Brillante Mendoza's Captive - Making War and Terrorism a Mundane Enterprise

In the darkest evening of 2001, Abu Sayyaf bandits invade the island resort of Dos Palmas, just off the coast of Puerto Princesa, Palawan. They pilfer the rooms and take the occupants as hostages, many of whom are foreigners. They ferry their victims to Basilan, taking them through the jungle, over hills, using them as pawns against military operations and peddling them for multimillion peso ransoms. From the outset, these hostages are ironically given disclaimers: that their captors practice a high level of morality, and that “man shouldn’t touch woman” unless they’re married of course. But this false sense of security is gradually shattered as the hostages battle bondage, hunger, illness, rough living conditions, and the shenanigans of their captors. Ransoms are gradually set according to occupation (“Missionaries, walang pera ‘yan!), stature (“May ari kayo ng bangko?”),  age (“Dapat iniwan nyo na yan. Pababagalin tayo nyan.”), race (“Chinese ka? Eh di madami kang pera.”), profession (doctors and nurses in a hospital are taken as well, like the characters of Angel Aquino, Allan Paule, and Che Ramos), etc.

VICTIMS

Among these victims, we follow Therese (Isabelle Huppert), a French missionary who has been roaming the country for her missionary work for 5 years; and her septuagenarian colleague Soledad (Rustica Carpio). For almost one year, the victims agonize getting caught in the crossfire against the government’s military forces (“We see their helicopters fly over us. They see us, but they shoot us anyway,” bemoans one victim.) When leader Abu Saiyed (Raymond Bagatsing) fancies a girl (Che Ramos), she gets taken to the hill and offered marriage; a proposition she couldn’t refuse. A lady doctor (Angel Aquino) gets raped by Saiyed’s successor (Sid Lucero). 

To celebrate Philippine Independence Day, a “white man” is beheaded as “gift to the President”.  When Soledad falls ill and dies, Therese gets attached to shy, 12-year old Hamed who was “recruited” after a siege in his village. One morning, a henchman (Ronnie Lazaro) gets a visit from a friend (Joel Torre) who was accompanying a TV journalist (Arlyn dela Cruz) for the requisite “proof of life”. As individual negotiators acquiesce, ransoms are predatorily hiked up. Though some of the victims get released, it becomes clear that the intention was to keep more hostages – and milk the situation for whatever it's worth. Will Therese and her colleagues survive this dilemma?

Therese to French embassy: "This is crazy. But here's my number. So call me maybe."

Director Brillante Mendoza valiantly tackles a sour chapter in the querulous war in Mindanao, south of the Philippine archipelago. He loosely derives his narrative from the memoirs (“In the Presence of My Enemies”) of real life hostage survivor Grace Burnham (whose husband perished in the crisis). Mendoza never turns his back against contentious narratives. Unfortunately, he is gradually building a growing community of naysayers who scoff at his cinematic conceit. While I love most of Mendoza’s body of work – from “Masahista” to “Serbis”, from “Lola” to “Kinatay” (for which he won Cannes’ Best Director plum), Mendoza’s decision to take on this harrowing tale is suspicious. If he’s courting the attention of an international audience, by riding on the notoriety of the situation, then he obviously didn’t succeed because Cannes and Venice seemed to have rejected “Captive” from exhibition. Regardless, Berlin welcomed him with open arms.

A YEAR OF CAPTIVITY

The films is told chronologically: Day 5 in Tuburan, Basilan; Day 6 at the Jose Ma. Torres Hospital in Lamitan; Day 46 in the jungles – the contentious wedding of Joan (Ramos) to Abu Saiyed (Bagatsing); Day 183 in Sumisip, Basilan for the “proof of life”, and so on. It soon becomes clear that this seemingly scriptless, improvisational atmosphere meanders into ennui. In fact, despite the gravity of violent extermination (beheadings) and rape, these scenes feel wanting of grit, tension and urgency, unusually unbecoming of hostage dramas. For a few moments, they almost feel like nothing but extreme sports more than bandit ministrations. A picnic in the wilds, anyone?

IMPROBABLE

There are various moments of head scratching annoyance as well. When Ronnie Lazaro throws a box of Bible in the sea, Huppert fights with all her might. Surely she understood the gravity of the situation and realized that if they could easily behead an innocent man, they wouldn't hesitate to throw a penniless missionary in the sea along with her Bibles. We also find Huppert's “catfighting” with Sid Lucero (who earlier ravaged Angel Aquino) unrealistic. You simply don't provoke the devil, do you? While most victims speak with hushed tones as they step on thin glass, Huppert's Therese is impervious to the power they hold over all of them, her included. Her French government didn’t want to dole out money for ransom. Ditto her family. She was expendable. Didn’t they behead one white man for lesser infraction? 

