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Shadows Raymond Red (Director) |
When I heard that Raymond Red had won the Palm'd Or in the short film category at this year's Cannes Film Festival, my reaction was as follows: "Short film category?" Red appeared on the scene in the Philippine's alternative film movement in the 1980s as a short film director, and made his full-length debut in 1992 with the German-funded Bayani, followed by 1993' Sakay. In other words, he is supposed to be one of the sharpest, most innovative and most exciting directors in the Philippines today. When I first met him in Manila in 1994, he had already built quite the house with his earnings from making commercials and music videos. He had supported his family, and was a larger-than-life figure for other independent filmmakers of his generation. And yet he had gone back to making short films: why?Red: "It was frustration. I couldn"t shoot my third feature, and needed to get out my stress somehow. After I made my first feature, I got funding from the Rotterdam Film Festival's funding initiative. I had two scripts ready, Sakay and Traitor. I chose Sakay as my second feature, and it was a failure. It was my first commercial film, and I lost control to the producer, and couldn't edit it, as I would have liked. I've been wanting to shoot Traitor ever since, but since it's a somewhat bold story about a Filipino who betrays his comrades during the Japanese Occupation, I couldn't find a producer for it. And I didn't want to get involved in mainstream cinema in the Philippines where the director means nothing. So five or six years went by, just like that. I don't think that there's another feature I want to make. I started out wanting to be an artist, so I really concentrate on one work, and I can't go on to the next one until I've completed the first. That's why I made a short film instead of a feature this time. People always think of short films only as practice films for students, but they're 'real film' too. If a feature film is a novel, a short film is a poem. I want to respect the form of both of these in my work. Compromise is clearly not in his vocabulary. But his bashfully macho attitude is kind of endearing. So it's no wonder that Anino can be all of 13 minutes and still have the endless expansiveness of poetry. Red: The man in the black clothes that directs the protagonist to reality might be the devil, or then he could be an angel. Some people thought that the protagonist dies at the end, and other people thought he was saved. Being able to play with that double-sidedness is one of the greatest pleasures of short films. I think it's fine to leave interpretation to the audience. Surprisingly, the film was shot in only three days. It was his first experiment with ad lib filming-- while he usually goes as far as to draw out storyboards for his works, this one was shot without even a script. Actor Ronnie Lazaro, also visiting Tokyo for the festival, is a veteran actor with more than twenty years of film and television experience under his belt who made his debut with Lino Brocka's Wake Up, Maruha(1978). He's a regular in Red's films, and is scheduled to play the lead role in Traitor. The expressions of deep sorrow and disillusionment he showed us in Anino are as pure and touching as those of a youth. And he simply invites close-up shots. Lazaro: Ad lib acting was a lot of fun. When the man in the black clothes asked when I had last eaten, and I answered Yesterday, I think the sense of suffering came through well. The only hard part was the scene where I punch Eddie Garcia, who is a major star (laughs). All the cast and the staff worked for free, but since we were working for soul, not for money, we were all satisfied. Made for all of US$7000, Anino teaches us once again that real film is about neither the size of the budget nor the length of the film. For your soul's sake, don't miss this 13 minutes of pure pleasure! Asako Shindo: Filmmaker.
Director's Profile: Born in Manila in 1965. Studied painting and photography before shifting mediums to Super8 and 16mm. After making Bayani (1991-92) in 16mm, moved to 35mm for the feature film Sakay (1996), which screened at the Tokyo International Film Festival in 1996. Both Bayani and Sakay are tales of Philippine revolutionary heroes active a century ago. Currently working on his third feature-length film. Also directs television commercials and music videos. |
