Column

The Triumphant Glory of Filipino Movies

2016/04/25

Kazuo Itaba

When the Japanese hear “the Philippines”, what comes to their minds?  The majority of them would probably come up with negative images like natural disasters, migrant workers, poverty in slums, etc.  But actually, the Philippines was the country in Asia that achieved the most significant development until the 1960’s.  It was an advanced country that not only the defeated nation of Japan aimed to become like, but also other newly independent Asian countries, too.  Surprisingly, many politicians, business executives, musicians, and artists from other Asian countries have experiences studying abroad in the Philippines.  During Asia’s postwar period, the Philippines was the closest Western society.

 

The movie industry made a comeback shortly after the war and among Asian countries that were creating numerous movies, the size of the Filipino movie industry was the second largest after India.  The industry continued to flourish until it reached its peak in the 1970’s to early 80’s.  Let me introduce two leading Filipino filmmakers from this golden age that I feel personally attached to.

 

Firstly, Lino Brocka (1943-91).  When Japanese people saw Filipino movies for the first time during the 70’s and 80’s, most of them probably saw Brocka’s.  In fact, the first Filipino movie that I saw was Brocka’s 1975 masterpiece, Maynila: Sa Kuko Ng Liwanag (English title: Manila in the Claws of Light).  Poor rural lives, the never-ending rich-poor gap in the city, and violence.  I still remember the strong impression I got from Brocka and his Filipino movie.  A few years later, I was blessed with the opportunity to watch many of his movies at Brocka’s special feature screening at a film festival in Tokyo.  It’s because even in the Philippines, it’s not that easy to watch so many of his movies.  But on January 8, 2016, I learned that a Cinematheque opened in Manila.  What’s more, it will open with Maynila: Sa Kuko Ng Liwanag!  I pray that this facility will stimulate the sluggish Filipino movie industry.

 

The second filmmaker is Kidlat Tahimik (1942~).  He was born in Baguio, north of Luzon Island and currently resides there.  In 2012, he was awarded the Arts and Culture Prize at the Fukuoka Prize.  He was awarded for the following reasons.  “Mr. Kidlat Tahimik has made a great contribution to global film culture as one of the pioneering independent filmmakers in Asia. Besides directing, he is involved in script-writing, shooting, editing and acting.”  (Excerpt from the Fukuoka Prize website).  Tahimik’s movies are often screened in Japan.  Some of his masterpieces include Kidlat World Mananangong Bangungot (English title: Perfumed Nightmare) released in 1997 which received the International Critics Award at the Berlin International Film Festival and the 1994 documentary that followed Tahimik’s family, Bakit Dilaw Aug Gitna Ng Bahang-Hari? (English title: I am Furious Yellow ’94; Why is Yellow Middle of Rainbow?)  I coincidentally met Tahimik during a trip to Baguio, the Philippines.  He was a quiet man and I remember being bewildered by the gap I felt between the man in front of me and his famous loincloth performances.

 

After the passing of Brocka in the 90’s to today, the Filipino movie industry isn’t exactly enjoying a glorious situation.  The number of movies produced each year hasn’t recovered to what it used to be.  To tackle this, the government of the Philippines is providing support through the Cultural Center of the Philippines, which I hope would bring positive results. Besides, the Philippines is a country where a movie legend made his way to become the president.  I have no doubt that movies are still popular among the people.

 

 

Enjoying Movies in the Philippines

 

In remote islands and in downtown Manila, old-style independent theaters still remain, but the number is decreasing, since multiplex theaters have become the mainstream in the Philippines just like in other countries.  The most notable ones are multiplex theaters located inside mega shopping centers such as SM and Robinsons.  Some multiplex facilities have four theaters, some even up to ten.  Movie theaters in the Philippines have unique characteristics compared to other countries (including Japan).

 

First of all, the size of each theater is huge and so are the number of seats and screen size.  It’s big enough to hold concerts.  Most theaters including multiplex theaters consist of two floors: regular seats and arena floor seats on the 1st floor and balcony seats on the 2nd floor.  Some theaters offer a flat rate price for both floors, but in some, an additional fee is required since tickets will be checked at the stairs that lead to the balcony seats.  But the difference between the two rates is only 10-20%.

 

What’s more, they have completely free seating and tickets are valid throughout the day it was issued.  In other words, you can stay in the theater from morning to midnight if you wanted to.  I thought about the reason why and my guess is that it has to do with the Filipino’s sense of time.  A lot of Japanese people in the Philippines have had the experience of meeting up with a Filipino, but they arrive late.  Filipinos are particular about their watches, more than the Japanese, but their watches are seldom accurate.  If you have a chance, you should ask Filipinos for the time at airports or bus terminals and check the time on their watches.  Maybe movie theaters still allow audiences to stay as long as they like because they’re taking into account the mentality of the Filipinos, who care less about the time and being punctual.

 

What’s best about watching movies in the Philippines is that they screen Hollywood movies before they’re released in Japan.  One of the reasons is because they don’t require the extra task of putting in subtitles for English movies.  I doubt that the entire audience understands the story completely since I sometimes come across parents and siblings explaining the plot to children.

 

Another advantage of watching movies in the Philippines is the cheap price.  Prices are surging in many countries and the Philippines is no exception.  This applies to ticket prices too, but they still cost less than 500 Japanese yen, so it’s definitely worth it.

 

Facebook, Twitter, and websites are useful to find out about movies that are currently showing, theaters, and timetables.  Local newspapers also publish the daily movie schedule.  But my advice on the best way is to go directly to the movie theater and check.  I’ve personally gone to theaters based on the information on Facebook, websites, and newspaper ads, but not only was the timetable wrong, the movie that was showing was also wrong.  You should be extra careful on Thursdays, since that’s the day movies are replaced.

 

Japanese people may face problems when watching movies in the Philippines.  Like I mentioned before, the movies don’t have subtitles.  Maybe you can go by without subtitles for Hollywood movies, but when it comes to Filipino movies completely in Tagalog or foreign movies shown with Tagalog voiceovers (which is often the case with Hong Kong movies), it’s really troublesome.  You’ll end up regretting it if you forget to check the timetable before purchasing tickets.  I have the painful memory of watching a Japanese movie with Tagalog voiceovers and leaving the theater after just 10 minutes or so.

 

There’s something else that the Japanese may not be able to tolerate.  It’s the manners of Filipinos during movies.  I’ve been to movie theaters in about a dozen Asian countries, but personally, I have to say that the manners of the Filipino audiences are one of the worst along with China.  I don’t dislike audiences who are so immersed in the movie, they alternate between joy and sorrow and react according to how a scene progresses.  But what I can’t stand the most are people who talk on their cell phones and women who aren’t even looking at the screen but chatting with the person next to them throughout the entire movie.

 

 

Enjoy the Beauties of the Philippines

 

From the eyes of foreigners, Japan is considered to have unique customs and practices, but the Philippines is equally unique when it comes to being diverse.  Since it’s rather easy for the Japanese to communicate in English in the Philippines, I feel they’re unable to see beyond that and discover the true beauty of this country.  In Japan, it’s currently a boom to travel to the Philippines to study English and the number of Japanese visiting the country is increasing.  Still, it’s still a small number considering how close the two countries are located.  Not only are we both island nations, Japan has unique local customs as well as rich nature.  Similarly, not only does the Philippines consist of islands, it’s so diverse that a single mountain can separate different languages, customs, nature, and even ethnic groups.  I want more and more Japanese people to enjoy such cultures just like they enjoy Filipino movies.

 

YouTube

Manila in the Claws of Light :

Perfumed Nightmare :