‘Bahay na Pula’ stars talk of life-changing effect of Brillante Mendoza

CEBU, Philippines —  Director Brillante Mendoza has long been approached by mainstream production houses to lend them his internationally award-winning touch. Back then he was still enjoying the independent scene and felt he wasn’t ready to give up the liberties it afforded him.

It was ultimately the Viva bosses who convinced him to join the fold. But don’t call him a sell-out. The filmmaker – whose accolades include Caligari Film Prize at the 2012 Berlin International Festival for “Tirador”, and Best Director at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival for “Kinatay” – isn’t naïve to dismiss that there is a formula he must abide by, begrudgingly or not, once he signs on with a major mainstream studio. That doesn’t mean he has to ditch all his philosophies down the drain.

His challenge now was how to not completely conform without disappointing expectations of genre aficionados. “Even when I’m doing horror, I make it a point that I will offer something new. I was challenged on how to make it interesting enough na hindi lang puro katatakutan. What new thing can I inject into the genre where audiences can learn something without shortchanging the entertainment value?,” the director said in a Zoom conference.

In his first foray at horror, Direk Brillante takes audiences to the eerie “Bahay na Pula”, a real house that has witnessed the horrors comfort women were subjected to during the Japanese occupation in the Philippines.

“Bahay na Pula” is about newlyweds Jane (Julia Barretto) and Marco (Xian Lim), who travel to Mindoro to sell the ancestral house that Jane inherits from her grandmother. The caretaker gives them a tour around the property, but Jane suddenly feels strange upon reaching the basement. That night, the couple make love to one another when suddenly, Jane notices that someone seems to be peeping at them.

The next day, Jane and Marco were informed that the buyer of the property backs out, because the Municipal Council passes a resolution starting the process of declaring the ancestral house as a National Historic Site. Jane tries to talk to the Municipal Mayor to convince him to veto the council resolution. But to her surprise, her ex-boyfriend Anton (Marco Gumabao), now the mayor’s secretary, faces her.

While they lobby together to reverse the council’s resolution, old flames start to rekindle. At the same time, evil is about to be born as Jane experiences horrifying events inside the ancestral house that lead to her tummy growing bigger and faster by the day, as if she was pregnant.

“Horror is really not my comfort zone. At hindi din ako magmamagaling na kaya ko ito,” Direk Brillante admits. “So I watched horror films. Pero hindi ako natatakot kasi alam ko kasi yung mga technical aspect. The challenge was, paano ako mananakot?”

Another hesitation of Direk Brillante, who has mainly worked with indie actors, was how he can establish rapport with mainstream personalities.

“I also have insecurities with how to connect with mainstream actors kasi iba ang mundo nila. Iba ang pinanggalingan nila, iba ang training nila. I found out that the answer to that was to be true to yourself and to be honest with your co-workers. Right away I told them we have limited resources, this is not a big production. You won’t be in a five-star hotel.”

Then there’s his famously nonchalant attitude about scripts – which his three mainstream lead stars had to initially adjust to.

He shared, “We did have a script but of course it evolves when it comes on set depending on what the actors can contribute. Also the location itself because sometimes you see something on location that’s not part of the story but seems important, so nakakasama siya. Even during the editing, we see some things that can be incorporated that are not originally part of the script.”

Julia calls working with the auteur as “life-changing.”

“When I got home, I was so excited to tell my family how great the experience was filming with him. What I cherish the most was being able to have a lot of conversations with Direk. The things I learned from him and the knowledge that I gained, how generous he is with what he knows and his experiences – that sort of ticked something in my heart,” said the actress, who had vowed never to do horror after an actress-aunt of hers was said to be followed home by a spirit after filming one.

“It lit that fire again in my heart for filming because it made me realize that there’s so much films I can do. His journey was what really inspired me to keep going, but also the experience of your director giving you so much freedom and trust in the creative process. That’s very challenging as an actor, but very freeing as well.”

Xian, who has also dabbled in directing, described the director as inspiring to everyone who has the honor of hearing him speak of the craft.

“The way he motivates the people around him…Siya yung tipo ng director na kung magsalita siya, makikinig ka talaga. He’s not one to beat around the bush. He tells you what he needs,” said Xian, a huge horror and cult-related fan.

“His filmmaking style is really unique. The liberty he gave us of coming up with our own dialogue, having that sense of mystery and wonder of what will happen next. He was also keeping the ending secret from the three of us.”

And as with any Direk Brillante first-timer, Marco said he was understandably intimidated. “I didn’t know what to expect, if what I’m doing is right. But we faced the fear of not having a script, and we just trusted Direk. He gave us the freedom to react or do what we think the character will do. Nakakatuwa kasi feeling mo may pagka director ka rin.”