In another scene, Madeleine Nicolas, who plays one of the hostages, takes the phone from her captors, imploring to the authorities to stop shooting at them. While this isn’t unusual, she did this in English! Sosi, debah? Were the Philippine officers States-bread and English speaking? Or was this “official time”, thus should be spoken in the Queen’s tongue? I am sure she’d be more emphatic with “Huwag nyo po kaming paputukan” than “Darn! Stop firing at us, dingbats!” 

FAITH AND DISHONOR

Moreover, in several scenes, we find the bandits praying to their Great Allah, but I find it ironic to invoke the presence and mercy of God while curtailing the liberties of others. Do they offer severed heads to Allah? How merciful is such God if they live by violence? Isn't "doing harm unto others" a foreign concept in Godliness? Surely, a powerful Maker would disallow rape, murder, terror and mayhem. Unless we’re harping on the omnipresence of a different being more akin to fire and eternal damnation – and this could not be Allah. What I am saying is, God – in his various names – couldn’t be mean, parsimonious and violent. And if His name is invoked during these random acts of violence, then He is, in the process, dishonored, isn’t He? So matakot na kayo sa pinaggagawa nyo, leche kayo! Oops! Got carried away. :)

SARIMANOK

There is a cinematic moment of pure magic in “Captive”. When Therese wakes up beside young Hamed, she found a sarimanor, a legendary and colorful bird of the Maranao (believed to be a handsome young man searching for his lovely maiden). I was transfixed to my seat. Unfortunately, this mystical moment seemed misplaced, I half expected a narrative detour going the route of Aureaus Solito’s “Busong”. If it was an allegorical element, the meaning is lost on me. 

PROPERLY SUBDUED?

War is abrasive, grungy, fatuous, and harrowing. Except for the grime, you miss these characteristics here. A reviewer was said to have labeled the film “properly subdued”, but one wonders how subtlety figures in an experience like getting raped, captured or beheaded. To call subtlety “proper” for a theme akin to “Captive” smacks of pretension. After all, which character in this seemingly tedious tale is thoroughly expounded? We only know them superficially thus it’s hard to invest empathy on anyone; even the ones that got raped. If that’s not troubling, I don’t know what is.

Another review from Lito Zulueta of the Philippine Daily Inquirer points out and I quote, “Mendoza displays mastery of visual language and skillfully calibrates sequences of carnage and atrocity with neither sensationalism nor fakery.” Fact is, you cannot downplay violence nor avoid sensationalism if the act itself is staggering, lurid and excessive. Doing so is like drinking a cup of previously steaming coffee that’s gone cold and, well, flat. You lose the visceral component of the experience. Such is the case in “Captive” where the aforementioned atrocity becomes mere child’s play. And terrorism is never just a child's play. 

Isabelle Huppert is more masterful in this respect than her director. Her face is a canvas of crystal emotions. You look at her luminous face and realize her emotive adeptness. It’s a pity then that she shares segmented, albeit limited screen time with other actors. She deserves a back story more than just a glimpse of her life back home: that she has a daughter and two sons. Other than that, we don’t have anything else to anchor our sympathy on.  

There are several cameos from well known indie players: Coco Martin appears as a “tenyente” passing by a village (a school); there’s Kristoffer King, Neil Ryan Sese, Bernard Palanca, Baron Geisler, Mon Confiado, Tado, Maria Isabel Lopez, Mercedes Cabral, Evelyn Vargas, Anita Linda, et.al.

With a gaunt narrative flesh and tepid storytelling, your sensibility expects the ultimate denouement characteristic of other Brillante Mendoza flicks. It wasn’t there. 

She would rather ask for help in English! "Don't shoot us! Hold the fire, for Pete's sake!"

In these scenes, they hail Allah after every violent act. Something is incongruent, right?

Sarimanok. This photo only courtesy of E. San Juan Jr.'s "Ipaubaya sa Ulikba" -  http://philcsc.wordpress.com/2012/03/30/ipaubaya-sa-ulikba-tula-ni-e-san-juan-jr/

Coco Martin does a short but eye-catching cameo.

Isabelle Huppert, the pouty French superstar.

Senior Year - When Too Much Stories Spoil The Narrative Broth

Jerrold Tarog's "Senior Year" follows the last 4 months in the lives of the graduating class of St. Frederick's Academy, a well-heeled Catholic high school in Alabang with a hundred stories to tell.

There's brainy and hefty Henry (Aaron Balana) who's expected to run away with the Valedictorian plum. He is, in fact, agonizing over his Valedictory Address even before the formal declaration of the honor roll. He harbors special feelings for Sofia, a pretty lass who's more concerned with her social status in school than saving her down-spiraling grades. She eventually turns to the sophisticated Solenn (Nikita Conwi) who moves like a queen and carries herself like the next royalty. Meanwhile, there's young love constantly teetering on the brink of breaking up - Bridget, a campus beauty, and Briggs (Daniel Lumain), the class lothario.

