the relationship between the father of the photographer and the dead sister. He was a surgeon and the girl had an abortion. I guess the baby was their, but why kill the baby? And above all, why kill the girl and throw her in the lake?
Then , if the father knew he killed the sister, why did he accept to take part to the séance with the espiritista and everybody?
So why he is a "Criminal!!!"?.
Could you also please shed some more detail on the reasons why the father had an accident and is in a wheel chair?

KISAPMATA
Well, here the lack of subtitles is a disaster. They talk a lot and I didn't understand anything, except for the morbid attachment of the father to the girl and the shocking ending. Why the father first oblidge Jay Ilagan to marry Charo Santos and then prevent him even to see her or call her on the phone?
Here I think I need a more detailed summury of the film story.

Please, help me, even write a personal email if you don't want to spoil the stories of the movies. I have to hand over the thesis Friday, so, please, answer me within tomorrow. Salamat!
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Max on Jul 27, 2005 at 08:18 PM: On Senses of Cinema there is a new article:

3rd World Hero: Rizal and Colonial Clerical Power Through the Lens of Philippine Third Cinema by Antonio D. Sison

http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/05/36/3rd_world_hero.html
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Jul 28, 2005 at 09:44 AM: If you've Seen ITIM and the old b/w LVN film Mutya ng Pasig starring Delia Razon, you'll see similarities between the two. Therefore, it is not unlikely that Mike saw Mutya at some point in his life (after all, it was LVN produced) which gave him some inspiration.

Oh, I just found out that Mike also directed the official "music video" of EDSA 1. ;D
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Jul 29, 2005 at 06:10 AM: SPOILERS

ITIM

Quote
I would like to better understand what was the relationship between the father of the photographer and the dead sister.

They were lovers

Quote
He was a surgeon and the girl had an abortion. I guess the baby was their, but why kill the baby? And above all, why kill the girl and throw her in the lake?

Fear of scandal, especially in that earlier time. The father is a respectable figure in society and the affair and abortion would be a serious stain. Think Vertigo and the story of Carlotta Valdez (only there the man took the baby away from the woman; Mario Montenegro (the photographer's father) is powerful but not that powerful).

Quote
Then , if the father knew he killed the sister, why did he accept to take part to the séance with the espiritista and everybody?

He had no choice; he's paralyzed.

This was my main complaint vs. Itim compared to Kisapmata. Both are beautifully shot, and Itim is more openly gothic in style (Kisapmata's visual style is more understated, which is closer to Mike's ideal). But Itim's antagonist is paralyzed, and therefore passive; he's the bad guy, but he can't do anything, so there's not much tension except for what Mike can drum up with his cinematography. I tend to think of Itim as a first draft of Kisapmata, where the father is fully realized: there, the father takes center stage, is a fully malevolent figure, and actively creates the final tragedy.

Quote
So why he is a "Criminal!!!"?.

Because he's a man--rich enough and powerful enough to do what he wants.

Quote
Could you also please shed some more detail on the reasons why the father had an accident and is in a wheel chair?

Because of a stroke, if I remember correctly.

KISAPMATA

Quote
The lack of subtitles is a disaster

That's a shame; the dialogue is excellent, adds much to their respective characters (the father and mother talk in Ilocano, and the sense of a private relationship, of terrorist and terrorized in a language no one else can understand, is very palpable). I might also add that there is something of the character of Mike de Leon in both the boyfriend/husband AND the father...

Quote
Why the father first oblidge Jay Ilagan to marry Charo Santos and then prevent him even to see her or call her on the phone?

He felt he didn't have a choice; a pregnant unmarried daughter is a huge scandal, especially for an old-fashioned family like theirs.

You need to realize that in the Philippines, face and honor is considered almost more important than actual wealth and power (the exceptions are never openly so, and are a source of much of our drama).

Once married, the scandal is past; now that the daughter has a legitimate spouse the father little by little usurps the husband's role. You also need to realize that the baby is probably the father's and not the boyfriend/husband's--which is probably why the girl went to bed with her boyfriend (to provide a less shocking source for her impregnation) and why the father so desperately wants the daughter and her child with him.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Jul 29, 2005 at 10:10 AM: Mario Montenegro's character, the surgeon, got into a car accident.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Jul 29, 2005 at 04:23 PM: Does anyone here know anything 'bout the theme music of Batch '81? I believe it was culled from a classical piece and I heard it as a ringtone just earlier! :D
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Max on Jul 29, 2005 at 05:28 PM: Quote from: Noel_Vera on Jul 29, 2005 at 06:10 AM
SPOILERS

ITIM

They were lovers

Fear of scandal, especially in that earlier time. The father is a respectable figure in society and the affair and abortion would be a serious stain. Think Vertigo and the story of Carlotta Valdez (only there the man took the baby away from the woman; Mario Montenegro (the photographer's father) is powerful but not that powerful).

Thank you so much Noel! You will have a mention in my thesis and Jojo De Vera too.

So, Mario Montenegro had an affair with this woman, that was clear, but the scandal is because she becomes pregnant before marriage or because Montenegro was already married? And the abortion and omicide is a planned crime? I mean: I suppose she agreed with Montenegro on the abortion. But the killing of the woman was the fruit of an incident during operation or he purposedly killed her because that was his previous plan to conceal the scandal?
Sorry to ask again, I suppose the second guess is the right one, but I need a confirmation on my clear understanding.

KISAPMATA
Thank you for the explanation. The abundance of dialogue in this movie prevents me to fully appreciate it untill I will be able to watch a subtitled copy, but thanks to your added details I better understand the dynamics of the characters. I suspected there was an incest issue, and that clears all. It's a shame I can't understand the dialogues between the father and the boyfriend/husband's family: I can't catch the feeling of the slow process with wich the father sends the husband away from his daughter.
I hope one day there will be a retrospective: the movies are very good and it will be a discovery on Philippine cinema for European public.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Jul 30, 2005 at 06:30 AM: The woman was an extramarital affair; the photographer's mother of course is a different woman.

It's mainly the father's lines in Kisapmata that are so fascinating. He comes off as a very loud old man next door the kind you see all the time; it's only when he's quiet that you feel the danger (see the scene where the wife tries to sneak past her husband).
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Jul 31, 2005 at 04:55 AM: Quote from: Max on Jul 27, 2005 at 08:18 PM
On Senses of Cinema there is a new article:

3rd World Hero: Rizal and Colonial Clerical Power Through the Lens of Philippine Third Cinema by Antonio D. Sison

http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/05/36/3rd_world_hero.html

Excellent article, though I wish he was clearer when he wrote this:

Quote
the most notable of which was Jose Rizal by acclaimed director Marilou Diaz-Abaya. A record-breaking (by Philippine standards), US$2 million biographical epic, Jose Rizal went on to become the most successful Filipino film of all time...she also settles a bitterly-debated issue once and for all: Rizal’s alleged retraction of his strongly anti-colonial and anti-clerical writings. In Diaz-Abaya’s film, Rizal is the prodigal son who returns to the colonial Catholic religion of his oppressors and renounces the very works that “served to restore dignity, self respect, pride, and patriotism among the Filipinos”. (3)

That made me sit up, because I thought he was implying Diaz-Abaya's movie settled the retraction issue instead of actually confusing it further (he retracts AND he's a hero?). He goes on to question Diaz-Abaya's film so my complaint is mostly on clarity rather than accuracy.

Tho I question the assertion that Rizal is the most successful Filipino picture of all time. According to Arlo Custodio of the Sun-Star (who follows this sort of thing), it's Tanging Yaman. Again, a minor point.

And here's my altogether less scholarly, more populist thoughts on Bayaning Third World (for some reason it's acquired all kinds of strange formatting, so my apologies; maybe you can cut and paste it to a word processor and clean it):

http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/noelmoviereviews/message/124
Title: Re:Mike de Leon
Post by: edsa77 on Aug 02, 2005 at 03:32 PM: Quote from: RMN on Oct 23, 2002 at 08:51 PM
Doy del Mundo (who, I think, is his favorite scriptwriter) and Mike came out with a book (from DLSU Press) featuring the screenplay of the Rizal that they were supposed to do for GMA and the screenplay for B3W along with some production notes.

Is it true that Mike and Lino Broka had a falling out?

maybe it was after Maynila. accdng to my source the original script is very baad. puro flashbacks. he had it re-written . he added the gay contents.so lino co-wrote maynila and most of his films.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Aug 04, 2005 at 02:46 PM: De Leon and Brocka had a falling out during the filming as well, to the point that de Leon ordered the crew to pack up, or so I hear. He's the producer, after all.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Aug 08, 2005 at 05:53 PM: Its about time that Ricky Lee work with Mike de Leon again, after all he contributed to the success of ITIM, his directorial debut, although Lee removed his name from the credits.

He should not waste his talent in writing giving most of his work/stuff to Joel Lamangan.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Aug 09, 2005 at 03:18 AM: It's about time Mike worked again, period.

I don't think Mike and Ricky worked all that well together. Mike seems more comfortable with Doy.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Aug 10, 2005 at 01:57 PM: When will the government bestow to him the NATIONAL ARTIST AWARD? Mike de Leon surely deserves it!
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Aug 10, 2005 at 02:05 PM: When he makes a few more hits? Sometimes I wonder at their criteria...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Aug 10, 2005 at 02:12 PM: Just one hit I think is enough and that's not the gauge......just try to look at his track record and filmography. Various films in genre all reaped critically acclaim.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Aug 11, 2005 at 06:13 AM: Quote from: keating on Aug 10, 2005 at 02:12 PM
Just one hit I think is enough and that's not the gauge......just try to look at his track record and filmography. Various films in genre all reaped critically acclaim.

I don't gauge artists by their awards at all. This is at most an amusing exercise, wondering what kind of mental somersaults whatever jury has to go through to think of Mike for a National Artist Award. He don't need no stinkin' award!
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: qbaokitty on Aug 27, 2005 at 02:18 AM: Quote from: keating on Aug 10, 2005 at 01:57 PM
When will the government bestow to him the NATIONAL ARTIST AWARD? Mike de Leon surely deserves it!

he probably won't accept it anyways -) Mike de Leon should have COMPLETELY STARTED and FINISHED his FILMEX version of Rizal sa Dapitan. This was prior to Abaya's take on the exiled hero.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Aug 27, 2005 at 03:16 AM: Mike has never been comfortable with big budgets; that's why he never pushed through with the Filmex production. His Bayaning Third World is all the better for it, I think.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: qbaokitty on Aug 27, 2005 at 04:02 AM: Quote from: Noel_Vera on Aug 27, 2005 at 03:16 AM
Mike has never been comfortable with big budgets; that's why he never pushed through with the Filmex production. His Bayaning Third World is all the better for it, I think.

Yeah, think so 2. Besides, he wasn't given the right people to work with. Especially the management side. That RIZAL SA DAPITAN movie needs at least a year of pre-production in order to execute it based on Doy's script and Mike's requirements
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Aug 28, 2005 at 12:15 PM: Rizal sa Dapitan is Tikoy Aguiluz. Bayaning Third World is Mike's. And Sisa is Mario O'Hara's.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: qbaokitty on Aug 28, 2005 at 01:13 PM: correction nga - it's RIZAL lang for the never produced epic Rizal movie by Filmex which Mike was supposed to direct
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Sep 08, 2005 at 06:01 PM: MARK GIL on BATCH 81

"I was very lucky to worked with MIKE DE LEON. When I first read the script, I knew this is me. SID LUCERO is me!"

8)
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: jdv1229 on Sep 09, 2005 at 06:47 AM: last Saturday I had lunch with Ricky Davao... he was here for two weeks visiting and also for a show that he headlined at Perlas Ng Silangan. anyway, I asked him about his experience working with Mike de Leon and he said na hindi naman daw siya nahirapan. there was only one time na nagalit siya at itigil ang shooting ng Bayaning 3rd World for 3 months. he felt priviledged having worked with him.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Sep 09, 2005 at 08:28 AM: Quote from: Jojo Devera on Sep 09, 2005 at 06:47 AM
there was only one time na nagalit siya at itigil ang shooting ng Bayaning 3rd World for 3 months.

Only Mike de Leon! ;D
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Sep 09, 2005 at 02:59 PM: Rio Locsin & Cherie Pie Picache recalls that during the making of BAYANING THIRD WORLD, there was what you call a "red light" on the set. Pag naka-red, you can't talk to him, pag off, you can!

It's tough relating to a genius......really tough like MIKE DE LEON! 8)
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Sep 10, 2005 at 02:17 PM: Quote from: RMN on Sep 10, 2005 at 10:06 AM
Prolly the person who I think can get into Mike's psyche is not Kuya Cesar or Doy but Erwin Romulo!

