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NEW YORK – After a long wait, the much-anticipated independent feature by acclaimed filmmaker John Sayles, will open in theaters across major cities in the United States this weekend.
Set during the Philippine-American War at the turn of the previous century and filmed entirely in the Philippines, Amigo—the 17th feature film from Academy Award-nominated writer-director Sayles—features a stellar international ensemble cast, including award-winning Filipino actor Joel Torre in the lead as Rafael Dacanay.
Amigo addresses the Philippine-American War in 1900, a long forgotten chapter in our history, an important part of Filipino civilization that was reduced to an “insurrection” that ended in the United State buying the Philippines from Spain for a mere 20 million dollars.
Torre was in town last week to promote the film’s opening weekend. In between talks and Q-and-A sessions, we cornered him for an interview about his experiences in doing this historic film.
He got on board because he grew up with Mario Ontal (the other co-producer) in the Bacolod theater scene. Back then, they already had dreams of producing and starring in their own international films. Little did they know, that dream would happen someday.
“Mario worked with John as associate editor for the film Lone Star. He brought John to Manila in 1999, and I met with him again when he did Dogeaters off-Broadway in 2001,” Torre recalls of his first meetings with Sayles.
Sayles wanted to go to the Philippines to do research for his novel, A Moment in the Sun. Together with producer Maggie Renzi, Joel and other friends, they traveled extensively in Luzon visiting some of the places he’d written about but hadn’t been to.
“He asked about the film industry in the Philippines and inquired what it would take to shoot a film in he Philippines. I gave him a figure, Sabi ko mga $750,000. He was shocked. That inspired him,” Torre added.
Having delved more extensively into the history of the Philippine-American war while doing research for A Moment in the Sun, and having been fascinated by the subject for a number of years, Sayles did not delay, quickly putting together a micro-history that served as a framework for the script.
Sayles—who researched and read over a hundred books on this subject in various languages—acknowledged the reality that the Philippine-American War is a little-known event and not properly chronicled, even in the Philippines itself.
Three months later came a call from Mario. He told Joel that John already had a script for a film and that he (Joel) had a big role. That was when they started doing the groundwork.
Joel got the script in February 2010. By June, they were location hunting. In October, they did more preparation and pre-production. The shoot took about six weeks.
The location was a small, idyllic town of Maribojoc in Bohol. The cinematographer gave justice to the place as it looked so serene and bucolic onscreen. It actually verged on being postcard-ish. This placid and tranquil scenario slowly transformed into a setting of mayhem, with the arrival of the American soldiers.
“It was a very nice village, 45 minutes from Panglao, and it had what we wanted – the nipa huts, the rice fields, everything. The colors were so beautiful, the landscape was just breath-taking,” Torre recalled.
Sayles is well known for his attention to detail, and with only eight weeks of pre-production before the shoot, the art department quickly swelled. As the village rose around them, they planted gardens that would mature before the shoot began, while diligently filling the village with antique items that would have been used in 1900. For example, costume designer Gino Gonzales sourced the blue wool for the US Soldiers’ shirts from Italy- no polyester facsimiles here, Sayles is a stickler for anachronisms.
The film shot for six weeks, and was finished on time and on budget. Renzi remarked, “John has never been happier on a set, one that was designed, built, and run entirely by Filipinos.” Sayles edited the movie in Bohol and then, keeping things in the Philippines, returned to Luzon to do post-production sound and picture in Quezon City and Makati.
Pressure
As Rafael Dacanay, Torre’s role was complex. Dacanay is the cabeza del barrio of San Isidro, caught in the murderous crossfire of the Philippine-American War. At first, Torre was scared that he won’t be able to deliver, specially since he was playing the lead character.
“The hardest part was taking the pressure off and just focus on the work. Luckily, I got the script beforehand so I did my research, my homework. The day before the shoot, I finally locked my character. Kuhang-kuha ko na. I wasn’t scared anymore,” he added.
