Alipato: The Very Brief Life of an Ember (Khavn, 2016)

Khavn is a prolific filmmaker notorious for his provocative, disgusting, highly kinetic oeuvres. I've seen a handful of these films and I'm not a fan of them. Khavn must be happy. I've read somewhere that a film of Khavn was awarded a Special Mention prize in an international film festival and Khavn was dejected. He said his purpose was to offend or shock people. He didn't expect the jury to love or like his film. The title of that film is Alipato.

Hey, Khavn. I loved Alipato, too. I'm also a fan of two earlier works Paalam Aking Bulalakaw and Pahinga.

Alipato is a scary, damning take on what happens if the present drug war does not succeed. Alipato shows Mondomanila denizens being plagued by a gang composed of kids. The film suggests that all adult criminals must have been salvaged or rubbed out so children are left to take over as gang members in Mondomanila, circa 2025.

The drug war of the present administration is bound to fail because of wrong focus. The emphasis should be on eliminating poverty and reducing income inequality. As long as they experience hunger, several poor people will be tempted to enter the illicit drug trade. Getting rid of adult pushers permanently will only pave the way for hungry, angry young teens to take their place.

The head of the nefarious Kostka gang is a teenager. Along with his troop of mostly pre-teen kids, they wreak havoc and chaos. One by one, the members are introduced to the audience via profile cards with their names, favorite things, and major achievements. They are then seen slashing open the throats of jeepney commuters.

A monumental gun battle with the police left the gang in disarray. Gravestones are flashed on screen to update audience on who died. In just one day, more than a dozen people died in that fateful battle. The onscreen figure though is still below the daily killings we've seen the past few days. 32 people in Bulacan and 25 people in Manila have perished in the hands of the police within a 48-hour period in August 2017.

The young Kostka gang leader escaped the clutches of death but was imprisoned for more than 20 years after a failed bank robbery. The jail sentence storyline is a joy to watch because of its animated segment and stop-motion sequences. Khavn and Rox Lee collaborated on this wonderful animated segment showing the brutality experienced by the leader at the hands of fellow prisoners.

Dido de la Paz portrays the newly-freed, grizzled, senior citizen leader of the gang. Surviving gang members pester the leader for a share of the bounty. Soon after, gang members are targeted by a mysterious entity.

De la Paz is the undisputed revelation of Cinemalaya 2017. He won the Best Supporting Actor Award for his portrayal of an old-school poet in the film Respeto. He played a big role in Alipato. During a post-screening forum at Cinemalaya, he shared that he was shocked to see himself onscreen having sex with a naked pregnant woman. He vowed never to do anything of that sort again.

The pregnant woman was the third one selected for the film. A member of the casting crew mentioned that they had a hard time selecting people to act for the film. They have to spend late nights to spot and convince the dregs of humanity to join them.

The best scene in the film is the parade of weirdos and low-lifers at the start of the film. With a bouncy music as accompaniment, the procession is led by a man dressed in papal regalia.

So, this is what Mario Vargas Llosa's Canudos look like if put on film. The freaks, midgets, scoundrels, prostitutes, and outcasts converge in Mondomanila, the Canudos of the Philippines.

Paalam Aking Bulalakaw... (Khavn de la Cruz, 2006)

So far, this is the only film of Khavn that I truly love. Yes, that's the proper term: love. 

Paalam Aking Bulalakaw... (Goodbye My Shooting Star) deals with all permutations of that powerful four-letter word. The film is also an ode to the people, food, icons, and landmarks of the University of the Philippines. And, it took an Atenean to show the charms of the national university.

Just what it is in the waters of Ateneo? Brilliant Atenean filmmakers Khavn and John Torres create unconventional films (Paalam Aking Bulalakaw and Todo Todo Teros) that make you fall in love, or if you’re already in love, will make you love more. They blend picturesque poems with poetic pictures. They conjure images of pretty, smart ladies in their stories. If John had Russian student Olga, then Khavn has Pinay actress Ana Maria.

Ana Maria (played by Meryll Soriano) is a frustrated violin player still hurting from her break-up with an American boyfriend. She meets up with friend K one afternoon because it was getting to be a bore at home. The duo starts their tour of the University of the Philippines at Sunken Garden.