That leaves ERWIN ROMULO is the only person who can understand Mike? :o I should have talked to him RMN during the poster auction by Teddy so that I can get a copy of behind the scenes of ITIM & BATCH 81! :D
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Nov 08, 2005 at 05:32 PM: A handful of people have told me that Sister Stella L. is really a Pete Lacaba film and that one can barely see any trace of Mike's signature touch. But what I'd like to know is this: What makes Di Nahahati ang Langit a Mike de Leon work? Since he took his name out of the credits, and it's a melodrama based on a comics material, would you get any hint that he actually directed it?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Nov 09, 2005 at 01:46 PM: Well, what makes Sister Stella more Lacaba than de Leon is that it actually shows political activism, the only de Leon film to do so, and it wears its activism on its sleeve--again, the only de Leon film to do so. There is political subtext in many de Leon films, but it remains subtext--no speeches, no overt themes, and no speaking directly at the screen (again, Sister Stella is the only de Leon film to have this device).

Hindi Nahahati, on the other hand, shows a man manipulating a woman--a theme shared by Itim, Kisapmata, Bilanggo sa Dilim and even to some extent Bayaning Third World (Josephine Bracken, though this is only suggested, never shown). There is the suggestion of incestuous feelings (Kispamata, and in an indirect way Itim where father and son in effect share the same woman); the man is introverted, passive unless pushed too far, and does not like to reveal his motives (Kung Mangarap Ka't Magising, Kisapmata, Itim, Batch '81--heck, make that every de Leon film with maybe the exception of Aliwan Paradise).

And even in other aspects the film is distinctly de Leon--the acting, which is consistently understated (and one of de Leon's--Christopher--finest performances); the cinematography, which is realistic and unshowy, yet intelligently staged and lit; the flashes of brilliance--the crystal swan, Edu Manzano's death scene, so on and so forth.

What's so interesting is that it's still recognizably a komiks story--plenty of confrontations, an intricate plot, a melodramatic music score--but one heightened or enhanced by de Leon's sensibility. No name on the credits? No problem--de Leon's hand can be seen on every frame.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Nov 30, 2005 at 03:58 PM: Sa pagkakaalam ko, iisa lang ang official recording ng "Aling
Pag-ibig Pa" (music by Ding Achacoso, lyrics by yours truly, with a
little help from Andres Bonifacio, whose opening and closing lines in
"Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa" I used as opening and closing lines and
as title in the SISTER STELLA L. theme song).

Iyon ang recording ni Pat Castillo na unang lumabas sa isang LP ng
SISTER STELLA L. soundtrack, at pagkatapos ay nireproduce sa LP na
HANDOG NG PILIPINO SA MUNDO.

Kasama sa 2 records na ito ang isa pang kantang ginawa namin ni Ding
Achacoso para sa pelikula, ang "Sangandaan." Sa SISTER STELLA L.
soundtrack ay may isa pang kantang mistakenly attributed sa akin ang
lyrics, "Manggagawa," na inawit ni Rody Vera. Kung hindi ako
nagkakamali, ang lyrics nitong huli ay sinulat ni Peping Almojuela
(co-writer ng SISTER STELLA L. script) at maaaring may input din si
Rody Vera. (Tama ba, Rody?)

Ang kinanta ng Inang Laya ay ang mismong tula ni Andres Bonifacio na
"Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa." Ewan ko lang kung ang "Aling Pag-ibig
Pa" ay kasama sa repertoire nila.

Ang kantang "Aling Pag-ibig Pa" ay nirecord din ng choral group na
Kasarinlan (conducted by Felipe Padilla de Leon) sa cassette na may
pamagat ding ALING PAG-IBIG PA... May isang Amerikanang hindi ko
matandaan ang pangalan, dating kasal sa isang kakilala kong Pilipino,
na nag-cassette-recording din ng "Sangandaan." Nawawala ang kopya ko
ng cassette na iyon, at hindi ko matandaan kung kasama doon ang
"Aling Pag-ibig Pa."

Ang "Aling Pag-ibig Pa" at/o "Sangandaan" ay kabilang sa repertoire
nina Susan Fernandez, Cooky Chua, at Coritha, pero sa pagkakaalam ko
ay hindi pa nila nairerekord ang mga ito.

--Pete Lacaba
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Dec 01, 2005 at 08:30 AM: For almost ten years I've been looking for the cd of HANDOG NG PILIPINO SA MUNDO, but no luck. After the 1986 Edsa Revolution, many stocks are available on record bars, but I just ignore it.

In my book, SISTER STELLA L remains one of the best political themed movies along with Brocka's KAPIT SA PATALIM: BAYAN KO.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Dec 01, 2005 at 08:36 AM: They were gutsy attempts because they were made under the Marcos regime, when even a whisper of protest was loud. But in terms of filmmaking, my favorite is Brocka's Orapronobis.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Dec 01, 2005 at 08:43 AM: I forgot ORAPRONOBIS. The ending is unforgettable and up to now it remains to be seen on the theatres.

If Brocka is still alive now, he will make another political themed film on the present administration.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Dec 01, 2005 at 08:55 AM: Quote from: keating on Dec 01, 2005 at 08:43 AM
If Brocka is still alive now, he will make another political themed film on the present administration.

Nuno sa Palasyong Punso[/i].
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Dec 01, 2005 at 12:42 PM: Quote from: keating on Dec 01, 2005 at 08:30 AM
For almost ten years I've been looking for the cd of HANDOG NG PILIPINO SA MUNDO, but no luck. After the 1986 Edsa Revolution, many stocks are available on record bars, but I just ignore it.

In my book, SISTER STELLA L remains one of the best political themed movies along with Brocka's KAPIT SA PATALIM: BAYAN KO.

I spied a CD copy in one of the record bars in Mega.

Ah, but I was told the original version of Sister Stella L., with it's very powerful ending, is something else. Too bad it was never shown here.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Dec 01, 2005 at 06:33 PM: Quote from: RMN on Dec 01, 2005 at 12:42 PM
I spied a CD copy in one of the record bars in Mega.

Ah, but I was told the original version of Sister Stella L., with it's very powerful ending, is something else. Too bad it was never shown here.

Dude is the cd still available? Buy me one, I'll get it in your office. I would like to see also Mike de Leon's original version for the film ending of SISTER STELLA L.

I bet the theatrical ending was Mother Lily's version.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Dec 01, 2005 at 07:16 PM: I'll try to look for a copy of the said CD. Yeah, Mother Lily, with Mike's consent of course, had the ending taken out. Got scared I guess.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Dec 01, 2005 at 07:19 PM: Mike was scared of Mother? How come? I thought from the very start he had the final cut on all of his films. He doesn't compromise right and doesn't need to sell his soul just to have a project.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Dec 01, 2005 at 07:44 PM: Quote from: keating on Dec 01, 2005 at 07:19 PM
Mike was scared of Mother? How come? I thought from the very start he had the final cut on all of his films. He doesn't compromise right and doesn't need to sell his soul just to have a project.

No, no. Mother Lily got scared of the Marcos regime. And I don't think she actually supported the film by way of marketing and promotions. And her hubby, the story goes, even wrote Mike a letter.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Dec 01, 2005 at 07:51 PM: I almost forgot that was a very rocky and political year, RMN. SISTER STELLA L was shown after the assasination of Ninoy right? Thanks for the info.

And maybe the cold treatment of Mother regarding the promo was one of the reasons why it flopped at the tills. But, never mind, they come up with a film that stood the test and wear of time.

Was there an order before that when you watch the film, you'll be prison? It puzzles me why it flopped at the tills.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Dec 02, 2005 at 12:06 PM: Quote from: keating on Dec 01, 2005 at 07:51 PM
I almost forgot that was a very rocky and political year, RMN. SISTER STELLA L was shown after the assasination of Ninoy right? Thanks for the info.

And maybe the cold treatment of Mother regarding the promo was one of the reasons why it flopped at the tills. But, never mind, they come up with a film that stood the test and wear of time.

Was there an order before that when you watch the film, you'll be prison? It puzzles me why it flopped at the tills.

A backgrounder on Sister Stella L. :

Right around that time, Mike de Leon was trying to apply for a loan from the ECP Film Fund, which was then under the adminstration of Marichu VP Maceda. Manay Ichu, as she is fondly called, suggested to Mike that he do a movie with Vilma Santos. (If you recall she was the producer of Batch '81) So Mike then searched around for a possible material for a Vilma Santos starrer when heard that Pete Lacaba had a script about nuns being involved in agrarian reform issues. However, Manay Ichu told Mike that hindi bagay si Vilma sa probinsya and to make the film more commercialy viable, why won't he make the setting urban? So the script was reworked and from agararian reforms issues, it was changed to nuns invloving themselves in labor unrest. Also, revisions with the title (from Sangangdaan to Sister Stella L.) and the name of Vilma's character (from Sister Cora to Sister Stella) was made upon Manay Ichu's instigation.

Eventually, the loan was approved and Mike promptly gave Vilma a downpayment. But then, just when they were about to start filming, some emissary from the gov't ordered the stoppage of the shoot and the movie was shelved. Since Mike had to repay his loan to the ECP, he looked around for producer willing to buy out Vilma's contract. And then Mother Lily came into the picture. And the rest, as they say, is film history.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Dec 02, 2005 at 02:41 PM: I know also that Remy Monteverde, Mother's hubby would send notes to Mike saying that they were businessmen, not propagandists to avoid the wrath of the Marcos Regime during that time.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Feb 14, 2006 at 12:55 PM: KUNG MANGARAP KA'T MAGISING (Mike de Leon)

Love is the greatest adventure of all time. The second film of Mike de Leon after the gothic horror ITIM showed his renowned technical skills and masterful storytelling in this light romantic drama. With such a wonderful location, Baguio City & Sagada, he captured perfectly the romantic cliches of the two leads (Christopher de Leon & Hilda Koronel). Add some nice supporting cast especially Bibeth Orteza who filled the gaps of the movie before conflict arises, the late Moody Diaz, a veteran of de Leon films, Laurice Guillen, Danny Javier & Buboy Garrovillo of Apo Hiking Society, this teen-angst movie is worth your time. Most noteworthy are the humming tunes by Jun Latonio. Even in romantic films like this , the ending is bittersweet. I wonder if Mike de Leon is always cynical about LIFE.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: wedge on Feb 14, 2006 at 02:52 PM: Quote from: keating on Feb 14, 2006 at 12:55 PM
KUNG MANGARAP KA'T MAGISING (Mike de Leon)

Saw this a few years back at NCCA during their post-Valentines film festival. The film is good, untypically Mike de Leon. Before the film was presented, a short talk re: the film's production said that it was de Leon's homage to LVN (or Sampaguita, can't remember).

I don't think the film revolves mostly on teen-angst- - -it is practically more on the growing up pains and the romantic inclinations that come along with it. Somehow, kind of reminded me of Ben Braddock and Mrs. Robinson sans the seduction and all that. The cast was well-chosen, the milieu was appropriate and it could be one perfect valentine's day movie.

Hm....wondering where I could find a copy of this film... (i should've bought a copy when it was being sold sa NCCA nun).
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Feb 14, 2006 at 03:12 PM: I love this film (Kung Mangarap Ka't Magising), man. You're right wedge...its more on growing up rather than teen-angst.

Kennon Road in Baguio symbolizes the choices and decisions that we have to take in life.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: wedge on Feb 14, 2006 at 03:14 PM: I take it that you have a copy of this film, bro?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Feb 14, 2006 at 03:16 PM: Absolutely and its in widescreen version! :o :D
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: wedge on Feb 14, 2006 at 03:18 PM: Swerte mo. Hehe. Like I've said I should've bought a copy of it when NCCA was peddling VHS copies nun (right after the presentation).

Are there any video shops that carry 'em?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Feb 14, 2006 at 03:30 PM: None so far, wedge. When was the screening at NCCA? I hope Mike de Leon will do the sequel, a sort of. The film is really perfect for Valentines Day despite of the ending.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: wedge on Feb 14, 2006 at 03:37 PM: If I remember correctly, i saw it a few days before the festival officially concluded. Mga early March 2004 ata yun. t'was the last film shown during that particular film fest. the others, i think were early Sampaguita and LVN romance movies. hadn't really put much attention to them at that time. I was more focused on seeing a Mike de Leon film nun eh.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Feb 14, 2006 at 05:42 PM: KUNG MANGARAP KA'T MAGISING was shown during the 1977 MMFF. One of the most controversial years in the history of MMFF and the reclusive Mike de Leon was present and staged a walk out during the awards ceremony.
KISAPMATA remains the top favorite among the critics and I have to see it again to conclude that it was his best film.

