Supreme radar: Raya Martin’s ‘How to Disappear Completely’

MANILA, Philippines - The heart of darkness hides many things and in the film How to Disappear Completely, which screened at the latest Cinemanila International Film Festival, director Raya Martin puts a family at its nucleus, blurring the lines between reality and hysteria. Thrumming with Eyedress’s creepfest of a soundtrack, How to Disappear mines the tall tales of escape, primarily in the form of a pubescent girl (Ness Roque) who longs to break free from the suffocating hold of the rural life she’s trapped in.

Her parents (the inimitable Nonie and Shamaine Buencamino) spend much of their time going about their business, but once they sit down the table for dinner, things escalate quickly. Martin uses these scenes to scale up the tension, establishing the push and pull of the parental force that drives their daughter further into her own little world. It’s here where Shamaine and Nonie flourish with such unbridled rawness, even by the way they throw their lines at each other or how they knife each other with piercing stares, owning up to the fact that the fate of the movie is on their shoulders.

“It’s funny kasi the whole time…it’s all table scenes,” explains Martin. “It’s supposed to build up the relationship of the mom with the kid, the dad with the kid — the whole family. It’s more of creating the atmosphere. For [Shamaine and Nonie] it’s not just delivering lines or being in this. I think they’re in the universe of the film. They know it helps that we shot during the stormy season; they knew na ganito yung weird na feeling, where it’s supposed to end. May ganitong tension in the middle of nowhere. I guess it’s a sense of commitment on their part.”

It helps that Shamaine and Nonie move with the careful knowledge of each other’s range — something that helps turn the film into a stirring portrait of a family at the clutches of madness.

No script

“The idea for How to Disappear Completely, wala siyang script. It’s per scene. They’re eating and wherever it takes you. It’s important that we get a real life couple. Naturally, sila yung perfect. I’ve always been a fan of Shamaine and I never really looked at Nonie beyond…he’s more mainstream kasi eh. And I discovered when they were acting together, it’s a perfect balance. It’s a nice balance because Shamaine is more method. And then Nonie is more playful,” attests Martin.

Martin admits working with the Buencaminos stimulates him even more. Shamaine and Nonie’s body of work proves their capability as artists — a rare breed of actors who still give the profession a good name even though today’s industry is running with young blood with questionable talent.

“For them, even behind the camera, there’s a vulnerability na pinapakita nila, which is super rare. That’s why I love working with theater actors, there’s more sense of being human,” Martin says.

 But despite the familial core, which could have been rife for drama, Martin employs old school horror tropes (he admits How to Disappear is a homage to American independent horror films such as the work of Wes Craven and John Carpenter) to conjure up the bloody struggles of the characters. Martin chooses to pilfer the recesses of the subconscious to evoke the elements of horror that haunt their daily lives. How to Disappear ultimately ends up as a puzzling piece of deconstruction, holding up the fractured sense of madness that we all encounter every day.

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How to Disappear Completely’s next screening is at the Rotterdam International Film Festival in The Netherlands. Tweet the author @donutjaucian.