I'm still hoping and wishing Batang West Side will be released on DVD or VCD. I have seen his Kriminal ng Bo. Concepcion and Hubad sa Ilalim Ng Buwan and he is one of the foremost groundbreaking directors in Philippine Cinema today.
Here's the latest on the movie:
Lav Diaz’s Ebolusyon At The Toronto Int’l Film Festival
Meanwhile, I just got the following report from Funfare’s Toronto-based "international correspondent" Ferdinand Lapuz on how he "survived" Lav Diaz’s nine-hour opus, Ebolusyon ng Isang Pamilyang Pilipino, at the recently concluded Toronto International Film Festival (non-competition):
"This is going to be the most challenging assignment I’ve ever had as a film critic," said a Variety reviewer as he entered the combined press/public screening of Lav Diaz’s Ebolusyon ng Isang Pamilyang Pilipino (Evolution of a Filipino Family) last Sept. 17 at the Jackman Hall Theater, as published in the Toronto Star the day after.
Ebolusyon had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last week with direk Lav and producer Paul Tanedo in attendance. It was one of the most anticipated titles in the festival because of its unusual length. For the first time since 1994, only one Filipino film made it to North America’s largest film event.
Last Sept. 18, I prepared myself to sit for nine hours for the second screening at the Varsity Theater VIP Room 3. I arrived early and met direk Lav and Paul. To their surprise, VIP Room 3 was sold out. They added VIP Room 2 to accommodate other festival-goers who were eager to see Diaz’s latest masterpiece.
Armed with one bottle of water, a chicken sandwich, hopias and some cookies I entered VIP Room 2 at 12:30 p.m. The screening lasted until 10:30 p.m. The festival program was wrong! The film was 10 hours long and not nine hours as stated. Watching the Gallardo family evolve from the 1970s to the 1980s was a great cinematic experience.
I surprised myself that I was able to endure sitting in the theater for 10 hours with only quick breaks to the washroom. I am used to having hefty lunch and dinner with rice and ulam but during the screening, I forgot my hunger and focused on the film. I think this worked on my part as I was engrossed in the film and got involved with the film’s characters.
I can truly say that Angie Ferro, Ronnie Lazaro, Lui Manansala and Pen Medina delivered the performances of their careers. I won’t be surprised if they will be given recognition for their tour de force acting. The newcomers, mostly with theater backgrounds, who were Angie’s granddaughters and Ronnie and Lui’s adopted sons, were equally splendid. Direk Lav told me after the screening that singer Roeder played Bendo, the mute son. You can’t help but laugh at their own sign language in several scenes.
I would also like to mention that the late actor Ray Ventura was equally good in his last but brief performance. Appearing in short but memorable roles were Joel Torre, Angel Aquino, Hammy Sotto and Gino Dormiendo in the role of the late Lino Brocka.
I told direk Lav that he did a perfect casting for the role of Raynaldo who served as the link in the story. To my surprise, he said that the same actor performed both roles. He forgot his last name, but Erwin was maybe seven or eight years old, taken out of the Smokey Mountain to shoot the earlier part of the film. When they resumed production last year, direk Lav looked for Erwin again for him to play the same role he portrayed in the unfinished film.
The film showed Filipino’s fascination with radio drama series. Direk Lav was not contented with showing the characters just listening to the radio; there were scenes showing the actors on the radio program.
I have never seen how radio drama series are done so it was such a delight to see the actual production process. Well, as a bonus, I was able to listen to Eddie Peregrina’s hit single Together Again in one scene.
In the festival book, programmer Steve Gravestock wrote that "Ebolusyon is epic in scope, reach and length. Photographed in black and white and relying almost exclusively on natural sound (there is no score), Ebolusyon was shot over an eight-year period. Throughout the movie, you feel the pull and power of history, so much so that, when the family finally acquires a radio and becomes addicted to a soap opera, the mere presence of the medium feels like an invasion from another planet, signaling the end of their way of life.
"Nature is actually the dominant presence in the film, with Diaz often using this imagery to comment on the vain, pointless actions of his characters, particularly when there's politics or money involved. A battle between the Gallardos and the guerrillas, for instance, is juxtaposed with a shot of two spiders eating one another alive. Moving and trenchant, at nine hours Evolution of a Filipino Family is quite simply one of the most extraordinary and ambitious films you will see this year."
Ebolusyon has been officially invited to the Rotterdam International Film Festival and to the Forum program of Berlin next year. Direk Lav is a little confused which festival to bestow Evolution’s European premiere. Forum screened his Hubad sa Ilalim ng Buwan in 2000 while Rotterdam is providing financial assistance to his next production, Heremias, as winner of their film fund.
Joining the Q&A portion at the lobby of the theater was award winning production designer and writer Raquel Villavicencio who is currently on leave from showbiz. She is staying in San Diego for now and is very much interested in mounting her first film, preferably a documentary, very soon. She praised the film, especially the strong performances of the actors.