Torre shares the limelight with Hollywood stars such as Academy Award winner Chris Cooper, Garrett Dillahunt (Winter’s Bone, No Country For Old Men), Tony nominee Yul Vazquez (The A-Team, War of the Worlds), DJ Qualls (Hustle and Flow) and with fellow Filipino actors Rio Locsin, Ronnie Lazaro, Bembol Roco and Arthur Acuna.
When US troops occupy his village, Dacanay comes under pressure from a tough-as-nails officer (Chris Cooper) to help the Americans in their hunt for Filipino guerilla fighters. But Dacanay’s brother Simon (Ronnie Lazaro) is the head of the local guerillas, and considers anyone who cooperates with the Americans to be a traitor.
Dacanay quickly finds himself forced to make the impossible, potentially deadly decisions faced by ordinary civilians in an occupied country. “My peg was my dad who was a politician before. I recalled how he handled people,” Torre added.
Hard work
As a co-producer, Torre said it was hard at first setting up and getting the right people.
All the hard work paid off when he came across the finished product, and he is just so proud that Filipinos in America now have the opportunity to watch a masterpiece by a noted Hollywood director.
“He (John Sayles) was very thorough. He was so relaxed but his mind was twenty steps ahead of everyone. There’s always an overload of information with John. Para siyang Google. He is one of the hardest-working and smartest people I have ever met. He was so calm, he never raised his voice. Umaapaw ang kanyang memory bank,” Torre shared.
As a director, Sayles said that he is always interested in how people behave in extreme, sometimes impossible situations. It is the essence of drama, and he has explored before in movies such as Matewan, Lone Star, and Men With Guns.
“The Philippine-American War has been ignored or forgotten by both sides of the conflict, it is history that needs to be recaptured in the public imagination. Amigo deals with one of the most common but least-examined aspects of human experience—the story of the people caught in between,” Sayles said in earlier interviews.
The film has been shown in the Philippines and reception has been warm.
“The problem was that we were sandwiched between Transformers and Harry Potter. When Harry Potter opened, we were dislodged,” Torre shared, laughing.
Luckily, there is a clamor for the film to be shown in universities and schools, and the people behind the film are glad that they have the endorsement of the Department of Education.
Secretary of Education, Bro. Armin Luistro, viewed and endorsed the film, stating, “I commend the producers of Amigo for portraying the real life drama of ordinary Filipinos who found themselves caught in the midst of the Fil-Am war. The inner struggle of the combatants and their families to resolve a societal dilemma is poignantly captured on reel even as the sordid realities of war unfold in a barrio setting. There are many fresh insights and lessons to pick up from the film for anyone who dares to live life’s questions today.”
Torre is hopeful that Amigo will help open a lot of doors to see that the Philippines has a thriving film industry.
Last week, the film opened the Asian American International Film Festival here in New York, and this week, it is opening in select cinemas in various cities across in the US, including New York (AMC Empire 25) and Bergenfield, NJ (Clearview).
“We are very happy that the Filipino-American community is supporting the film, and please, let’s gather our families and friends to watch the film in the cinemas this weekend,” he said.
On top of his busy schedule, Torre is busy wearing his other hat, as a businessman. His restaurant, JT’s Manukan Grille, has four branches now and they are opening four more by the end of the year. They have also opened the business for franchise. Not bad for a business which he started back in 2003.
“Maybe I can open two more and after that, I can just relax,” he said.
“And be the next Mang Inasal?,” I asked.
Torre laughed. “I don’t want to do that. We’ve had offers but we didn’t bite. Isa lang ang pangalan namin and we’ll take care of it.”
“I just ate at this burger place in Le Meridien (Burger Joint) and that’s the idea—maliit, masikip, pinipilahan. In the food business, very important na masarap ang food. Be consistent, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure that out,” he added.
In the meantime while in the US, Torre continues to wear his hat as an actor and co-producer, promoting the film left and right, jetlag be damned.
(NYNJ Aug 19-25, 2011 LifeEASTyle pg.2)
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By: Momar J. Visaya, AJPress New York
Source: AsianJournal.com, Aug. 19, 2011
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