Cebuano indie vies in Urian

In my past few columns, I had been writing about some of the Best Picture nominees that are competing in the 34th Gawad Urian to be held on May 17, Tuesday, at the Marriott Hotel Grand Ballroom. The show is being presented by the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) and will be covered for television by Cinema One (telecast date is May 22, Sunday).

In the running for Best Picture are Amigo, Ang Damgo ni Eleuteria, Ang Mundo sa Panahon ng Yelo, Chassis, Halaw, Limbunan, Noy, Sheika and Tsardyer.

Below is my review of Ang Damgo ni Eleuteria, which is produced by Creative Programs, Inc. and Panumduman Pictures.

Among local directors, there is a cinematic term called tuhog, which is a method of filming wherein the camera grinds continuously from scene to scene without resorting to editing.

In Hollywood, Orson Welles used this device in 1958 in A Touch of Evil. Robert Altman did the same in The Player. But film being film, the camera has to stop grinding after a while because a roll can only last about 20 minutes.

The arrival of the digital age changed all that because it enabled quite a few filmmakers abroad to experiment with the innovative idea of shooting a film non-stop from beginning to end.

In the Philippines, Cebuano indie director Remton Siega Zuasola tried using this film technique in To Siomai With Love that was crowned Best Short Film in the 2009 Gawad Urian.

Remton is in the running again this year — this time for a full-length feature called Ang Damgo ni Eleuteria, where he once more shoots the entire film in one, long single take from start to finish.

For about an hour and a half, you witness this non-stop unfolding of a story that is shot entirely in the island of Olango (a migratory bird sanctuary) in the province of Cebu. Told in Cebuano, but with English sub-titles, the film starts with the preparations for the departure of the lead character Eleuteria (played by Donna Isadora Gimeno) to her date with what her parents had mapped out as her fate and destiny in life: She is being sent-off as a mail-order bride to Germany to marry a man named Hans she had never met.

She hesitates to go on with the trip and she is practically dragged by her mother (Lucia Jeuzan) to the pier, which is her first stop to get to her final destination.

During that entire walk, she meets various characters that represent most present-day Filipinos. There is a first cousin who had previously married a foreigner, came back toughened by life, but affluent. Even if she is only rich by small-town standards, she makes sure everyone in that island sees how affluent she had become by sporting fashionable clothes and having a maid at her beck and call to follow her around. She also makes it known to the entire neighborhood that she is building a concrete structure as a symbol of her financial success.

At some point, she meets her match when Eleuteria’s recruiter arrives. The recruiter had also arrived from Europe and is equally comfortable in life after having married a foreigner herself.

Along the way, Eleuteria is almost snatched away for good by this swain she is in love with who tries to convince her to elope with him. He is like most other unthinking people who don’t even plan for the future. Like the generation before them, they will marry at a young age, have children they cannot even raise properly and so expect the cycle to be repeated after them.

Of course, there is the village idiot, who may not necessarily represent the demented among us, but could very well stand for the blissfully ignorant. There is a lot of that in this country: Happily unaware of the social ills that envelop this nation. 

During that punishing walk under the sun (the cinematography is so effective even you as a viewer will feel the heat like it is burning your skin just watching the film), there is also a glimpse of Filipino customs and traditions (our love for fiestas) and just about anything Pinoy.

Remton succeeds in his attempt to show Filipino traits, both good and bad — plus the current sad state of the Philippines. But his approach is never condescending. He only illustrates real-life situations — as they are and minus any exaggeration (everything, in fact, happens in real time). He even manages to stress the fact that we may be poor, but we are not illiterate. That even in the remotest of barrios, we understand English and are no stranger to consumer goods from abroad.

In one scene, the girl’s father (played by Gregg Tecson), who is not completely sold on the idea of selling their daughter to some foreigner, sarcastically tells his wife to be the one to fly to Germany and marry Hans. “I hope he makes Hans pork and beans out of you!” He obviously is referring to Hunt’s, a canned product of Western origin that even people in our farthest islands consume and patronize.

Little details like this one all contribute to making Damgo one of the truly most outstanding films of 2010. Thematically, it is an important film because it tackles relevant social issues that continue to plague this country.

As an acting vehicle, the featured untested actors all shine in their respective roles. Nobody acts. They simply react and interact with each other and all that Remton captures in his non-stop, single take.

This is why Remton also gets high marks for the kind of creativity he displays in Damgo, which plays like beautiful poetry on screen. And he does not rely on talent alone in piecing this movie together. He also puts in a lot of hard work to this film. Though no one is credited for editing in the movie, I can imagine a lot of pre-editing work done prior to the shoot. It obviously required a lot of planning and preparation because no one can afford to make a mistake — otherwise the idea of having one, long single take will be ruined.

I can’t imagine anyone else making another film of this kind and succeeding the way Remton does here in Ang Damgo ni Eleuteria. It’s a film achievement that may be difficult to surpass or perhaps even equal. 

To the non-Cebuano speaker, damgo means dream. The damgo in the title of this film represents various meanings since we all have different dreams.

Like in the case of Remton, his finished film product is the fulfillment of what must be every other director’s dream, which is to be able to make a movie in one single take.

And since he tackles the plight of the poor and manages to touch the issue to the very core, it must also be his dream, as with most other concerned Filipinos, to see our population finally freed from the shackles of poverty.

So that we don’t see another Eleuteria, who has to put at stake her own future for the sake of her family’s dream for a more prosperous life and in the process risk her personal safety living through a nightmare of uncertainty in a strange, foreign land and in the arms of a man she may never learn to love. Surely, no young girl would nurture this kind of dream.

Aside from Best Picture and the nomination of Remton for direction and screenplay, Ang Damgo ni Eleuteria is also nominated in the following categories:

Best Actress — Donna Isadora Gimeno

Best Supporting Actor — Gregg Tecson

Best Supporting Actress — Lucia Jeuzan

Best Cinematography — Christian Linaban

Best Production Design — Kaloy Uypuanco

Best Music — Jerrold Tarog

Best Sound — Vanya Fantonial