ITIM remains also one of my favorites and still blew me away until now along with BATCH 81.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: marj on Feb 18, 2006 at 11:18 AM: I think KabayanCentral.com is still selling it.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Feb 18, 2006 at 08:52 PM: Its true that your preference over films change everytime you see it. Saw ITIM for the 3rd time already and I can't get tired of watching it. The visuals are simply breathtaking!
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: jdv1229 on Feb 19, 2006 at 07:19 AM: Itim is also my most favorite Mike de Leon film... the performances were outstanding. i still consider this to be Charo Santos' best alongside Kontrobersyal & Gumapang Ka Sa Lusak, and who can forget Susan Valdez? she was just simply astonishing.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Feb 19, 2006 at 12:53 PM: Did they shot the film in Bulacan? Tommy Abuel mentioned San Ildefonso when conversing with Charo Santos in the movie.

In my grandmother's hometown in Bulacan, we also have the traditional pasyon which was repeatedly used also in the movie. The dream sequences of Abuel where the saints started to move were eerie and creepy.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Feb 20, 2006 at 12:30 PM: The beautiful house used in Bukas, Madilim Bukas, belongs to the de Leon's and is in Bulacan.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Feb 20, 2006 at 06:34 PM: Was it the same house in ITIM, RMN?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Mar 18, 2006 at 11:26 AM: Got some info that HANDOG NG PILIPINO SA MUNDO MTV back in 1986 was made by no less than, Mike de Leon.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: commentary on Mar 19, 2006 at 07:15 AM: This happened a few months ago, but I don't think it's been posted about:

http://www.asianfilmarchive.org/MikedeLeon_Collection.htm

Mike de Leon Collection in Asian Film Archive

The Asian Film Archive is proud to honour the films of critically acclaimed Asian independent filmmaker Mike De Leon by preserving them in its permanent collection. This collection includes film prints and negatives of Mike de Leon, Lino Brocka and Lamberto V. Avellana.

Acknowledged by many critics as the most consistent Filipino filmmaker in terms of cinematic excellence, Mike de Leon's filmography has been considered as a virtual compendium of contemporary classics. De Leon’s critically acclaimed films hold up a mirror to the Filipino psyche, reflecting questions of class belonging, political absurdities, and fragmentation in various forms.

“I’m very grateful to the Asian Film Archive for taking an interest in preserving these films,” said Mike de Leon. The Asian Film Archive preserves film prints, digital masters and related materials in a permanent collection focusing on the acclaimed works of living independent Asian film makers that are not well archived. In the second Reel Emergency Project, the Asian Film Archive is especially looking at films and videos by Southeast Asian filmmakers.

"It is easy to call Mike de Leon one of the greatest Filipino filmmakers who ever lived. He’s done only a handful (nine features and three shorts) but every one displays an amazingly high level of technical proficiency. In terms of sound design, cinematography and editing, his films sound, look and flow better than almost any other Filipino filmmaker, it may be argued that De Leon has never made a bad film - that his battling average runs a near perfect 95 or even 100 per cent."
- Noel Vera, Author of Critic After Dark: A Review of Philippine Cinema (The Thin Line Between Genius and Sanity - Read more at http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/noelmoviereviews/message/320)

This collection includes Kisapmata (Blink of an Eye, 1981), Batch 81 (1982), Sister Stella L (1984), Kakabakaba ka ba? (Will Your Heart Beat Faster?, 1980) and Bayaning Third World (Third World Hero, 1999). Kisapmata and Batch ’81 were shown at the Directors’ Fortnight at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in 1982 while Sister Stella L. competed at the Venice Film Festival in 1985. It also includes Maynila sa Mga Kuko ng liwanag (Maynila in the Claws of Neon, 1975) directed by Lino Brocka, lensed and executively produced by Mike De Leon. Maynila is also considered by many to be Brocka's best film; and by others to be the finest Filipino film ever made. This is the first film Mike De Leon produced under Cinema Artists Philippines, in 1975 which he set up.

Biography: Miguel Pamintuan de Leon Birthplace: Manila, Philippines Birthdate: May 24, 1947

Filmography:
1. Itim (Rites of May) 1976
2. Kung Mangarap Ka’t Magising 1977
3. Kakabakaba ,Ka Ba? (Will Your Heart Beat Faster?) 1980
4. Kisapmata (Blink of An Eye) (Directors’ Fortnight Cannes 81)
5. Batch ’81 (Directors’ Fortnight Cannes 82)
6. Sister Stella L. 1984 (Venice, Competition 85)
7. Hindi Nahahati ang Langit 1985
8. Bilanggo sa Dilim (video feature) 1987
9. Aliwan Paradise (Southern Winds) Short film, anthology 1993
10. Bayaning 3rd World (Third World Hero) 1999
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Mar 19, 2006 at 08:37 AM: I knew about it, but for some reason didn't post about it. Thanks for doing that.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Mar 19, 2006 at 01:47 PM: ITIM is currently my fave among his works. Its perfect for any occasion not only this coming Lenten season. Still have to see BILANGGO SA DILIM & ALIWAN PARADISE.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Mar 20, 2006 at 02:03 PM: Mike was once asked if he could remake any LVN film, what would it be? He answered--and I'm surprised by this--Biyaya ng Lupa.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Mar 20, 2006 at 02:29 PM: Good luck. Mike can do a lot of things, some better than any filmmaker, but Renoirlike naturalism...good luck.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on May 11, 2006 at 04:22 PM: Just saw again last night KAKABAKABA KA BA. I want the soundtrack of the movie especially the longer version of BIGYAN MO PO KAMI NG TINAPAY! ;D :D The best comedy film of all-time.

Nanette Inventor, rocks!
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: eman59 on May 11, 2006 at 04:50 PM: The most unforgettable image in Itim for me is the black-and-white freeze frame that becomes the photograph of Susan Valdez. She smirks, she doesn't want to have her picture taken, it's too hot to stand still for a picture. When the photograph is seen again after her story is revealed, you realize she smirks because of contempt for the man taking her picture. I remember watching a "Making of" feature of Itim that shows the care that went into making this movie. Would make a great supplement to a DVD if one ever comes out.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on May 11, 2006 at 04:55 PM: I saw some snipettes on the making of ITIM during Teddy Co's movie poster auction. Very rare glimpse of Mike de Leon calling the shots inside and outside of that creepy house.

When did you see it, eman? And yeah ITIM boasts of unforgettable visual images, those eyes of Susan Valdez always comes alive.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: eman59 on May 11, 2006 at 04:59 PM: Quote from: keating on May 11, 2006 at 04:55 PM
When did you see it, eman? And yeah ITIM boasts of unforgettable visual images, those eyes of Susan Valdez always comes alive.

They showed it on TV as part of the marketing campaign. Don't remember if it was also tacked at the end of the Betamax, but I saw it on TV.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on May 11, 2006 at 05:04 PM: I want to see the longer version of that making, maybe if they release ITIM on dvd. When I compare it to Brocka's GUMISING KA, MARUJA since both are gothic horror, Tommy Abuel, Mario Montenegro & Charo Santos were not eaten alive by that house. Their performances float around!

Noel was right, the ancestral mansion was the real star of GUMISING KA, MARUJA.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on May 11, 2006 at 05:10 PM: For me when Mario O'Hara came out on his room and saw the ghosts sitting on the living room. Also the ending when the camera zooms in and out of the ancestral house. When I talked to Mel Chionglo the production designer, he said they just found out that house with no furnitures inside. Also there were real ghost stories narrated by some crew when they shot the film.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on May 12, 2006 at 03:59 AM: Quote from: eman59 on May 11, 2006 at 04:50 PM
I remember watching a "Making of" feature of Itim that shows the care that went into making this movie. Would make a great supplement to a DVD if one ever comes out.

That's the plan, if he can actually get it together and put it out on DVD.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Jun 18, 2006 at 08:43 PM: Why would Mike de Leon cast Aga Muhlach as Jose Rizal for that aborted project that Marilou did if Muhlach was slightly dumb and not keen on grasping directions, Noel?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Jun 18, 2006 at 11:15 PM: Because Mike didn't cast Aga. He was foisted on Mike by GMA productions, and is one of the reasons why Mike didn't want to do the film

I saw the trailer Mike did for the film, incidentally. It looks ominous, beautiful. Then you see Aga's face, and all credibility goes flying out the window.

Which, incidentally, is my reaction when I see Cesar Montano as Rizal. ;D
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Jun 19, 2006 at 04:37 PM: Mike should proceed and do that aborted Rizal project. I think the screenplay of that film was available a few years back.

How's Mike when he gets angry, Noel? They were in location in Bataan when the film was packed up!
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Jun 20, 2006 at 06:56 AM: He never wanted to do that project. Apparently he hates multimillionpeso budgets and elaborate productions.

Have you seen Bayaning Third World? Why would he want to improve on that?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Jun 20, 2006 at 08:19 AM: Yeah, I've seen BAYANING THIRD WORLD on its first day, its the best Rizal movie put on celluloid. I'm looking for a copy also of RIZAL SA DAPITAN.

I'm waiting for the commercial release in dvd of BAYANING THIRD WORLD.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: commentary on Jun 21, 2006 at 02:48 PM: Quote from: keating on Jun 20, 2006 at 08:19 AM
Yeah, I've seen BAYANING THIRD WORLD on its first day, its the best Rizal movie put on celluloid. I'm looking for a copy also of RIZAL SA DAPITAN.

Rizal Sa Dapitan, for which our friend Noel has a credit on the script, is available on DVD. Now the quality of the transfer, however, I can not vouch for (I haven't picked up a copy yet myself).
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Jun 21, 2006 at 03:57 PM: Quote from: keating on Jun 20, 2006 at 08:19 AM
Yeah, I've seen BAYANING THIRD WORLD on its first day, its the best Rizal movie put on celluloid.

I prefer O'Hara's Sisa. And beyond that, Gerry de Leon's El Filibusterismo.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Jun 21, 2006 at 06:05 PM: Quote from: commentary on Jun 21, 2006 at 02:48 PM
Rizal Sa Dapitan, for which our friend Noel has a credit on the script, is available on DVD. Now the quality of the transfer, however, I can not vouch for (I haven't picked up a copy yet myself).

Thanks for the info, commentary. I think the movie was shot on a modest budget just like Bayaning Third World. I didn't know that Noel has a credit on the script of RIZAL SA DAPITAN.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Oct 17, 2006 at 12:23 PM: The.man.hates.curtains. ;D
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Oct 20, 2006 at 04:02 PM: What's next for the most reclusive filmmaker of all-time? ???

A blast marathon tomorrow of Mike de Leon films:

ITIM
KISAPMATA
KAKABAKABA KA BA
KUNG MANGARAP KA'T MAGISING

too bad those titles are not available on dvd...... ;)
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: riverfan on Nov 13, 2006 at 10:38 AM: I recently bought Nasaan Si Francis DVD, and was browsing through its featured trailers, and lo & behold, as part of its cinefilipino catalog, unitel has a trailer for KISAPMATA, together with other films such as SAKAY and ANG AKING PAGKAGISING MULA SA KAMULATAN.

:)

Hope they wont let us wait that long.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: riverfan on Nov 13, 2006 at 11:01 AM: screen caps from the trailer of Mike De Leon's KISAPMATA featured in the NASAAN SI FRANCIS DVD.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v126/megax4/title.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v126/megax4/charo.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v126/megax4/shot1.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v126/megax4/charito.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v126/megax4/vic.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v126/megax4/PDVD_005.jpg)
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: telonistas on Nov 19, 2006 at 02:26 PM: i did the title frame of 'handog ng pilipino sa mundo'. it was the early days of digital technology. i used an 8-bit sony computer called VIDEOTIZER SMC-70G. It has a palette of 15 colors and a resolution of 320x480. pixels galore! it was the same computer i used for the opening and closing billboard of 'bilanggo sa dilim'. first full length video shot using 1-inch video. story is based on john fowles' "the collector". i also used video effects function of the SMC-70G for the joel torre's character dream sequences of the movie. i am also one of the film's assistant editors.

those were the days...the good old analog days!
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Nov 19, 2006 at 02:59 PM: Those of Kisapmata stills look amazing.

Interesting stuff, telonista. Did Mike do 'Handog?' I don't quite remember. And didn't he cut a scene out of Bilanggo?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Nov 19, 2006 at 08:43 PM: Pete Lacaba wrote the lyrics for the song HANDOG NG PILIPINO SA MUNDO, and yes, Mike de Leon directed the MTV.

