A film that keeps you thirsting for more - STAR BYTES by Butch Francisco

For some strange reason, I have this fixation on the Japanese Occupation. Every book and article I find concerning the Pacific War – I read with keen interest.

As a child, I lapped up on afternoon television, even those cheap black and white Tagalog movies depicting the Japanese invasion of the Philippines.

In Nov. 1970, right after typhoon Yoling had calmed down, I remember dragging my mother to Ideal Theater to watch Lino Brocka’s Santiago which topbilled Fernando Poe, Jr. (It was in this film where Hilda Koronel won her first acting award – as Best Supporting Actress in the FAMAS.)

Even if I saw this film only once, I can still replay most of its scenes in my mind – save for this part when my Mom made me cover my eyes. This was supposed to be a passionate love scene between Mario O’Hara and Caridad Sanchez who later loses her sanity in the movie after getting gang-raped by an entire troop of sex-starved Japanese soldiers.

But the most vivid scene for me was still the climax showing the massacre of the townspeople – with the bida, Boots Anson Roa, getting rescued by a band of guerrillas led by Dante Rivero and Fernando Poe, Jr.

Among our local war pictures, my all-time favorite is Oro, Plata, Mata. This Peque Gallaga masterpiece may not have shown much combat, but it managed to capture in a very rich manner the moods and sentiments of the well-heeled Bacolod folks during the Japanese interlude.

Gil Portes’ Gatas sa Dibdib ng Kaaway is also set during the Japanese Occupation – just like his Markova: Comfort Gay which was one of the entries in the recently-concluded Metro Manila Film Festival.

Gatas is the story of Pilar (Mylene Dizon), a young wife and mother living during the Japanese period. When her husband Diego (played by Jomari Yllana) is thrown into the garrison after he is suspected of being a guerrilla, Pilar immediately seeks the help of the amiable Japanese captain Hiroshi Sugimoto (Kenji Marquez Motoki). Hiroshi is sympathetic to Filipinos because he himself has a Filipino spouse who soon dies while giving birth to their son.

When Diego is released from the garrison, Pilar tries to repay Hiroshi’s kindness by serving as a wet nurse to the Japanese Captain’s infant son. The compassion she shows for Hiroshi and son isn’t taken well by the barrio folk and she is eventually branded a traitor to her country and people.

The effort of the filmmaker to come up with a movie like Gatas is extremely laudable because producing a film – especially one that is set during the Japanese Occupation – is really quite difficult to do these days due to the high cost of production.

Gatas tries to recapture the ambience of the war years and succeeds in part by limiting the number of locales to a barrio and an old building that tries to pass off as a Japanese headquarters. (The tienda in one scene – I must say-looks very authentic.) Sadly, the costumes used in the picture ruin the entire production design.

Mylene Dizon, for instance, goes through her house chores wearing dusters that she must have bought from the stalls of Baclaran after a recent Wednesday novena to the Mother of Perpetual Help. Jomari Yllana’s colored undershirts are also out of place – looking so new and straight from the racks of a Bench outlet.

And the uniforms of the Japanese soldiers are unbelievably so well-pressed. It would seem like they’re running a sanitary steam laundry side by side with a military headquarters.

Mercifully, the film’s other technical elements more than make up for the atrocious costumes used in the picture. The music of Joy Marfil, for example, is effective yet simple and unobtrusive. The cinematographer also came up with well-composed shots and correctly-lit scenes – whether in Pilar and Diego’s shack (illuminated supposedly only by gaslight) or in Captain Hiroshi’s house where electricity is available.

The performances of the cast members, however, are uneven. Kenji Marquez Motoki delivers a decent enough performance – especially if we consider the fact that this is the first time he’s acting in front of a camera. Mylene Dizon is excellent as Pilar. Her performance in this movie should get her an acting nomination in next year’s awards derbies. But Jomari Yllana? Whew! Director Gil Portes would probably have been more successful drawing emotions from a concrete Japanese pagoda.

While watching Gatas, I was hoping to get this feeling of terror – from the severity of the times and from the oppression and cruelty of the Japanese soldiers.

The writer and director of this film apparently tried to picture the Japanese in a different light – which is good because not all the Japanese people were bad even during the war.

Unfortunately, Captain Hiroshi is depicted here to be so kind, good and saintly that it wouldn’t have come as a surprise, for me if the entire female population of the barrio under his jurisdiction went to him and asked for his help to work as cultural dancers in Japan.

And then there is this one crucial scene when Pilar is asked by the barrio people to kidnap Hiroshi’s baby in exchange for a captured guerrilla leader.

I don’t understand why they had to go through such complicated kidnapping scheme when Pilar could have just interceded for the release of the said freedom fighter. At this point of the story, Captain Hiroshi and Pilar are already the best of friends and she could have asked for the world and he would have given it to her in a ceramic Japanese bowl – probably even with wasabe and Kikkoman soy sauce.

But in spite of the lapses in the writing and direction, Gatas is still a quality film. It’s still a good opening film for the year and it surely is worth seeing.

To begin with, the film’s premise about nursing the helpless infant of the enemy is already interesting and rich as a mother’s milk.

The theme of Gatas, is really so promising, it leaves you thirsting for more.