2019 Metro Manila Film Festival Entry
'Culion' (2019)
Genre: Drama 

The film ‘Culion’ could have been the MMFF’s Best Picture

By Joey Ting

Among the list of official entry films for this year’s annual Metro Manila Film Festival, the film ‘Culion’ could have been cited as the Best Picture. Though this could only happen if the film production team considers the aesthetics a little bit sidetracked (a misnomer artistic team which includes director Alvin Yapan, writer Ricky Lee and cinematographer Neil Daza) and hitting really the central point of the theme’s objectives and nature in its rawest and purest dictate.

I have followed filmmaker Alvin Yapan’s cinematic career and bumped into him one time during the producer’s call for more screenplay entries in now hibernated TO FARM Film Festival years back, and, formerly chaired by the late contemporary film stalwart Maryo J. De Los Reyes. In focus, Yapan’s works speak for itself, regularly both as a writer and director, as in the case of his previous films ‘Oro’ (2016), ‘Ang Tulay ng San Sebastian’ (2016), ‘Ang Sayaw ng Kaliwang Dalawang Paa’ (2011), and ‘Ang Panggagahasa Kay Fe’ (2009) to name a few of his outstanding cinematic works and it really were exceptional because of his sensibilities towards character mapping towards an ultimate goal, structured narrative storytelling and well-thought of mise-en-scene (compositional shots and camera motions). He always does this in each of his carefully-analyzed film after film. He knows I’m a fan of his works as I watched all of them religiously, but at the same time, also a critic and a colleague of his in the industry. His films usually stand out among the other selections because of his usual brave attempts to make it his vision mysterious, often, thought-provoking. Yapan is known for his character intricacies where he makes his cast ensemble dive into making the known unknown which proves of his skill as an academic head and Ateneo De Manila Filipino professor for more than a decade of educational involvement in service.  

Another indicator where ‘Culion’ could have been bagged the Best Film is through the omniscient presence of multi-awarded screenwriter and mentor of many today’s scriptwriters and directors Ricky Lee in the film. His hundreds of cinematic works have shown excellence in his almost tireless number of screenplay credits which we should not forget films like ‘Jaguar’ (1979), ‘Carnival Queen’ (1981), ‘Haplos’ (1982), ‘Himala’ (1982), ‘Karnal’ (1983), ‘Olongapo…The Great American Dream’ (1987), ‘Gumapang Ka Sa Lusak’ (1990), ‘Andrea, Paano Ba Ang Maging Isang Ina’ (1990), ‘Separada’ (1994), ‘Madrasta’ (1996), ‘Miguel/Michelle’ (1998), ‘Jose Rizal’ (1998), ‘Anak’ (2000), ‘Deathrow’ (2000), ‘Sabel’ (2004), ‘Justice’ (2014), and ‘Ringgo: The Dog Shooter’ (2016) just to name the countless films he has written for film. Though majority of them have turned out to be hits in box office and critics’ choices, some have been missed out. Ricky Lee is not just a stalwart. He has written film screenplays to make film audiences realize societal decadence, issues and critical conditions. He made those pivotal periods infallible source of facts and information. He has provided trust-worthy research and immersions.

Lastly, ace cinematographer Neil Daza speaks for the images. With his countless works in the advertising commercial worlds to television glossy-heavy to cinematic sparks, one has to realize how he would have driven the motion of his images as projected to the screen’s language. Films he has handled are ‘Signal Rock’ (2018), ‘The Ghost Bride’ (2017), Etiquette for Mistresses (2015), ‘Emir’ (2010), ‘Feng Shui’ (2004), ‘Dekada ‘70’ (2002), ‘La Vida Rosa’ (2001), ‘Laro Sa Baga’ (2000) and ‘Spirit Warriors’ (2000) just to name a few as well for his countless crucial works in the entertainment industry. He gives what the client wants (in this case, the film’s producer, filmmaker and screenwriter). Though a chief storyteller in the cinematic field, cinematographers usually have to actualize the vision of the film director as well as the screenwriter’s sequence requirements. Daza has the impediment to obstruct whatever he wants on the screen without prior approval of the director, screenwriter and producer. The bureaucratic principles and systems in a capitalist state such as the film’s organizational map out and structure.

With the three outstanding artists combined in one film is obviously a fallacy-in-the-making. The film works best if the breathing smell and natural odor of the story comes out from the mouth of its creator. In the case of ‘Culion’, the diseases did not make the audiences feel uncomfortable, not because of the exceptional visual make-up and prosthetic effects but because no character’s perspective is telling the truth of the leper colony. There must be a single character who would function as in the French term ‘raisonneur’ (author’s character). The filmmaker must narrate the history with a cinematic perspective which, of course, has become invisibly hallucinogenic and sympathetic. This character shoud have told the nuances of the leprosy carriers (Iza Calzado, Meryll Soriano, and Jasmine Curtis-Smith with Joem Bascon. Mike Liwag, Suzette Ranillo and cameo appearances of John Lloyd Cruz, Mercedes Cabral, Joel Saracho, Ruth Alferez) and their other characters in the film the most imaginable and fictionally-described to understand the nature of the victims and how it affects its environment. The ‘raisonneur’ must have helped clarify the film audiences’ understanding of the narrative without the loss of ‘involvement’ and ‘engagement.’ The aesthetics have become an overwhelming to handle such delicate, if not sensitive, film’s performance. Nevertheless, Yapan is not a failure in the film, not the cinematographic properties of Daza nor the narrative structure of Lee but the decision to make it a replicated history is not a favored feature in memory depicting history and accuracy. ‘Culion’ should have been a fictional drama inspired from the history of the American rule in a deserted island of leper colony in Culion, Northern Palawan.  

‘Culion’ has never attracted the masses due not to the nature of the film but through the missing historical viewpoint of this unforgettable and painful memory of the present.  ‘Culion’ could have been the MMFF’s Best Picture for 2019. ‘Culion’ is produced by Shandii Bacolod under the iOptions Ventures Company running for 136 minutes with English subtitles on it. The film ‘Culion’ is still noteworthy to see and experience.