The soundtrack which was a part of Sister Stella L musical score was floating around after Edsa I, too bad I didn't bought it.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: telonistas on Nov 19, 2006 at 11:43 PM: "handog..." i think was written and composed by jim paredes. yes mike directed the mtv. after the mtv he went on to do the batas militar docu project for PTV4. another ill-fated project. jon red a.k.a juan pula resurrected the project many years ago for the 25th or was it the 30th martial law anniv? mike alcazaren who is now negotiating with the aquinos for the ninoy bio-pic was part of the original mike de leon batas militar team along with lee meily, ian victoriano(raymond red's co-writer for bayani and sakay) and others. fortunate to see a teaser/trailer of mike alcazaren's ninoy bio-pic. shot using 16mm b/w stock. boy yniguez was dp. great teaser! looks promising! hair stood after seeing silohoutte of ninoy (he used bambam aquino as stand-in for this teaser) in the balcony of his HK hotel suite, hours before his flight to manila.

actually for bilanggo, mike"offline" edited the whole movie using hi-fi betamax, HF1000 with video and audio insert capabilities. SMPTE timecode was not yet a standard during that time. everything was CTL code. after his "off-line" betamax edit he gave us a copy on tape and instructed us to copy his edit using the 1-inch source tapes down to the last frame.

the movie was premiered in sony wave video theater at cubao fiesta carnival. sony wave theater projected its movies using the humongous three-gun sony video projector(low res,low lumens pa) onto a 200" screen from a u-matic tape source. but for the bilanggo screening, we had to bring in the cabinet size 1-inch recorder/player deck for better resolution. funny thing was the color was unstable coming from the 1-inch deck. i had to wear a headset with microphone at the backend of the theater and give color/contrast adjustment instructions to the technician behind the screen while the movie was being shown.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Nov 20, 2006 at 09:53 AM: You mean Mike was supposed to do Batas Militar, right? Because far as I know, he didn't.

Interesting stuff on Mike's editing method. But did he cut a scene in particular out of Bilanggo? I'm thinking of the Joel Torre character as a child, being dressed up as a girl...

This is going to sound downright heretical, but I thought the Magkaisa video was more, well, moving. Because it was first, and the song was more openly emotional and sentimental and all, and if I remember right, Handog was sung by all kinds of OPM celebrities, a kind of take off on the Feed the World video.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Nov 20, 2006 at 07:47 PM: My mistake guys, it was Jim Paredes who wrote the lyrics for HANDOG NG PILIPINO SA MUNDO. Telonistas was right.

MAGKAISA was written by Homer Flores & Tito Sotto. HANDOG was probably Mike's stand that he can do MTV with historical value.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Dec 18, 2006 at 09:05 PM: with the help of a very good friend who did all the computer work, was able to "produce" a sountrack compilation from Mike de Leon's films. it's not perfect and may not even be complete, but it's good enough. having my fill now of the rock opera in kakabakabakaba?. hehe :D

mike with pete lacaba et al did the docu signus, about Edsa 1. and just recently, the man completed a short 15 minute docu that's just waiting to be screened. (he's been quite busy these days)

you got to hear raymond red's personal experiences working the master. wild!
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: JdelaCruz on Dec 20, 2006 at 11:18 AM: ^ You mean you have Joey's Song from "Kung Mangarap Ka't Magising"? Wow! Hearing that song reminds me of a cloudy Baguio day, or a really dark and rainy Manila afternoon even. Although it's been ages since I heard it last. Lucky you.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Dec 25, 2006 at 09:11 PM: You want a copy? ;)
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: wedge on Dec 28, 2006 at 04:29 AM: Saw Itim again for the um...4th time, I think, (the last was three or 4 years ago, when I was still in Manila), and still is the best.

But, Kisapmata put the shivers in me (after a two-film Mike de Leon marathon). There is something inexplicably frightening in Kisapmata that will leave you bothered in the end. It could be Vic Silayan's character, or it could be the whole setup of the plot, or it could be the situations presented.

It's obvious that it earned a spot on my All-Time Favorite Movies. Now, can somebody tell me where I can a copy of Nick Joaquin's The House on Zapote Street?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: marj on Dec 28, 2006 at 09:25 AM: Quote from: wedge on Dec 28, 2006 at 04:29 AM
Now, can somebody tell me where I can a copy of Nick Joaquin's The House on Zapote Street?

As far as I know, it's part of the Nick Joaquin's anthology REPORTAGE ON CRIME published by National Book Store. It originally appeared in the PHILIPPINES FREE PRESS magazine.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: wedge on Dec 28, 2006 at 10:36 AM: Yup, I read that it was a part of that anthology. The problem is the freaking book is nowhere to be found. I also read that the film Jaguar was also based on one of the stories in the book.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Dec 28, 2006 at 06:24 PM: The book is OOP already for so many years.

Saw it on Alemar's shelves when I was still in grade school.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Dec 28, 2006 at 07:24 PM: Quote from: wedge on Dec 28, 2006 at 04:29 AM
But, Kisapmata put the shivers in me (after a two-film Mike de Leon marathon). There is something inexplicably frightening in Kisapmata that will leave you bothered in the end.

That's because there are ghosts in that film, real ghosts, ghosts of people living and dead.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Dec 28, 2006 at 07:29 PM: In what particular scene in KISAPMATA the ghosts appeared? The house by Vic Silayan looks haunted at night, can match the house in ITIM.

:o

and if we gonna watch the retrospective docu of KISAPMATA if ever there will be, the only remaining survivor is Charo Santos. The 3 main casts were already dead.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: wedge on Dec 29, 2006 at 08:52 AM: Throw in Ruben Rustia too, bro :)

Quote from: Noel_Vera on Dec 28, 2006 at 07:24 PM
That's because there are ghosts in that film, real ghosts, ghosts of people living and dead.

Oh? Yeah, same with keats, I'd like to know more.... Hehe ;D Was the place the real house in which the actual crime was committed?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Dec 29, 2006 at 02:40 PM: Quote from: keating on Dec 28, 2006 at 07:29 PM
In what particular scene in KISAPMATA the ghosts appeared?

From beginning to the very end.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: JdelaCruz on Dec 29, 2006 at 06:16 PM: Quote from: RMN on Dec 25, 2006 at 09:11 PM
You want a copy? ;)

Yesss!!! PMd you my gmail. Hope you weren't kidding ;D
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Dec 30, 2006 at 04:56 PM: Its time to revisit KISAPMATA again. Like wedge, I want to know also if the actual crime house was used in the movie?

I didn't know that Ruben Rustia was already dead.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Dec 31, 2006 at 01:54 PM: No. They were careful not to use the real names, real locations, or too many of the actual details to avoid being sued by the families involved. Teddy Co knows the house where the shooting occured--if it's still standing. It needed very specific requirements, in particular an inside balcony overlooking the living room.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Dec 31, 2006 at 01:57 PM: Is the house situated in Metro Manila, Noel? That could be a very good tourist attraction. If you try to look closer inside the house, Vic Silayan personified the father monster figure.

The cinematography of Rody Lacap jibes in to the creepy atmosphere inside the house.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: butsoy on Dec 31, 2006 at 03:38 PM: Quote from: riverfan on Nov 13, 2006 at 11:01 AM
screen caps from the trailer of Mike De Leon's KISAPMATA featured in the NASAAN SI FRANCIS DVD.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v126/megax4/title.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v126/megax4/charo.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v126/megax4/shot1.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v126/megax4/charito.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v126/megax4/vic.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v126/megax4/PDVD_005.jpg)

I hope they would release this on the 1st quarter of 2007. :D :D
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: wedge on Dec 31, 2006 at 04:15 PM: Quote from: Noel_Vera on Dec 31, 2006 at 01:54 PM
No. They were careful not to use the real names, real locations, or too many of the actual details to avoid being sued by the families involved. Teddy Co knows the house where the shooting occured--if it's still standing. It needed very specific requirements, in particular an inside balcony overlooking the living room.

So, Nick Joaquin also fictionalized the actual incident in his Reportage in Crime book? But what depicted was the real tragedy that transpired?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: jdv1229 on Dec 31, 2006 at 08:33 PM: Quote from: wedge on Dec 28, 2006 at 10:36 AM
Yup, I read that it was a part of that anthology. The problem is the freaking book is nowhere to be found. I also read that the film Jaguar was also based on one of the stories in the book.

the Nick Joaquin story Jaguar was based from the short story The Man Who Would Be Society.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: wedge on Jan 01, 2007 at 02:54 AM: Thanks for the info, Jojo. But that was also based from an actual event, right? (Haven't seen Jaguar, kaya I don't know what the story is about). :)
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: jdv1229 on Jan 01, 2007 at 03:36 AM: you're welcome wedge! i think it was based on a true story as well...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Jan 01, 2007 at 11:13 AM: Quote from: Noel_Vera on Dec 31, 2006 at 01:54 PM
No. They were careful not to use the real names, real locations, or too many of the actual details to avoid being sued by the families involved. Teddy Co knows the house where the shooting occured--if it's still standing. It needed very specific requirements, in particular an inside balcony overlooking the living room.

It was an old house in D. Tuazon in Sta. Mesa Hts. near Teddy's residence. But the real crime happened in Zapote St. in Makati.

Where is Zapote St.?

Teddy's theory was that probably the real characters haunted the actors playing them! :o
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Jan 01, 2007 at 04:03 PM: Mike changed details from the Nick Joaquin article. Nick pretty much told it as it was; Mike had details changed.

Teddy said that? Probably pulling your leg. Or maybe not. Sometimes you can't tell with him.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Jan 02, 2007 at 04:33 PM: Teddy can't remember the ghosts stuff in KISAPMATA, Noel. I'll ask Cesar Hernando. It would be nice insert on the dvd the reproduction of the news article by Nick Joaquin.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Jan 03, 2007 at 10:05 AM: The ghost is dead. I knew a relative of his, tho, Bart, and Bart's famous cousin-singer (leastwise I thought she was his cousin) Chat.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Jan 03, 2007 at 05:48 PM: Quote from: RMN on Dec 18, 2006 at 09:05 PM
with the help of a very good friend who did all the computer work, was able to "produce" a sountrack compilation from Mike de Leon's films. it's not perfect and may not even be complete, but it's good enough. having my fill now of the rock opera in kakabakabakaba?. hehe :D

mike with pete lacaba et al did the docu signus, about Edsa 1. and just recently, the man completed a short 15 minute docu that's just waiting to be screened. (he's been quite busy these days)

you got to hear raymond red's personal experiences working the master. wild!

The soundtrack is so amazing! Love, love the humming tunes from KUNG MANGARAP KAT MAGISING, the haunting Max Jocson score in ITIM & the rock opera BIGYAN MO PO KAMI NG TINAPAY in KKBKB!

Ei Mon, why not coffee time with the man himself? ;)
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Jan 13, 2007 at 05:48 PM: there are no ghosts--alive,dead,real or figurative-- in kisapamata, at least as far as Cesar Hernando's concerned.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Jan 14, 2007 at 01:20 PM: Figurative, sir, purely figurative...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Jan 14, 2007 at 07:07 PM: I wonder how did ITIM originated and got its title? Was it SEMANA SANTA the working title before?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Feb 02, 2007 at 05:09 PM: Read a circa 70's interview that Peque Gallaga did with the late Conrado Baltazar for the defunct Ermita Magazine. At some point in the interview, he asked Baltazar bout Mike de Leon as cinematographer (at that time he just completed Maynila and Itim) and the man was totally impressed with his technique and style. His methodogy as DOP--well lit sets with LOTS of lights, doing tests shots and re-shooting if necessary, his experiments in processing etc.--are fascinating.

Just look at Maynila Sa Kuko, Kung Mangarap and, of course, Itim, and you'll see why.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Feb 03, 2007 at 01:05 PM: That "lots of lights" comment is interesting. I remember reading an American Cinematographer article on the X Files TV series, and one cinematographer saying you need "lots of lights" to light a dark space. I take it that he means, it's a more complex task trying to light dark scenes in a film, because you're trying to give the impression of a low light level, but still keep important elements visible.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Feb 05, 2007 at 07:57 PM: Passed by Old Manila in Sm Megamall a while ago, the LVN book is available there, its been OOP for so many years.

A snapshot of the young Mike de Leon is an eye-opener in the book with the late Dona Sisang.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Feb 12, 2007 at 04:02 PM: (http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m132/keating_01/03.jpg)

Mike de Leon on the set of KISAPMATA.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: wedge on Feb 22, 2007 at 02:06 AM: Quote from: Noel_Vera on Feb 03, 2007 at 01:05 PM
That "lots of lights" comment is interesting. I remember reading an American Cinematographer article on the X Files TV series, and one cinematographer saying you need "lots of lights" to light a dark space. I take it that he means, it's a more complex task trying to light dark scenes in a film, because you're trying to give the impression of a low light level, but still keep important elements visible.

