Chito Roño takes the road less travelled

Last year, Director Chito Roño’s Bata, Bata, Paano Ka Ginawa won several awards, including best picture, best actress for Vilma Santos, best supporting actor and actress for Carlo Aquino and Serena Dalrymple, and the best director prize for himself not only from local award-giving bodies but the Brussels International Filmfest. The film is about the struggles of a woman, a single mother of two, who defies conventions to find her own place in the sun in a world dominated by males.

Now, Direk Chito, as he is fondly called, is presenting not one but two daring works: Laro sa Baga and Spirit Warriors. Laro sa Baga is based on the award-winning novel of Edgardo Reyes (Sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag, Sa Kagubatan ng Lungsod) and probes into the psyche of the Pinoy macho male who keeps a score card of women he conquers and offers no excuses for his behavior.

Spirit Warriors is a big-budgeted adventure movie with no big name stars in it. The expense amounting to some P45 million has gone to the state-of-the-art digital effects used by Roadrunner Network to present on the big screen some dazzling scenes showing the heroes, played by the Streetboys, battling all sorts of menacing creatures.

Laro Sa Baga is strictly-for-adults fare with a lot of provocative sex scenes, including a scene where the lead character, Ding (Carlos Morales), is castrated by his jealous wife (Monique Wilson.) On the other hand, Spirit Warriors is meant for children, a wholesome family entertainment meant to attract the holiday crowds this coming Christmas season.

"They’re exact opposites, aren’t they?" says Direk Chito.

The films show the director’s wide range as a filmmaker. His first two films are the same. Private Show starred Jaclyn Jose as a drug-addicted torera or live sex show worker. Baleleng is about a child mermaid and other fantasy creatures who live under the sea.

In both Laro sa Baga and Spirit Warriors, Direk Chito is gambling on newcomers: Carlos Morales and the Streetboys.

"I saw Carlos on a stage play in Fort Santiago, Pusang Gala, where he play the role of a callboy. I was then casting Laro sa Baga and asked him to do a reading for the role. He is perfect as Ding. I saw the beast in him, the savage man who women will find very desirable. He’s handsome, he has a great body, at maraming mai-in love sa kanya in this film. As for the Streetboys, they’re all young and agile, perfect for the role of adventure-seeking students who go to the Sojotan Caves in Samar. Looking for ghosts but encounter wayward elementals, instead. They do their own action stunts here. No doubles."

Did Carlos deliver as Ding?

"More than I expected. I always try to work within an actor’s actual being, so that hindi mukhang acting lang ang lumalabas on screen. In Carlos’ case, marami siyang pinaghuhugutan ng emotions, being the son of an American whose parents separated in Olongapo when he was still very young. I feel so fortunate with my cast in Laro sa Baga because they all did well. I’ve always liked Angel Aquino and she’s right in the role of Ninang Carmen, who is shown aging from her 20s to her 40s in the movie. She is young but she has this range na puede siyang patandain on screen. She takes care of Ding as a boy and he later rapes her. Monique is perfect as the wife. I’ve worked with her before on TV and I know; malalim siya.

In the film, she is educated but dumb when it comes to relationships with men. Ara Mina is also great as Dee, Ding’s object of desire from childhood. Ara is first shown here as a young girl of 14 who gives her virginity to Ding. Because of this, Ninang Carmen, her guardian, sends her to the States. When she comes back, she’s already a woman of the world who speaks with an American twang. She and Carlos have some unabashed nude love scenes in the film."

Unlike in Bata, Bata, where he loves and roots for the heroine, Direk Chito hates Ding in Laro sa Baga.

"But we have to show him on screen because there are many Filipino males who are like him. They think they’re God’s gift to women, collecting them without conscience and not apologizing for their character. I think the question here is why society allows such men to exist?"

The film’s message is really very timely, considering that we now have a president who has his own harem of other women and offers no excuses for it.

Both Laro sa Baga and Spirit Warriors are produced by Mother Lily of Regal Entertainment and Chito says he can never thank her enough for bankrolling those risky projects.

"Mother Lily is one of our most open-minded producers around and we have worked well together before, like in Curacha, Ang Babaeng Walang Pahinga, one of our biggest hits together. In Spirit Warriors, we want to show that the Philippines has the same technology as other advanced countries when it comes to making films with world class special effects. This is something we can market abroad."

Even before these films have been shown, Chito has started two new projects for Star Cinema: La Vida Rosa starring Rosanna Roces and Diether Ocampo, and Dekada ’70, also based on a novel by Lualhati Bautista like Bata, Bata, starring Vilma Santos and Christopher de Leon.

"The first one is about a strong-willed woman and her toyboy," he says. "The second one is about the political awakening of a mother during the turbulent times of martial law."

Film buffs like us surely have reason to rejoice as we view all these new films from Chito Roño, surely one of the ablest filmmakers in the country today.