VICTORIOUS IN FRANCE. Members of the cast and crew of the coming-of-age film, “Pisay,” which won two major awards in the recently concluded 14th Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema (from left): Trini Derbesse, translator (she also translated Brocka’s films to French previously), director Auraeus Solito, EJ Jallorina (who plays Auraeus’ alter ego, Euri), Claudine Najera (Geometry teacher), Carl Barrameda (Matt) and Endi “Hai” Balbuena (one of the production designers).
Only in Hollywood Pinoy ‘queen’ film wins in Berlinale
Christensen to produce, act in ‘Beast of Bataan’
By Ruben V. Nepales Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 01:12:00 02/17/2008
LOS ANGELES—Congratulations to the cast and crew of “The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela,” described by Variety as “about a Filipino lady-boy prostitute who fancies herself the true queen of France,” for winning the best feature Teddy at the Berlinale’s Teddy Queer Film Awards last Thursday.
Raquela Rios stars as herself in the feature co-produced by Arleen Cuevas and directed by Olaf de Fleur Johannesson. ***
Hayden Christensen, who played the plum Anakin Skywalker role in two “Star Wars” prequels, confirmed to us that he will produce and star in “Beast of Bataan,” a courtroom drama about the Japanese general in charge of the Bataan Death March.
In an interview in New York last Monday, the star of “Jumper,” a science fiction thriller, said that award-winning actors Willem Dafoe and William Hurt will play General Douglas MacArthur and General Jonathan Wainwright, respectively, in the film adaptation of Lawrence Taylor’s book, “A Trial of Generals: Homma, Yamashita, MacArthur.”
War crimes trial
Christopher Carlson and Mark Jean’s screenplay will focus on the war crimes trial of Lt. Gen. Masaharu Homma, the presumed architect of the Bataan Death March and who was known as the “Beast of Bataan.” Thousands of American and Filipino prisoners of war (POWs) suffered and died on the forced march from Mariveles, Bataan to Capas,Tarlac.
The website of Film Bridge International, which is described as “overseeing the financing” for “Beast of Bataan,” posted the film’s plot details:
“1945 Tokyo/Philippines. Four young military lawyers receive the least desirable assignment in the entire postwar occupation of Japan from Supreme Commander Douglas MacArthur—they are to represent a Japanese general who has been accused of being res-ponsible for the notorious Bataan Death March.
Villains, heroes
“At first, they do their best to evade their new career-destroying assignment. Then they begin to discover that General Homma, known as the ‘Beast of Bataan,’ is a good and honorable man who was not, in fact, involved with the crimes for which he was accused. But MacArthur bears a secret grudge against Homma, who was the only Japanese officer to ever defeat him in battle.
“The young American military lawyers endeavor to save Homma from his obvious fate, fighting not only their own commanding officers but also Homma himself, who knows he is destined to die.
“This is a story in which villains turn out to be heroes, heroes turn out to be villains, and a group of young soldiers, along with an imprisoned alleged war criminal, provide a lesson in courage.”
Filming in RP?
While Hayden confirmed that the movie will be filmed in Australia, Hayden said everything is “still up in the air.” So let’s keep our fingers crossed that Hayden and his colleagues will consider filming in the Philippines.
“I’m not really sure though when we’re going to put this movie into production,” the Vancouver, Canada native admitted. “But this is definitely a movie that I want to do. I don’t know if this movie will necessarily be my next project but it will definitely be one of the next couple of projects.”
“Willem Dafoe is involved, as is William Hurt,” said the actor who impressed critics as the plagiarist Stephen Glass in the true story, “Shattered Glass,” and as a disaffected son in “Life as a House.”
Courtroom drama
Here is Hayden’s description of “Beast”: “It’s a courtroom drama about the trial of this Japanese general, Masaru Homma, who is being tried for these war crimes committed during the Bataan Death March. I play an American soldier returning from the war who is assigned to defend him. My character has no business being in a courtroom. He just studied law briefly before he went to serve in the war. It is really quickly evident that the General is being given poor counsel and is set up to take the fall even though he’s not really entirely guilty.”
“It’s really a touching story,” Hayden added. “A lot of the scenes in the courtroom are taken from actual transcripts of the case. I believe it was the first documented court case (during that time).”
Crucial titular role
The name of Hayden’s young military lawyer character is Major John Skeen. Kôji Yakusho, who landed the crucial titular role, memorably played Rinko Kikuchi’s father in the acclaimed film, “Babel.”
Paul Verhoeven, who megged “Basic Instinct,” was set to direct. But he has been replaced by Fred Schepisi, the filmmaker behind Meryl Streep’s awards and nominations as an Australian woman accused of murdering her baby in “A Cry in the Dark.” Fred’s other credits include “Six Degrees of Separation,” “Roxanne,” and “Empire Falls,” which starred Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward and Ed Harris and won the 2006 Golden Globe for Best Mini-Series or Movie Made for Television.
“It’s a way for me to comment on the war without having to actually talk about what’s going on today,” said the 26-year-old actor-producer.
Another reader, GML wrote: “Hayden’s performance in ‘Shattered Glass’ shows he is well prepared to take on real life topics and play a character in conflict under difficult circumstances.”
Exploring the world
In “Jumper,” Hayden’s character has the ability to instantly teleport himself any place in the world. Asked where he would go if he had such a power, the Darth Vader in the making in the “Star Wars Episodes II and III,” replied, “I would probably go to parts of the world that you can’t get to by any means of transportation, like the top of mountains. I would explore areas of the world that are untouched.”
Jamie Bell (“Billy Elliot,” all grown up) and the very appealing Rachel Bilson (“The OC”) also star in “Jumper.”
Relishing freedom
In the meantime, Hayden relishes freedom on a more realistic level: “Obviously, it takes me a lot longer to get to places, but just the ability to travel to different locations and experience different cultures makes me aware of my freedom. The freedom to decide what I want to do when I wake up and not be obligated to routine and ritual is a great freedom. I recently got a farm just north of Toronto. I have a bit of land. Getting to go and walk on the property and be on my own is a very liberating experience for me.”
* * * “I’m making a new film in March,” Auraeus Solito recently told us via e-mail. “It’s going to be a surprise film.” The seemingly whimsical way the award-winning director embarks on a new movie made us think that Filipino indie filmmakers have more freedom, in a sense, than their American counterparts.
While Auraeus and his colleagues, who are winning awards in international film festivals, merrily and quickly make films, American directors are not as lucky—they are bogged down by contract negotiations and lengthy legal negotiations before they can shoot the first scene.
I hope “Pisay,” Auraeus’ ode to his high school years, gets a warm homecoming at the box-office in Manila when it is shown locally starting this Wednesday, Feb. 20. Auraeus and other Pinoy indie filmmakers still cherish the appreciation of their own countrymen the most.
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