Is that the "Day for Night" technique? Or something else?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Feb 22, 2007 at 02:39 PM: Day for Night uses filters. When you're lighting a dark space (and not doing Day for Night), you need plenty of spots, otherwise, what comes out onscreen is just a lot of black.

I don't think we (Peque and I) have the same idea when we say that Mike's sets are "well-lit." Well lit in the sense that he uses lighting brilliantly sure, but the onscreen images have plenty of darkness in them too--"Itim" wasn't called that for being brightly lit! That said, and as that cinematographer in the X Files confirms, you need a lot of lights to achieve that shadowy look...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Feb 25, 2007 at 10:10 PM: The house in Brocka's TATLO DALAWA ISA episode Bukas, Madilim, Bukas seems to have a similarities on the house in ITIM. Both have a gothic atmosphere. But its more glossy and slick lighting on BUKAS, MADILIM, BUKAS.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: telonistas on Feb 27, 2007 at 11:46 PM: house in Itim is at D. Tuazon, in front of St. Theresa's College QC.. Mike uses classical approach in lighting. yun siguro ang naituro ng mga aleman sa kanya. to be able to get the "correct" exposure/ideal shadow to highlight range, you need plenty of lights especially when working interiors. sa color-timing sa post na lang ang batakan ng color and contrast. pag mali ang exposure- may tendency bumagsak ang blacks at pumutok ang highlights.

mike likes to play around in post. color-timing and minsan naglalaro sa opticals for his dissolves and wipe transistions. notice the opticals in most of his films? during that time very rare ang mga dissolves sa pelikula. yung dissolves sa kung mangarap, yung wipes sa kakabakaba. tedious mag opticals. mahal and matrabaho.si mike lang ang may discipline, patience and of course-access sa opticals during that time. ngayon, sisiw na lang sa digital technology.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Feb 28, 2007 at 04:57 AM: Wipes and split screens. And he plays with them to wonderful effect (not to mention subtitles) in Kakaba.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: telonistas on Feb 28, 2007 at 10:13 AM: Agree. the splitscreens in stella L. were a bit discomforting.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Feb 28, 2007 at 06:12 PM: for telephone conversation scenes, split screens, such as in Kakaba and Sister Stella L.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Feb 28, 2007 at 06:13 PM: I thought the house in ITIM was the ancestral home of the De Leon clan in Bulacan?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: telonistas on Feb 28, 2007 at 08:33 PM: sorry keating. my mistake. i was refering to the house in kisapmata. yes house in itim is in bulacan.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Mar 01, 2007 at 03:19 AM: I've never been to the house in Kisapmata, but if I remember correctly, wasn't it off Quezon Boulevard, near uh that street where they sell all the car radios (Manila geography is getting hazy for me)? D Tuazon?

Ach.telonista answered that for me. If I recall, they needed a specific house, one with an indoor balcony looking down on the living room. So Vic Silayan could stand there, looking ominous.

For someone who knows how to 'shoot classically' and light like nobody's business, Mike's also willing to experiment. The Blow-Up moment in Itim with the photograph, the nightmare sequence in Kisapmata, nearly all of Bayaning Third World (was that maybe the first time--no, second, there were moments in Kakaba--that Mike used animation?).

And there's that wonderful moment in Hindi Nahahati ang Langit, when Edu's car goes out of control and the very celluloid of the film burns up. You're caught up in all this melodrama, and then--wow! What's that?!
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Mar 01, 2007 at 06:14 PM: Fascinating tidbits on how Mike de Leon would envision a particular scene. He really has an eye! The house in KISAPMATA was demolished already if I'm not mistaken. I'll ask Teddy again, about that.

Its ok, telonistas.....the house in KISAPMATA is in the metropolis but looks more haunting than the house in ITIM even during daytime!
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: telonistas on Mar 02, 2007 at 11:59 AM: house used in bilanggo sa dilim has similar feel and atmosphere to the de leon ancestral house in bulacan. it had the same imposing central staircase. house in bilanggo belongs to the lim family(sony,phils) which produced the video full length.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Mar 02, 2007 at 05:23 PM: How was the box-office outcome of BILANGGO SA DILIM? Its the only Sony produced video movie.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Mar 03, 2007 at 05:41 AM: The only Mike de Leon film I know to make money was Hindi Nahahati Ang Langit. After which he got plenty of offers to do more komiks.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: telonistas on Mar 03, 2007 at 10:00 AM: Bilanggo Sa Dilim was shown in Sony Wave Video Theater at the Cubao Fiesta Carnival(1988 or 89). I don't think it made money but the project was fortunate to see the light of day. Three other video full length Sony produced projects (Solid Video), co-produced with Repertory Philippines and shot way before bilanggo did not finish final editing phase. directors were jose marie avellana, emmanuel borlaza and i think one by the late zenaida amador. all originated from 1-inch video.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Mar 03, 2007 at 07:25 PM: HINDI NAHAHATI ANG LANGIT was not bad, even at par with some Bernal komiks material that have witty lines during the 80's. I rank it also with Laurice Guillen's KUNG MAHAWI MAN ANG ULAP.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Mar 04, 2007 at 03:40 PM: I prefer it over Sister Stella L, and so, if I remember right, does Mike. It's genuine De Leon.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Mar 05, 2007 at 05:11 PM: I still have to see ALIWAN PARADISE one of the episodes in SOUTHERN WINDS. Its the only De leon film that I haven't seen aside from his short features like MONOLOGO.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Mar 06, 2007 at 04:40 PM: Aliwan is De Leon at his most sardonic and cynical. He effectively bites the hand that made him (sends up Maynila sa Kuko which made his name as cinematographer and producer).
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Mar 07, 2007 at 06:57 PM: Is it a homage to MAYNILA SA MGA KUKO NG LIWANAG in a more hilarious and sarcastic way, Noel? BTW did Mike worked with Bernal?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Mar 08, 2007 at 06:51 AM: It's a sequel, set in the future.

Far as I know, Bernal and Mike never worked together.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Mar 08, 2007 at 12:23 PM: Aside from Mike himself, of course, who here has a copy of the Handog MTV that he directed during the EDSA 1? I need to borrow a copy for a research project I am working on. Thanks in advance.

On Aliwan Paradise, I was told that Mike openly criticized Brocka for "exploiting the poor" in his films. So I guess Aliwan is direct result of that, where he satirizes and pokes fun on Maynila sa Kuko.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Mar 08, 2007 at 03:15 PM: Being producer, tho, is he repudiating his own product? Or just Brocka's interpretation of it? And was this something that developed over the years? I've always wondered.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Mar 11, 2007 at 06:00 PM: (http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m132/keating_01/Batch81.jpg)

The movie ad for BATCH 81. Thanks to james of Philippine Cinema Vault.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon's ITIM
Post by: keating on Mar 11, 2007 at 06:30 PM: (http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m132/keating_01/ITIM.jpg)

The movie ad for ITIM. Thanks to james of Philippine cinema vault.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon's KUNG MANGARAP KA'T MAGISING
Post by: keating on Mar 11, 2007 at 06:37 PM: (http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m132/keating_01/Kungmangarap.jpg)

The movie ad for KUNG MANGARAP KA'T MAGISING. Thanks to james of Philippine cinema vault.
Title: Re: BATCH '81 Revisited
Post by: keating on Mar 27, 2007 at 12:52 PM: (http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m132/keating_01/Batch81-1.jpg)

Marichu Vera-Perez Maceda recalls the problem and sparks while producing BATCH '81 and his clash with Mike de Leon on the set 25 years after the movie was screened at Cannes International Film festival in 1982.

Since she was producing BATCH and the Vilma Santos tearjerker PAKAWALAN MO AKO at the same time, she soon encountered cash flow problems.

"Mike got mad and threatened to resign. I'd had more than enough so I warned him: With or without you, I will finish this movie!"

However, she refused to hire another director. "I didn't want to disrespect Mike. So I decided to finish the film myself." Among the unfinished scenes was the film's climactic fraternity war.
"I knew nothing about shooting action scenes, so I called up my friends Fernando Poe Jr. and Eddie Garcia for tips."

That was the reason enough for Mike to return to the set. "He got worried that I would make good my threat and finish his film."
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Apr 17, 2007 at 10:01 AM: The Handog/EDSA 1 music video is on You Tube!
Title: Re: Mike de Leon's HANDOG NG PILIPINO SA MUNDO
Post by: telonistas on Apr 17, 2007 at 01:41 PM: yes!the definitive handog video by mike de leon uploaded by APOJIM (most likely a.k.a. jim paredes, the composerof the song: MARAMING SALAMAT!!!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooGtSV7UafI

very appropriate viewing material for the times. mix of heroes and turncoats: balweg, lorenzo tanada,jose burgos, butz aquino, rene saguisag, enrile, ramos.

favorite line:
edru abraham: HUWAG MULING PAYAGAN UMIRAL ANG DILIM!...
Title: Re:HANDOG NG PILIPINO SA MUNDO
Post by: keating on Apr 17, 2007 at 02:05 PM: Cool.....galing! Thanks for the info, RMN, telonistas. Touching, evokes a lot of memories as I was an alumni of Edsa I.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: wedge on Apr 17, 2007 at 02:19 PM: I think it was Jim Paredes who uploaded the video (read the "liner" note regarding the mtv).

I was still in my early grader years when this song came out (if I remember along with Magkaisa), but I have really vague recollections on Edsa 1, except that my parents bought us yellow t-shirts (and my pop was nearly detained by the constabulary merely because he mistakenly scratched off the registration sticker of our car on our way home one time...) ;D
Title: Re: HANDOG NG PILIPINO SA MUNDO
Post by: keating on Apr 17, 2007 at 02:26 PM: Ah..... those days, I was in grade six. There was already a tension among my classmates including me between Cory and Marcos. Sort of rivalry and clash.

Too bad the spirit of Edsa I is gone nowadays.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Apr 17, 2007 at 05:50 PM: Quote from: wedge on Apr 17, 2007 at 02:19 PM

I was still in my early grader years when this song came out

Jeez, what does that make me? We helped operate the Namfrel backup during the elections, and had a radio network up during the revolt itself--first in Camp Crame, next in Channel 4.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Apr 17, 2007 at 06:03 PM: The Comelec walked out, I vividly remember it. The counting was televised live on t.v. We nearly lost hope that Cory will win in the elections.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: telonistas on Apr 17, 2007 at 06:57 PM: after viewing it several times i think the apojim upload is an early edit of the MTV. the final edit opens with a graphic title of the video and with much cleaner cuts and transitions and if i remember it right it ends with a zooming shot of the phil. flag amidst a sea of mass(laban's miting de avance at the quirino grandstand or liwasang bonifacio).

anyway the MTV is still a gem! saw the late subas herrero and noel trinidad. wala bang mr.boom boom uploads?!
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Apr 17, 2007 at 07:02 PM: Subas H. and Noel T. are very much alive, Telonistas. ;) Did you see Kris? Hyuk! Hyuk! ;D

Can someone head on over to the film archive in Paris and retrive the final ending of Sister Stella L.?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: telonistas on Apr 17, 2007 at 07:24 PM: ooops, sorry! few years after edsa, kris a. teamed up with the late (eto sigurado nako RMN)rene requestas in pido,pida!earned her first box-office queen trophy.now she's an endorsements and game show queen! daming datung! hope she and baby are doing well after the recent scandal...tsk...tsk...

father balweg kamukha ni larry mumar!
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Apr 17, 2007 at 08:10 PM: God, didn't recognize Fr. Balweg! Kris first film should have been from Elwood but it took two years to finish.......PIDO DIDA was finished immediately, hahaha!

Telonistas....wala bang behind the scenes? ;)

Ei Mon, I want the soundtrack of HANDOG NG PILIPINO SA MUNDO.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: telonistas on Apr 17, 2007 at 10:36 PM: Handog was edited at Solid Video(Sony Phils)at Kalaw cr. U.N. Ave. just across Hiraya Gallery. The schedule person had to bump off Fr. Tropa and Space2000 groupies to give way to Mike's editing.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: wedge on Apr 17, 2007 at 11:33 PM: Quote from: keating on Apr 17, 2007 at 08:10 PM
God, didn't recognize Fr. Balweg! Kris first film should have been from Elwood but it took two years to finish.......PIDO DIDA was finished immediately, hahaha!

Telonistas....wala bang behind the scenes? ;)

Ei Mon, I want the soundtrack of HANDOG NG PILIPINO SA MUNDO.

