Lav Diaz gets full house for Norte

The name of Filipino director Lavrente Indico Diaz, Lav Diaz for short, from the town of Datu Paglas, province of Maguindanao, is one associated with films that run on and on that few in the audience can tolerate. And yet, he has discovered for himself a niche, particularly among those living abroad, who find in his works a freshness of the spirit and purity of intensions.

Among the few films we have watched is the five-hour and 15 minutes Batang West Side which won the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) Jury Prize at Cinemanila International Film Festival in 2008; Another NETPAC award for Death In The Land of Encantos at the Jeonju International Film Festival in 2007; and Melancholia which won the Grand Prize in 2008 at the Venice International Film Festival.

The last time a Diaz film was screened in local theaters was in 2002, and that was Hesus, Rebolusyunaryo, produced by Regal Films and topbilled by Mark Anthony Fernandez and Donita Rose. Now, we are told that Lav has requested that his works be shown in the Philippines.

We make time to catch a re-screening of The End Of History translated in Pilipino as Norte: Hangganan ng Kasaysayan and screened at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, which has known quite a number of other Filipino entries from Lino Brocka to Brillante Mendoza in the past. Lav’s Norte was also shown at the Masters Section of the 2013 San Diego Asian Film Festival.

Exploring themes of crime, class and family in a marathon-length film format, totaling over four hours in length. The film has received wide acclaim for its riveting storytelling and unique cinematography. Set in modern-day Philippines, Norte follows the story of Joaquin (Archie Alemania) who has been jailed for murder while the real killer roams free. The murderer, Fabian (Sid Lucero), is an intellectual frustrated with his country’s never-ending cycle of betrayal and apathy. Joaquin, on the other hand, finds life in prison more tolerable. Until strange and mysterious happenings frighten him.

 Norte weaves together the stories of these two men in a tragic story reminding one of Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky with Leo Tolstoy’s God Sees The Truth But Waits. It’s about apathy and gross injustice. “It’s about the ghosts that continue to haunt our country,” says Lav. The British Film Institute’s Sight and Sound picked Norte as one of its 10 Best Films of 2013. Sid said that “although it takes a critical look at our society… Filipinos should see it because if we do not confront our shortcomings as a people, how can we move forward as a nation?”

In an interview, Lav has confessed, “I have a pack of issues about metaphysics in relation to my cultural experience — the Filipino way of looking at the concept of God, the existence of God — it binds all my works together because it’s my culture.”

Dealing with theft, murder, rape and violence, we were worried that the adult R-rating would discourage viewers, just as the expected length of his films do. We were happy that this was not the case. In fact, the Glorietta Theater in Makati was packed to the rafters, we had to make do with separate seats for ourselves and our companion.

The anticipated length of Lav’s films should also come as a matter of course. We wonder how the public could have forgotten so easily that one of the most popular Hollywood releases which also became an all-time global box-office attraction is still Gone With The Wind, which is all of four hours.

As a reviewer from Brisbane, Australia noted, “Lav Diaz’s formal mastery in Norte — expressed in painterly wide shots that break up the visual world into two, three, sometimes four distinct planes; and its patient respect for human behavior, its unhurried development of plot at the service of giving every discrete action its worthy attention, inspires a delicate balance between awe at the technical brilliance on display and rapt attention to the humans and environments comprised within.”

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