Madeleine Nicolas on the making of Captive

MANILA, Philippines - In my opinion, Brillante Mendoza’s Captive is a far more substantial thriller than Bourne Legacy.

Mendoza’s latest film output is devoid of the trappings of a franchise film and the story is simply told without conventional plots and subplots.

The treatment is documentary style but as the ordeals of the hostages unfold before your eyes from Day One to Day Forever, you get the chill of how it is to be taken hostage by vicious men who seemed to have sprung from the mountains of Basilan but whose connections — you realize later in the film — can be traced to the military establishment supposed to be fighting the lawless elements.

In what looks like her debut in a Filipino film, French actress Isabelle Huppert (as the French missionary Thérèse Bourgoine) packs some hidden intensity that explodes when one of the women hostages is raped by the Koran-quoting Abu Sayaf. Raymund Bagatsing and Sid Lucero turn in a highly-credible performance but it is the head of the hostage-takers, Ronnie Lazaro, who delivers an incandescent performance worthy of another acting award.

Captive has a superb ensemble of grade A actors from Evelyn Vargas to Rustica Carpio, Angel Aquino, Mon Confiado, Joel Torre, Maria Isabel Lopez and Mercedes Cabral, among others.

Madeleine Nicolas who was the landlady in Bourne Legacy is a banker-hostage in Captive and adds poignant urgency in the siege of Basilan as she frantically asks for help from contacts with military connections.

Madeleine said she knew she was going to work with a multi-awarded French actress in Captive.

The Filipino cast met her only on the first day of shooting at the speedboat and there was no interaction with her early on.

Said Madeleine of the celebrated French actress: “She was quiet on the set and was, probably, observing us since we talked and laughed a lot in-between takes. Of course, we smiled at her. Our co-actor, Bianca Zialzita (who is Evelyn Vargas’ daughter), lives in Europe and knew French. She was the first to speak to her in French. We already warmed up to her on the second day of shooting. We made her taste Filipino sitseria and sweets, and we started talking about family. During our cast party, she surprised us by doing a dance number together with Didier Costet, French producer, and Simon Legre. I would like to assume that she enjoyed our company as well. She was easy and pleasant to work with. She is an amazing actor and I have become a fan. It was a privilege working with her. After the shooting, I looked for her other films and watched them.”

She said working with Mendoza was a totally different experience from her Bourne Legacy exposure. “At the production meeting, he gave a general background on the story and explained his work process, how he will approach the film and what he expects from us. He made it clear that we will do improvisation. He requested us not to act for the camera, not to look for the camera, to be spontaneous, to be natural, and to stay in character while we are on the set. Even if we were unaware of it, he took shots of us in-between takes. We got first-hand information from some resource persons (who were previous captives) and it was very helpful in understanding what it was like to be such in a life-threatening situation.”

For her, it was an exciting and challenging process. “It was important that there was complete trust between the director and actors. The film was shot chronologically so it made it easier for us to ‘plot’ our emotions. We did not feel tension while shooting, Brillante is pretty relaxed.”

The Filipina actress debuted in film in Bawal na Pag-ibig starring Romeo Vasquez and Alma Moreno and directed by Behn Cervantes. Her theater company, the UP Repertory, was part of it and showed life at the backstage and rehearsals for a play. Her succeeding films were megged by directors who have since then become National Artists for Film like Lino Brocka who directed her in Orapronobis and Ishmael Bernal whom she worked with in Working Girls and Hinugot ang Langit.

Her first lead role in a full-length indie film was in Damortiz, directed by Briccio Santos (currently the chairman of Film Development Council of the Philippines). Tommy Abuel recommended her and she went up to Baguio City to audition for the role. “We shot it in Pangasinan for some months. It was learning process for me since I was a neophyte.”

A veteran of many Filipino and Western plays, Nicolas gives us a clue to the kind of acting that works: “There is not one definition for good acting. For one, you have to go beyond yourself. It is a lot of hard work and commitment. You always have to strive to do better. It is a passion. As they say, you know what good acting is when you see one. Basically, it is imparting true emotions to the audience. It is being generous in sharing yourself with your co-actors, being able to engage the audience and capture their hearts.”