Ei keats, you can download a copy of the song through Jim Paredes' Multiply site. Think the URL is apojim.multiply.com
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Apr 18, 2007 at 03:07 PM: What alternative Sister Stella ending? RMN?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Apr 18, 2007 at 04:56 PM: Quote from: wedge on Apr 17, 2007 at 11:33 PM
Ei keats, you can download a copy of the song through Jim Paredes' Multiply site. Think the URL is apojim.multiply.com

Thanks for the link, wedge.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on May 14, 2007 at 01:48 PM: From Jim Paredes's site:

...Edru Abraham, Inang laya, Coritha and Eric, Noel and Subas, APO, Celeste, Kuh, Leah Navarro, Ivy Violan, Joseph Olfinfdo, and Lester Demetillo. Pretending to sing were Kris and Gretchen Baretto. How they ended in the video was a gig mystery. They were just suddenly there. It must have been the record company that wanted so-called 'star quality' for the video. It was to say the least, awkward for them and us.

This video is priceless for capturing the good we can all do if we were united.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on May 15, 2007 at 09:31 PM: Saw KISAPMATA again last night. I can't help but to compare the dream sequence of Charo Santos while walking down the stairs with water flowing to Kubrick's THE SHINING where gallons of blood flooded the hallway of the hotel.

Mike's dream sequence is more subtle yet you can't hide the horror of that powerful scene!
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on May 28, 2007 at 07:13 PM: (http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m132/keating_01/sangandaan.jpg)

The original poster and title of SISTER STELLA L from the concept of Cesar Hernando.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on May 28, 2007 at 07:15 PM: (http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m132/keating_01/sister_stella_scene2.jpg)

One of the scenes from the movie.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on May 28, 2007 at 07:20 PM: (http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m132/keating_01/f166.jpg)

The theatrical poster of SISTER STELLA L. Still puzzles me how did Mother Lily got the L title?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: jdv1229 on May 28, 2007 at 07:24 PM: the films' original title was Sangandaan... you should see the original poster art by Cesar Hernando... much, much better...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on May 28, 2007 at 07:27 PM: The reviews are rapturous, I wonder why did the audience didn't watch this film in 1984, a year after Ninoy Aquino was shot and the political-angst was very much alive!
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: jdv1229 on May 28, 2007 at 07:29 PM: it was stomped by Bukas Luluhod Ang Mga Tala at the box office...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on May 28, 2007 at 07:31 PM: I remember that film, Sharon was a God during those times, imagine a theatre closed at once and the management padlocked it just to keep the people away from watching that movie.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: jdv1229 on May 28, 2007 at 07:33 PM: i'm guilty of watching Bukas Luluhod Ang Mga Tala on opening day... three days later i went to see Sister Stella at an empty theater in Cubao...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on May 28, 2007 at 07:38 PM: Mother Lily's expression before SISTER STELLA L. opens......"uy wag ka ingay, ha. Ako Komunista na." After the showing........"ayoko na gawa justice, justice!"

;D
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: jdv1229 on May 28, 2007 at 07:43 PM: ... at hindi na nga siya gumawa uli... ;D
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on May 28, 2007 at 07:47 PM: Jojo was SISTER STELLA L. Mike's biggest flop? I wonder if Nora played the activist nun and not Vilma.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: jdv1229 on May 28, 2007 at 07:54 PM: biggest flop? most probably since it's the only film he did with a famous actress and a bigger budget. the following year he would redeem his box office standing with Hindi Nahahati Ang Langit although his battles with Charo Santos made him decide to pull out his directing credit from the film.

if Nora played the role? it would've been a far greater film...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on May 28, 2007 at 08:00 PM: Mike became the villain during the preem of HINDI NAHAHATI ANG LANGIT when the print didn't arrive on the big event and the stars are all dress up for the occasion.

Mike's reply......."why all the fuss over this silly film?!"
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: jdv1229 on May 28, 2007 at 08:04 PM: maybe he thought the movie was silly but Hindi Nahahati is one of the best komiks based melodramas of the 80's...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on May 28, 2007 at 08:06 PM: Couldn't agree more. Imagine Mike doing more of these kind of stuff before computer graphics obsessed him in mid-80's.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: jdv1229 on May 28, 2007 at 08:09 PM: ABS-CBN turned Hindi Nahahati Ang Langit into Walang Kapalit, a ridiculous tele novela that lacks Mike's self inffused subtlety in handling a komiks based material...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on May 28, 2007 at 08:14 PM: I don't really watch telenovelas since you have to watch it from the beginning to grasp the plot and the characters. A once a week mini-series is fine with me like CEBU. ;)
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: jdv1229 on May 28, 2007 at 08:22 PM: so do i... the last tele novela i watched from beginning to end was Bituin... when i was still in Manila, i loved watching shows like Angkan, Luneta and Bernal's Maynila...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on May 28, 2007 at 08:28 PM: I wish Mike would dabble in the horror genre, pure horror!
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: jdv1229 on May 28, 2007 at 08:37 PM: that would've been exciting... he can definitely do a great job with it...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on May 28, 2007 at 08:42 PM: Will he make a comeback?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: jdv1229 on May 28, 2007 at 08:44 PM: i'm still keeping my fingers crossed...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on May 28, 2007 at 08:53 PM: ALIWAN PARADISE is the only Mike de Leon film that I haven't watch.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: jdv1229 on May 28, 2007 at 08:58 PM: i've seen everything he's done... including Aliwan Paradise...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on May 28, 2007 at 08:59 PM: Any comment on ALIWAN PARADISE?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: jdv1229 on May 28, 2007 at 09:14 PM: everything great about it has been said and written...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on May 29, 2007 at 08:36 AM: Have you seen Mike's shorts, Jojo? Those I haven't seen either.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on May 29, 2007 at 12:31 PM: Sister Stella L., the title to the film, came from Marichu Maceda...

I've yet to see Bilanggo sa Dilim, Monologo, Signus, and that new short docu he did.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on May 29, 2007 at 02:14 PM: What's the title of the short docu?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Jun 23, 2007 at 05:31 PM: I'm starting to read now The Collector.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: indie boi on Jun 23, 2007 at 10:13 PM: Are there any Mike de Leon DVDs available in the market right now? I'm particularly on the look out for his films that starred Charo Santos.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Mr. Hankey on Jun 24, 2007 at 12:08 AM: Quote from: indie boi on Jun 23, 2007 at 10:13 PM
Are there any Mike de Leon DVDs available in the market right now?

From what I know, just Batch '81, Bayaning Third World and Sister Stella L., sorry.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: indie boi on Jun 24, 2007 at 12:13 AM: Hankey, are those three available now? I haven't seen those in stores or even at Magnet. I need a good quality Charo Santos movie on DVD but the only one I saw was the one with Dina Bonnevie, which I didn't like.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Mr. Hankey on Jun 24, 2007 at 12:34 AM: Bayani's the easiest to find, followed by Batch - both pretty cheap, too. I think they go for Php 150 these days, in many stores throughout Metro Manila.

I haven't seen Sister Stella L. since the inital stock ran out, though.

OT: Sorry, I think Gumapang Ka Sa Lupak really is the only Charo film I see on DVD in local stores.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Jul 09, 2007 at 11:22 AM: (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v405/rmn/handog.jpg)

Designed and exectued by one of our here members...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: telonistas on Jul 10, 2007 at 09:38 PM: OMG RMN! ang panget!!! actually i didn't design the logo. i just digitized and rendered it on the computer 25 years ago using a sony videotizer smc-G 8-bit computer with a resolution of 640x 480 pixels and a palette of..... tadaaah...15 colors!!! i knew it was missing in jim paredes' youtube upload of handog.

saan mo nadampot yan RMN? anyway i'm more proud actually than embarassed. the years of working with mike was probably one of the best years...those were the days...the analog era of timebase correctors, SEG video switchers, umatics...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Jul 11, 2007 at 12:36 PM: Telonistas, was there behind the scenes video of HANDOG NG PILIPINO SA MUNDO mtv?

That would be cool also.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Jul 11, 2007 at 01:12 PM: Probe Team came out last year w/ an excellent docu on Handog and the music video, in time for the EDSA 1 celeb.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: telonistas on Jul 12, 2007 at 12:51 AM: Quote from: keating on Jul 11, 2007 at 12:36 PM
Telonistas, was there behind the scenes video of HANDOG NG PILIPINO SA MUNDO mtv?

That would be cool also.

thanks RMN! forgot to do it in my last post. have no idea, can't remember keating but i'm sure mike did BTS of the recording. he always shoot behind the scenes of all of his projects. saw BTS/interviews 16mm clips of lino brocka during the shoot of maynila sa kuko ng liwanag. it was suppose to be part of the DVD release of the film.

early 2000 he lined up a selection of 5 LVN/Cinema Artists films for DVD release which included maynila sa kuko, mutya ng pasig, kung mangarap ka't magising and 2 more LVN titles.

the project only reached color grading stage of opening sequence of maynila sa kuko ng liwanag. i was with him and colorist marilen magsaysay at optima digital. the black and white binondo street scenes looked excellent! a few weeks after the session i learned mike dropped the project. sayang! pang pinoyDVD collection sana!
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Jul 12, 2007 at 08:12 AM: I've heard about the dvd project......it was suppose to be dvd-box-set pa nga! Darn!

We are hoping until now that those Mike de Leon films will be release on dvd including Brocka's MAYNILA SA KUKO NG LIWANAG. I saw before some snipettes of ITIM where Mike was shooting outside the house in Bulacan giving instructions to Tommy Abuel and Charo Santos. I think the tape was borrowed by Teddy Co from Mowelfund.

Thanks for the info, telonistas.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Sep 01, 2007 at 07:49 PM: (http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m132/keating_01/kisapmata.jpg)

Poster ad in broadsheets of KISAPMATA. Very different also from the theatrical poster that I saw from Teddy Co's collection.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: jdv1229 on Sep 01, 2007 at 07:52 PM: most newspapaper layouts are different than the movie posters. i guess they have to be more appealing to the readers...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: wedge on Sep 03, 2007 at 07:53 AM: Quote from: keating on Sep 01, 2007 at 07:49 PM
(http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m132/keating_01/kisapmata.jpg)

Poster ad in broadsheets of KISAPMATA. Very different also from the theatrical poster that I saw from Teddy Co's collection.

I admit i'm really at awe on your collection of theatrical posters and what-have-yous, ronald. Hehe. :)
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Sep 03, 2007 at 12:00 PM: What I want is the newspaper ad for Bagong Hari. Dan Alvaro in profile, a shoulder, upper chest, and part of the arm visible, in crucifurm position, with a crown of thorns on his head. Beautiful and simple. I wish I kept the news ad.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Sep 03, 2007 at 07:52 PM: Thanks wedge. These memorabilia are priceless already. I found it on philippinecinemavault.

I'll find the newspaper ad for BAGONG HARI, Noel.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Sep 03, 2007 at 08:28 PM: Quote from: Noel_Vera on Sep 03, 2007 at 12:00 PM
What I want is the newspaper ad for Bagong Hari. Dan Alvaro in profile, a shoulder, upper chest, and part of the arm visible, in crucifurm position, with a crown of thorns on his head. Beautiful and simple. I wish I kept the news ad.

(http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m132/keating_01/bagonghari.jpg)

Your wish is granted, Noel.

BAGONG HARI is on my watch list and the cast are topnotch.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Sep 04, 2007 at 07:19 AM: That's a good one. But no, it's starker, more dramatic. Half page or full page ad, and all it had was Alvaro and his crown.

Hey, keats--do you have that scanned in 300 dpi resolution? Mebbe you could send it to my email?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Sep 04, 2007 at 08:15 AM: I have the full page ad before in Daily Express but almost all of my movie clippings have been washed out because of flood in our place.

Sent you pm, Noel.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Sep 04, 2007 at 09:41 AM: I didn't know that originally, he was the one who was supposed to do Orapronobis and, I believe, Kapit sa Patalim.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Sep 04, 2007 at 10:06 AM: Interesting trivia on some titles before and after from Mike de Leon films:

FRATERNITY became BATCH 81
SHOTGUN HASSLE became KAKABAKABA KA BA
SANGANDAAN became SISTER STELLA L

more thoughts from Pete Lacaba coming...... on how SISTER STELLA L became the title of SANGANDAAN courtesy of Marichu Vera-Perez.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Sep 04, 2007 at 12:01 PM: Marichu found SANGANDAAN to serious and not commercial enough. During a brain storming session when they were throwing ideas around, she came-up with SISTER STELLA L.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Nov 25, 2007 at 05:13 PM: Pete Lacaba on SISTER STELLA L:

"Sa orihinal na istorya ang pangalan ng bida ay Corazon de Jesus o Sister Cora, at isang titulong natatandaan kong iminungkahi ko ay Pasyong Mahal ni Sister Cora. Hindi ito pumasa kay Manay Ichu (Marichu Vera-Perez, producer). Earlier she had rejected SANGANDAAN, the title approved by the Censors. Masyado daw maarte.

