I sort of had the idea that this is Diaz's tirade against the sitting president. And you bet he delivered it strong!
Lav, as can be shown by his works, doesn't mind to be different. Despite being the current president being well-loved by the masses, he made this film as an awakening. I was just appalled at his audacity-I think he was the one who wrote the lines to the sung dialogue here and his lines, though in poetry form, was so sharp that I was just imagining how will the President react.
The film is almost 4 hours but it didn't feel too long. Owing to the fact that the lines were sung, usually with catchy tunes, and with repeated lyrics. This is like watching theater minus the exaggerated acting. And its in black and white but Lav made sure his message was clear: wake up Filipinos!
I just have to say this one very face-palming scene that made me want to shout "I lav you!" Hmmm... The leader of the abusive military here is being referred to as Chairman Narciso (hmmm....I wonder who's he referring to?). Chairman Narciso enters the scene with his right hand on his cheeks (a known body gesture of you know who). From afar, he looks bald with his hairline already starting in the middle part of the head. From afar he looks like his eyeglasses were placed behind his ears. Such cowboy. On focus camera, he turns his back to reveal a prosthetics face of someone who had full hair (because the hair that started in the middle area of Chairman Narciso looked like bangs for the back face) who is wearing eyeglasses. Symbolism is everywhere here. (That face I'm talking about is the one shown on the poster of the film).
For me the ones who stood out were the unknowns but mainstream actors Piolo Pascual and Shaina Magdayao also leveled up here. Bituin Escalante in her mermaid voice is so enchanting, especially if the lyrics are controversial. It would be enlightening to get a transcript of Lav's pieces here, his poetries don't use high fallutin language but it has depth...political depth.
Overall I believe this is my most loved Lav Diaz film. It is well executed in both the production and content. This is a must-watch.