A cool, loony optometrist teases K about his crush for Ana. He answers that having a crush is against his religion. It had been years but K wasn’t ready to reveal his feelings for Ana. Not yet, anyway.

The young man drops subtle hints by bringing up the subject of love frequently. He asks friends what they thought about love. Egay states that sex is a better trip than love. Elmo says love is an amalgam of hate, lust, and sex. Ana opines that love is sadness and happiness in one person.

But, for K, love is Ana. This unrequited love of K shows up in his heart-wrenching songs and poems. And, boy, are they potent! Songs dealt with shooting stars, lonely moon, wanting, and eternal devotion. On the other hand, poems tackled endless waiting, love letters, and goodbyes.

This extraordinary film shows the wildly romantic side of Khavn. A devastating blend of hardcore mushy songs and heart-core poems will also bring out the hopeless romantic in you. Sheesh! Just when you thought you were over that special someone, this film will make you pine for her/him.

So, still interested in this achingly beautiful film? Proceed with caution. You’ve been warned!

Original online posting in November 2009

Pahinga (2011, Khavn de la Cruz)

Work.  Family crises. Heartbreak. Natural disasters. Political hi-jinks.

Whew... We all need a breather once in a while.

Some go to concerts or karaoke bars to unwind. Cinephiles trek to movie festivals or line up their stash of DVDs. Book lovers curl up in bed to read novels or the latest comics.

Khavn de la Cruz does it differently than most of us. He chills out by blending music, film, and literature juices into a soothing drink. I haven’t seen Mondomanila but Paalam Aking Bulalakaw is a great example of his intoxicating brews. The latter is still my favorite ‘this is not a film’ hangover experience so far. Khavn’s latest brew Pahinga is not far behind. Both projects blur our definitions of what is a film, a poem, or a song. To quote the tagline of the .MOV International Film, Music & Literature Festival 2011, there are zero degrees of separation amongst film, music, and literature.

Pahinga (Breather) is a project made during a most difficult time for the de la Cruz family. Khavn’s father Leonardo is hospitalized due to lung cancer. In between regular trips to hospitals such as the National Kidney Transplant Institute, the prolific filmmaker takes a breather by shooting footages of places he go to and of people he meets. There are cameos by his friends including filmmakers John Torres and Lav Diaz, film critic Dodo Dayao, film archivist Ramon Nocon, and producer Kints Kintana. The names and places are usual suspects from his, and his barkada’s, films. His friends do their bit in shooting footages for his project. I noticed some scenes that were done the Raya Martin way (i.e. the birthday scenes recall Now Showing) and the John Torres way (i.e. the surreptitiously taken jeepney scene recalls Todo Todo Teros).

Some footage was taken by his nieces and nephew. Filmmaking becomes a way of relaxation and bonding for the de la Cruz clan. There are amusing and intimate hospital room scenes such as the tweens contorting their faces, a stage act that drew generous applause, Khavn’s mother belting out a song, and a heart-tugging cryptic charade. They are truly a close-knit clan with all members rowing in sync to weather a crisis. The sterile hospital rooms become a warm home because of the camaraderie, good vibes, and laughter in the air.

The heart of the project is an interview with the patriarch Leonardo. Broken down in snippets, we get a glimpse into the father-and-son relationship. The interview is, in turns, a reminiscing, an unraveling of a secret, and an admonition to find a true friend. I’m not sure if the younger de la Cruz has find that rare person but I’m sure that he, along with countless cinephiles, views cinema as a trusty companion that one can go to for comfort and rejuvenation.

During the premiere of Pahinga on September 1, 2011, Khavn’s mother and other family members came in attendance. His friends came in droves. His father, Leonardo, though, was not present, having died in July 2011. The elder de la Cruz should have been 65 years old exactly on September 3, 2011.

I’m not an expert on Khavn’s films having watched a mere handful but I believe Pahinga is one of Khavn’s best films so far. It is deeply personal yet paradoxically accessible due to scenes of familial love. It is brave and gentle. It takes guts to open your homes, hospital rooms, and minds to people. I admired Khavn for not going overboard with this openness. He wisely kept away from funeral or cemetery scenes. No one was seen crying. We were left with a gentle portrait of a lung cancer patient who bravely, and merrily, merrily, merrily accepted his illness and impending mortality.