Pati pangalan ni Vilma Santos ay iminungkahi na rin niyang baguhin. Kabilang sa mga pinagpilian naming pangalan ang Aurora, Agnes, Rosario, Esperanza, Flora, Socorro, Guia, Caridad at Estrella.

Mula sa Estrella ay lumundag kami sa Stella. Hindi ko alam kung sikat na si Stella Strada sa panahong ito bandang Agosto 1982, pero mas malamang na pumasok sa isip namin ang ilang madre ng Stella Maris na aming nainterbyu.

Nagkasundo kami sa pangalang Sister Stella. Pwede na rin itong pamagat, para maging title role. Pero may kulang pa rin, sabi ni Manay. Kailangan ng titulong pag-uusapan. Iyong may konting misteryo.

Parang Adelle H.? tanong ni Peping (Almojuella co-writer). Parang Umberto D., sabi ng isa pa. O Lady L. L! sabi ni Manay. Stella L.!"
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Jan 03, 2008 at 10:45 AM: I have/want to see...

"Sina Hilda, Boyet, atbp." (Hilda, Boyet, and Others). Cinema Artists, Philippines. 16mm film, 1977.

"Itim... Isang Eksplorasyon sa Pelikula." (An Exploration in Filmmaking). Cinema Artists, Philippines. 16mm film, 1976.

"Maynila... Isang Pelikulang Pilipino" (Maynila... A Filipino Film). Cinema Artists, Philippines. 16mm film, 1975.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Feb 29, 2008 at 06:59 PM: The man finally loves HINDI NAHAHATI ANG LANGIT.

Mike placed again his name on the credits! :o
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Mar 01, 2008 at 05:17 PM: But when and how? Is there some official story? Will it be re released in his name?

What I know is that he never disliked the movie. He disagreed with Charo Santos on something--distribution I think. Reportedly prefers the film over Sister Stella L (so do I, for the record).
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Mar 02, 2008 at 09:32 AM: I thought he disliked the film since it was finished.

He fought with Charo regarding the playdate. Ate Jo Atienza was the one who did the subs. Check her top ten lists on the other thread, Noel.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on May 10, 2008 at 03:15 PM: So are the Mike de Leon films on kabayan central subtitled in English or not? And will they play on Region 1?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: marj on May 11, 2008 at 12:18 PM: Quote from: Noel_Vera on May 10, 2008 at 03:15 PM
So are the Mike de Leon films on kabayan central subtitled in English or not? And will they play on Region 1?

The LVN catalog offered at Kabayan Central are just DVD copies of the original film and not subtitled. I ordered Manuel Silos' BIYAYA NG LUPA before and it won't play on my DVD player. I was only able to play it on my PC.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on May 11, 2008 at 02:08 PM: Seems to me we need to order region free players. Jonathan Rosenbaum told me to get one...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on May 12, 2008 at 11:55 AM: Most if not all DVD players out in the market are region-free as far as I know.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: marj on May 17, 2008 at 09:35 AM: Quote from: Noel_Vera on May 11, 2008 at 02:08 PM
Seems to me we need to order region free players. Jonathan Rosenbaum told me to get one...

It won't even play using Windows Media Player.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: hung up 25 on May 22, 2008 at 03:46 PM: mike de leon films ipapalabas sa cinema one from may 26- may 30 at 3pm!
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: rusty on May 26, 2008 at 03:01 AM: Mike De Leon clip from Wim Wenders' Room 666.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl57BbVBoyU
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on May 27, 2008 at 01:36 PM: Is it really that short, that clip?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: rusty on May 27, 2008 at 04:16 PM: Quote from: RMN on May 27, 2008 at 01:36 PM
Is it really that short, that clip?
Yes, thats the entirety of his appearance in the movie.

From Time Out Film Guide
In Room 666 there's a video camera and a tape recorder. Wenders prevailed upon a bunch of fellow directors attending Cannes '82 to venture into the room alone, switch on the machines and deliberate in front of them on the future, if any, of the cinema and television. (A TV, turned on but silent, is also part of the set-up.) What gets said is, on the whole, less interesting than seeing how the luminaries behave in a room by themselves. Godard and Spielberg illustrate two extremes (but of course!), the former fiddling with various props and communicating cosmic disgruntlement, the latter friendly, precise, comparatively optimistic. Herzog exerts control by taking off his shoes and switching off the TV, Antonioni is the most restless, Filipino director De Leon is admirably brisk. And so on, to moderately engaging effect.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on May 28, 2008 at 12:24 PM: Rage Against the Marcos Machine

Though both are obviously different works--one's a documentary, the other a work of fiction--I couldn't avoid comparing Signos to Sister Stella L. when I saw the former last night. Both works--though again, obviously using different approaches--tackled social issues that, years later, still are relevant and ring true up to today. Both works--the former directly, the other indirectly--spoke against the Marcos regime. And both works were made in the early eighties, a turning point in our nation's history.

But what struck me the most is that in Signos, one easily feels the anger and the rage of the filmmaker and all of the interviewees and characters involved; while in Sister Stella L., the filmmaker is hardly there (you don't feel his presence) nor does one feel any sympathy for the protagonists and their cause. It is as if he was merely cruising along and going with the tide of the times.

Many years later since it was made, I could still feel Signos' power and its intensity; with Sister Stella L., it felt old and dated, its meaning lost, which made it look like just another piece of film making history.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: telonistas on Jun 03, 2008 at 11:02 AM: i was able to watch portions of KAKABAKABA KA BA? last week on cinema one. in the hilarious yakuza scene of george javier and buboy garovillo, there's this video display which hangs in the middle of the room. what is really amazing, aside from the very decent mock-up of the monitor and the clean optical composite of video footage, it simulates the current 16:9 HD plasma/LCD monitors!
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Jun 03, 2008 at 11:28 AM: Can you spot Kuya Cesar Hernando's cameo in Kakaba? ;D
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Jun 03, 2008 at 02:06 PM: Huh. And I've met him. Where is he, anyway?

Not the taho vendor? ???

Wasn't the orchestra conducter Ryan Cayabyab?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Jun 03, 2008 at 03:16 PM: the conductor is none other than Jim Paredes, who wrote the music.

Nope, he's not the taho vendor. ;)
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Jun 03, 2008 at 05:45 PM: I want to see again that hilarious and wacky BIGYAN MO PO KAMI NG TINAPAY dance sequence of Nanette Inventor in KAKABA KA BA. ;D

RMN, was Kuya Cesar part of Armida's entourage in the finale?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Jun 04, 2008 at 09:33 AM: My bad.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Jun 04, 2008 at 02:45 PM: Clue: Kuya Cesar appeared during the Rock Opera. Check the closing credits. ;D
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Jun 05, 2008 at 12:36 PM: What rock opera? George Javier with the ice cream cart? Or are we talking the showdown in the unerground complex in Baguio?

He's not the cop, is he? Huh!
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Jun 06, 2008 at 03:21 PM: Yes, we're talking about the showdown in the underground complex in Baguio, with the song and dance routine. He does some kind of brief kung fu dance number ;D
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: celinokyle on Jun 06, 2008 at 04:07 PM: I've seen Batch 81 and Kakabakaba kaba and there's something similar between this De Leon films. More like a signature of the director. I don't what it is. I can't even explain it. Like an aura or something. Hmm, maybe someone can explain it to me.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Jun 06, 2008 at 04:55 PM: I've always held the belief that most of his films (Kung Mangarap and Kisapmata come to mind) are autobiographical, though to what extent we may never know.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Jun 06, 2008 at 05:44 PM: Is it true that Ricky Lee penned HIMALA for Mike de Leon?

Ricky was uncredited for ITIM.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Jun 09, 2008 at 06:02 PM: The wedding scene from KAKABA KABA KA BA? Photo taken from kabayancentral.com.

(http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m132/keating_01/kkkb10.jpg)
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Jun 26, 2008 at 05:11 PM: I still haven't seen--and I've been dying to watch it--Bilanggo sa Dilim. Sigh. Kailan kaya?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: telonistas on Jun 27, 2008 at 11:56 AM: sana meron i would love to see it again pero i doubt if a copy exists. we mastered bilanggo on 1-inch video tape, probably one of the most fragile of recent video formats. tape is in a reel, needs this huge upright player/recorder to spool on. tape tends to stick together in humid conditions. unless mike was able to remaster on betacam tape better yet on digital format at hindi nasunog nung recent fire sa bahay niya, bilanggo remains a lost link to our analog past.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Jun 27, 2008 at 12:01 PM: There's a tape somewhere. i saw it in Cinemanila one year. I think it's superior to the William Wyler version.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Jun 28, 2008 at 05:32 PM: I wonder if her kept the deleted scenes in Batch '81...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Jun 29, 2008 at 08:10 AM: What deleted scenes in Batch 81?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Jun 30, 2008 at 04:38 PM: There are a number of deleted scenes I am told. These play-up the love story aspect of the characters which Mike felt, I am informed, wasn't essential to the development of the story. There is also a scene, apparently, of Nanette Inventor singing "Don't cry for me Argentina".

All this time I thought he had 'em edited out of the script. Turns out they were shot already.
Title: Re: BILANGGO SA DILIM
Post by: keating on Dec 28, 2008 at 03:22 PM: BILANGGO SA DILIM (Mike de Leon, 1986)

Can't help but to shout in raves and cheers after watching this videofilm last night. Marketed as a videomovie back in 1986 which opened the first Independent Film & Video Festival in Wave Cinema in Cubao, BILANGGO SA DILIM can qualify though as a mainstream art house flick with the talents of Joel Torre, Rio Locsin and Cherie Gil combined in an ensemble acting plus Rody Lacap and Ely Cruz as part of the production team, Pablo Biglang-Awa for the title sequence, editing and Jun Latonio for the haunting musical score. Based on a John Fowles novel, THE COLLECTOR.....a man locked in the world of obsession and paranoia refused to confront his past amidst the guilt of murdering his kidnap victim and kidnapping another one. Joel Torre shines in his characterization as Lito/Eddie..... beyond doubt is even much better than Anthony Perkins in PSYCHO, Jack Nicholson in THE SHINING. Cherie Gil's sensuality and bravura performance exudes throughout the film especially in the climactic chase scene where Mike de Leon cuts to a high-angle slow motion shot of the protagonists worthy enough to keep you at the edge-of-your-seat!

With only less than 15 films tucked in his filmography, no one never questions the man's technical competence. Since his films have always been polished and flawless in terms of technical craftmanship. The limitation of the video medium that he demonstrated in BILANGGO SA DILIM declares his return to art form after dabbling in the box-office hit komiks melodrama HINDI NAHAHATI ANG LANGIT, high artistry inspite of the limitation of the medium. If this videofilm will be released now, it might be the best among all the indies combined. And with such a small resources, you can always count on the genius of Mike de Leon.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Mar 02, 2009 at 02:11 AM: I found myself recently in the Dapitan shopping area and en route to Banawe for lunch, we drove by the hospital that was used in Kisapmata. Along D. Tuason if I recall.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: R2 on Mar 02, 2009 at 04:26 AM: Anyone who can help me on how to get a copy (preferably on DVD) of De Leon's "Kisapmata" and "Itim"? Will be most grateful.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Mar 02, 2009 at 03:41 PM: Alas, they are not commercially available on DVD but some film enthusiasts should have copies...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Mar 02, 2009 at 04:23 PM: Quote from: telonistas on Apr 17, 2007 at 10:36 PM
Handog was edited at Solid Video(Sony Phils)at Kalaw cr. U.N. Ave. just across Hiraya Gallery. The schedule person had to bump off Fr. Tropa and Space2000 groupies to give way to Mike's editing.

Who is Fr. Tropa and who are the the Space2000 groupies? ;D
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: wedge on Mar 03, 2009 at 06:42 AM: Quote from: RMN on Mar 02, 2009 at 02:11 AM
I found myself recently in Dapitan shopping area and en route to Banawe for lunch, we drove by the hospital that was used in Kisapmata. Along D. Tuason if I recall.