MORE STORIES

There are plenty more side stories that inhabit this cinematic platter, each one as interesting as the next: The female class toughie Bunda who is a constant witness to domestic violence; sports jock Carlo and his minions who terrorize their limp-wristed basketball team mate; the suffering Mitch who craves to join the in-crowd; the teacher who's enduring an abusive relationship; the seemingly harmless anonymous letters sent to Steph by someone who turned out to be a girl. Did you say "enough"?

At some point in the movie, we had to close our eyes to catch our thoughts. It was a demanding exercise following this parade of little stories because just when you're starting to warm up to a character, a new set is introduced. It is difficult to emotionally invest complete empathy when these stories are just superficially grazed through in slap dash fashion. As far as I am concerned, story telling has to have focus. And it's just mentally impossible to aim your attention on 2 dozens of characters laid out in a 2-hour cinematic palette. It's easy to rationalize that this indeed is a story about high school, thus it is peppered with a hundred-and-one characters, but still there has to be ample character definition set on major characters. Having pointed that: "Senior Year" is nevertheless a good movie. It is entertaining, if a bit muddled - and at times confusing.

RJ Ledesma takes on the role of the adult Henry, the class valedictorian. His wistful concerns - while he waits in the car - as his indecision mounts to a fervid dilemma is palpable: would he find the nerve to meet his former classmates at their 10th year anniversary? After all, he didn't become the physician that he was meant to be, but another call center agent. Dimples Romana, as the adult Sofia, provides warmth and a sense of denouement to the iffy tale of Sofia (deftly played by Roxanne de Boda).

Most of the young cast does well: energetic, charming, effusive in expression, but aren't most "kids"? De Boda, Nikita Conwi and Daniel Lumawin register very well, possessing the natural instincts that make actors effective chameleons, they could grace our screens in the coming years and I won't complain.

We have a problem, once again, with Ina Feleo who plays the adult Mitch, and Arnold Reyes as the adult Carlo. They appear at the Homecoming scenes with such smug demeanor, you could swear they devoured something absolutely piquant. Whatever it was, they didn't let us in on that. Kalila Aguilos makes a delectable cameo as the adult Solenn, we almost had to clap for the all-too-similar bearing of the two actresses who both played Solenn.

As to the little stories, isn't it a little too presumptuous to trouble oneself with a Valedictory speech 4 months before graduation? Four months is sometime November, which means there's a lot more exams, quizzes, preliminaries, finals. There's even the tallying of the extra-curricular activities to consider which Henry never seemed to bother with. Most of the time, he stares longingly at Sofia - or worry about his speech. Take my word for it, the speech is the last of your worries when you're running Valedictorian.

We have always admired Jerrold Tarog's story telling acumen. He is such a prolific litterateur that even his peanut gallery pleaser like "Shake, Rattle and Roll's Punerarya" is still a cut above mainstream clutter. Even his music is insightfully appropriate. He is yet to disappoint me as I am such a big fan of his "Confessional" as well as "Mangatyanan". Tarog is a major talent that we shall keep our eyes on in the coming years.

Daniel Lumawin aka Joseph Lumawin: photographs well.

WHERE'S THE MOVIE CROWD?

Now, I shall digress on this issue of patronage of Filipino Films.

Time and again, we have read from online threads and discussion boards the sensible thoughts of seemingly intelligent movie goers who, like myself, continuously complain about mainstream movies churned out by the likes of Star Cinema, Regal Films, Viva Films and GMA Films. But as God is my witness, where are these high and mighty intellectuals? In the first quarter of 2011, very few Tagalog films opened for commercial exhibition, 90% of them vomit-inducing crap! Finally, last week, two good films opened. They weren't Pink Films. Neither were they produced by the aforementioned mainstream film productions. They boasted of a good cast as well, since many people complain about amateur actors. So what is the excuse?

WHERE ARE THE WHINERS?

I watched "Mayohan" (starring Lovi Poe) at the Galleria with my friend Kyle. Aside from us, there were 2 lonely souls watching it with us! Four people came to watch "Mayohan" on a Thursday night! I watched "Senior Year" in Megamall on a Wednesday evening with my mom. Aside from us, there were 4 people watching with us. Six people came to watch "Senior Year" on a Wednesday evening! So I ask again. Where's the darn crowd? Where are these intellectuals who, like me, keep whining about the absence of great Pinoy films? By Friday, the execrable Catherine Hardwicke film, "Red Riding Hood" opened, and both good Pinoy movies were sent to oblivion. So without much fanfare, I say, "Shame on you, Pinoy moviegoers!" You all deserve the cinematic stool that's being fed to you!

Kainis!

Ina Feleo and Arnold Reyes: Embraced by utter smugness!

Dimples Romana is the grown up Sofia.

Ledesma, Romana, Feleo and Reyes, plus Che Ramos who plays the concerned teacher Miss Joan.

"Senior Year", like "Mayohan", had a two-day run at Robinson's Galleria and SM Megamall.