Sta. Teresita Hospital, if i'm not mistaken. And the small store across where Charo Santos hid became a Pan de Manila branch (that was 6 years ago when I used to pass by there on the way to work)---not sure if it still exists today.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Mar 03, 2009 at 08:02 PM: Was the house in KISAPMATA the same house where the crime actually happened? I heard that it was based in a crime story.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Mar 04, 2009 at 12:27 PM: nope. Kisapamata is based on House on Zapote Street, from Quijano de Manila's Reportage on Crime.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Mar 04, 2009 at 01:40 PM: I remember they had a tough time trying to find a similar house, Mike had a specific type in mind. Can't see the actual family involved allowing use of the actual crime scene...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Mar 04, 2009 at 06:22 PM: Trivia: do you guys know how they shot the dream sequence where Charo walks down a flight of stairs with water gushing down? (this btw, was taken out in the final edit because Mike found it "pretentious")
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Mar 05, 2009 at 07:59 PM: When you watch the film again, you'll find the house so dark and gloomy. It looks haunted for me.

I know KISAPMATA was ahead of Kubrick's THE SHINING, where there's a scene also in the hotel where a pool of blood was splattered on the screen.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Mar 05, 2009 at 08:10 PM: If you were present during the launch of the Manuel Conde book at the CCP last year, you would've felt the electricity in the air...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Mar 07, 2009 at 11:44 AM: Quote from: RMN on Mar 04, 2009 at 06:22 PM
Trivia: do you guys know how they shot the dream sequence where Charo walks down a flight of stairs with water gushing down? (this btw, was taken out in the final edit because Mike found it "pretentious")

How?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Mar 07, 2009 at 01:18 PM: Quote from: RMN on Mar 05, 2009 at 08:10 PM
If you were present during the launch of the Manuel Conde book at the CCP last year, you would've felt the electricity in the air...

Is he on facebook? And more approachable now?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Mar 07, 2009 at 02:35 PM: Quote from: Noel_Vera on Mar 07, 2009 at 11:44 AM
How?

By pouring buckets upon buckets of water mano-mano!
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Mar 07, 2009 at 03:27 PM: Quote from: keating on Mar 07, 2009 at 01:18 PM
Is he on facebook? And more approachable now?

Quote from: RMN on Mar 07, 2009 at 02:35 PM
By pouring buckets upon buckets of water mano-mano!

Haw!
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Mar 08, 2009 at 02:58 AM: Is he on Facebook? Who knows. Is he on Pinoydvd? Well...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Mar 08, 2009 at 12:31 PM: He logs on pinoydvd? or merely just a lurker? :o
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Mar 08, 2009 at 04:51 PM: I think we talked about this before. Yes, he's a lurker. Keats,doesn't Peque lurk here too? And Michiko, once upon a time--don't know nowadays...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Mar 08, 2009 at 08:11 PM: Yeah Peque's a lurker too, but I doubt if he will register and participate on the forum.

I've been urging him.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Mar 09, 2009 at 11:36 AM: He's always welcome.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Mar 09, 2009 at 11:55 AM: With the amount of time Peque seems to be spending on Facebook and in front of the computer playing Civilization IV or Colonization... ;D
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Mar 09, 2009 at 12:03 PM: I'll use my convincing power to let him register on the forum. And Peque's also wired on youtube, always ahead of me with those current tunes right now!
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Mar 10, 2009 at 07:11 PM: Quote from: Noel_Vera on Mar 08, 2009 at 04:51 PM
I think we talked about this before. Yes, he's a lurker. Keats,doesn't Peque lurk here too? And Michiko, once upon a time--don't know nowadays...

Come to think of it Noel, RMN......a trilogy megged by Mario O'Hara, Mike de Leon and Peque Gallaga would be a nice treat for the three of us. ;)
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: indie boi on Mar 10, 2009 at 07:27 PM: Quote from: keating on Mar 08, 2009 at 08:11 PM
Yeah Peque's a lurker too, but I doubt if he will register and participate on the forum.

I've been urging him.
Quote from: Noel_Vera on Mar 09, 2009 at 11:36 AM
He's always welcome.
God knows we need more intellectuals around here. I'm sick and tired of numbers porn and how a movie's only great if it sounds good on a frigging home theater.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Mar 11, 2009 at 08:56 AM: I've never seen a consistently great ominbus, though I"m happy for the one or two segments worth seeing in em.

If I'm an intellectual, to quote Imelda "God Help the Philippines!" ;D
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Mar 14, 2009 at 12:39 PM: Sister Stella L. at 25

Thus, with urgency, the University Film Institute of the Philippines and the Vilma Santos
Solid International celebrates the 25th anniversary of Sister Stella
L with a screening in the UP Cine Adarna on March 20, 5pm. The event will also
feature an exhibition of production memorabilias and a forum with the esteemed
cast and crew, including Governor Vilma Santos.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Mar 15, 2009 at 01:06 PM: Will Mike de Leon attend the screening?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Mar 17, 2009 at 11:00 AM: Hey, anyone have anything to say about Sister Stella? I got to write something on it, and I could use some input, anything...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Mar 17, 2009 at 11:52 AM: Quote from: Noel_Vera on Mar 17, 2009 at 11:00 AM
Hey, anyone have anything to say about Sister Stella? I got to write something on it, and I could use some input, anything...

I have to say that within Mike's oeuvre, Sister Stella L. would have to be his weakest; his least characteristic work. Though technically well-made which is to be expected of him, one is hard-pressed to feel his presence anywhere (in fact I'd go as far and say that he is nowhere to be found) and the result is a film that is wanting in impact and intensity: I somehow have no sympathy for the characters or the cause that they are fighting for. I think the reason is that the supposed abuses that the laborers were experiencing wasn't really clear cut or exposed that overtly and I would have to agree that the factory, a cooking oil plant, could well have been just any other Metro Manila factory. (I would've liked to know,for example, what is actually happens inside)

Am told however that Sister Stella L. would be a much more different film, a more powerful one, if one were to see the version with the inclusion of that large rally in the end. That rally, which was staged in Luneta before EDSA 1, had like a million people converging and Mike and his cameramen took live actions shots of the event on film and this scene is supposed to appear after Vilma's monologue when the screen fades to black. Mother Lily got scared I suppose and had it taken out.

This version was screened in HK in 1985 and according to Teddy Co who was there: "it brought [the] ending to a national context, not just a factory strike". How I would love to see this, put alas the print is in Paris!

Btw Noel, have you seen Signos? Now that to me had real power and intensity.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Mar 17, 2009 at 12:29 PM: Ah, is that the original ending? Interersting. But this one as it stands reminds me of Lav's Hesus Rebolusyunaryo.

No, I'm afraid not. Hard enough trying to get Mikes' films, but a documentary--!
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Mar 17, 2009 at 12:50 PM: If Signos is the first attempt by Mike to respond to the Aquino assassination, would you say Sister is the first narrative feature by a major studio to do so? Anyone?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Mar 18, 2009 at 08:50 AM: Which comes first.......KAPIT SA PATALIM: BAYAN KO by Brocka or Mike de Leon's SISTER STELLA L?

Both have been penned by Pete Lacaba, right?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Mar 18, 2009 at 08:54 AM: Quote from: Noel_Vera on Mar 17, 2009 at 11:00 AM
Hey, anyone have anything to say about Sister Stella? I got to write something on it, and I could use some input, anything...

The project was originally to be produced by Marichu Maceda of MVP Pictures, same person who greenlighted BATCH 81. But Mother Lily heard the project and loved the L title........ ;D

Who would believe that Vilma never took this film seriously during those times?!
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Mar 18, 2009 at 09:03 AM: If imdb is to be trusted, Kapit is '85, Sister is '84. Good question--for all I know, Pete wrote Kapit first.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Mar 18, 2009 at 09:06 AM: Was it a sort of trilogy for Pete Lacaba, Noel?

The third segment will be Brocka's ORAPRONOBIS? Too bad this film was not release in any theatres until now.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Mar 18, 2009 at 10:05 AM: Orapronobis is the first of the trilogy. The other two were never made into films--I think there was a stage production at one point...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Mar 18, 2009 at 11:48 AM: It was Mike who was supposed to direct Kapit sa Patalim originally. Am curious to know how the film would've turned out.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Mar 18, 2009 at 12:35 PM: Hi, RMN, just wondering if you would know--what was first, the script? When did Mike come on board. Vilma? Wasn't there financing in 1982, from ECP maybe? Then around '83, 84, it was Mother Liliy, right?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Mar 18, 2009 at 10:04 PM: Quote from: Noel_Vera on Mar 18, 2009 at 12:35 PM
Hi, RMN, just wondering if you would know--what was first, the script? When did Mike come on board. Vilma? Wasn't there financing in 1982, from ECP maybe? Then around '83, 84, it was Mother Liliy, right?

Here's the story as far as I know, though am not familiar with the dates exactly:

Mike was at that time interested in producing a film thru a loan from the ECP. Upon the advice of Marichu Maceda, (then Film Fund administrator) who suggested that he do a film with Vilma Santos, he scouted around for possible material when he heard that Pete Lacaba was doing a script about nuns involving themselves in agrarian reform issues. Again, Marichu suggested that to make the film more commercially viable, it would be better to make the setting more urban. (she also felt that Vilma was not exactly fit for a rural milieu--and I agree) So the script was revised, Vilma was cast, and the film was all set to be shot when some folks in the government supposedly objected to film and I think, though am not sure, Mike got threats which led to its shelving. It was then that Mother Lily picked-up the project--from what I understand Mike was looking for someone to buyout Vilma's contract in order to pay his loan--where she told Mike that he had the free-reign to do what he pleased for as long as the casting decisions remained with her. I think she originally pushed for Joel Torre to play Jay Ilagan's role but I think Mike objected saying he was too young.

Also an interesting side note to this story is the dinner that Mike had with Mother Lily, who then on the phone with Vilma. ;D
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Mar 19, 2009 at 03:08 AM: Quote from: keating on Mar 18, 2009 at 08:54 AM

Who would believe that Vilma never took this film seriously during those times?!

It's not that she didn't take it seriously, it's just that she couldn't yet grasp at that time the film's message and what it was fighting for. At least, Vilma was honest enough to admit this.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Mar 19, 2009 at 09:24 AM: At one point, its interesting to note that Nora was also considered by Mike for the role of Sister Stella L, but then he had to revise more the script.....but Vilma was already talking with Mother during that dinner with Mike de Leon.

Vilma was quoted saying.......to Mother Lily...... "akin yan, akin yan!"

And Mother Lily after the film came out......."ayoko na gawa justice, justice!" ;D
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Mar 19, 2009 at 12:00 PM: Thanks, RMN. That ECP production was in '82, and they finally made the film around--oh, late '83 or so. Twenty or so days production, I take it?
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Mar 19, 2009 at 12:01 PM: How exactly did that phone call story go? I remember she threatened Vilma with Nora...
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Mar 19, 2009 at 03:56 PM: There'll be a panel talk tom before the screening so if you've got questions...

Am gonna have Vilma sign my poster! lol. ;D
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: keating on Mar 20, 2009 at 08:24 PM: Mike will get letters from Father Remy, Mother's husband saying we are businessmen not propagandists while making the movie.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: RMN on Mar 21, 2009 at 12:42 AM: Mission accomplished! Got my poster autogrphed. :D
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Mar 21, 2009 at 12:25 PM: Sister Stella L (Mike de Leon, 1984) (http://criticafterdark.blogspot.com/2009/03/mike-de-leons.html)

L'Argent (Robert Bresson, 1983) (http://criticafterdark.blogspot.com/2009/03/largent-robert-bresson-1983.html)

Au hasard, Balthazar (Robert Bresson, 1966) (http://criticafterdark.blogspot.com/2009/03/au-hasard-balthazar-robert-bresson-1966.html)

Taken (Pierre Morel, 2009) (http://criticafterdark.blogspot.com/2009/03/taken-pierre-morel-2009.html)

The Hottie and the Nottie (Tom Putnam, 2008) (http://criticafterdark.blogspot.com/2009/02/and-winner-is.html)
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: rse on Mar 22, 2009 at 03:42 PM: Quote from: Noel_Vera on Mar 21, 2009 at 12:25 PM
Sister Stella L (Mike de Leon, 1984) (http://criticafterdark.blogspot.com/2009/03/mike-de-leons.html)

Taken (Pierre Morel, 2009) (http://criticafterdark.blogspot.com/2009/03/taken-pierre-morel-2009.html)

Noel it seems like you're warming to Sister Stella L?
Taken, I like it for what it is, a mindless wall-to-wall post-Bourne action movie.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Mar 23, 2009 at 09:16 AM: It's its 25th anniversary, I thought I'd be kind. It doesn't rock my world, the way other de Leon films do.
Title: Re: Mike de Leon
Post by: Noel_Vera on Mar 23, 2009 at 09:19 AM: As for Bourne style movies, my problem is that they're everywhere. If you want to be cool, shake your cam. I would love to see more of the uncool, people who shoot things differently. Kitano doesn't use shaky cam, and he's a terrific action director.