IT has been 10 years since the movie ?José Rizal? made box-office and artistic history. We realized this when we were invited to the 10th-anniversary screening of the Marilou Diaz-Abaya film.
The venue was the Antipolo City-based Marilou Diaz-Abaya Film Institute and Arts Center (MDAFI), which offers interdisciplinary studies in the arts, sciences and business with the end in view of molding well-rounded, versatile and socially responsible filmmakers.
?José Rizal? romped off with major awards in 1998 and, on top of that, made box-office history as one of the highest-grossing films of all time. It was one of the rare times when artistic achievement in film was also matched by earnings in the box office.
Those were the days when films were director-and-writer-driven projects and everything was the prerogative of the storyteller and not of the financier, said Abaya.
Before the screening, Abaya introduced the people behind ?José Rizal??screenwriter Ricky Lee, production designer Leo Abaya, visual-effects supervisor Marc Ambat, film scorer Nonong Buencamino and actors Cesar Montano and Jaime Fabregas (the rest couldn?t make it to the 10th anniversary).
Everyone conceded the film was a challenge and the recollections were not without their share of humor.
Leo Abaya recalled ordering four container vans of grass to be used in the Luneta execution scene and how they turned brown and limp after several rehearsals before the actual take. He was forced to paint them green to avoid the ire of the director.
At the time, director Abaya had instructed her assistant director that no carabao should be seen on the Bagumbayan execution scene, which was shot in Morong, Rizal.
Fourteen film directors were invited to appear in various scenes of the film, notably in the Malacañang party scene. Peque Gallaga and Chito Roño figured prominently.
Joel Lamangan cornered Lee six hours before call time to have his scene rewritten (he wanted some dialogues when he was being arrested for having in his possession Rizal?s banned novels).
Ambat noted that Fort Santiago had two floors during Rizal?s time but the second floor was destroyed during the Japanese time. He had the missing second floor reconstructed through computer.
Actor Jaime Fabregas (who played Rizal?s lawyer Luis Taviel de Andrade) recalled how he and Montano were being drilled on Philippine history way before the shooting. Montano said he had to learn to speak French, German and Spanish. He had to memorize pages of Spanish lines during the trial scene.
?If I was drowned with Spanish lessons in ?Rizal,? Direk Marilou literally drowned me in the film ?Muro Ami,?? recalled the actor.
Fusion
Of course, there was the film score of Buencamino. He hired members of the Philippine Philharmonic to play the ?Rizal? theme. Cellist Renato Lucas and guitarist Lester Demetillo were featured in the rendition.
Recalled Abaya about her idea for the music of ?Rizal?: ?I wanted a fusion of church music and military music to represent the Church and state presence. That is why there is a lot of ?Agnus Dei? rendered by an all-male choir. I was very inspired by the Misa Creole. To signify military tension, we used percussions a lot. Even guitars were used as percussion?not to create melody.?
Buencamino said: ?I decided to minimize the number of themes so I had three: the Rizal theme, the ?Agnus Dei? (Lamb of God) theme and the Bonifacio theme. I used ?Agnus Dei? for the religious scenes. Thematically, it went well with the movie because it is in the context of the suffering of the Filipino people.
?The universe represented in the film is still predominantly controlled by Spanish culture, so we researched on popular Spanish music of the period heard in Spain, Mexico and Central America and those eventually heard in the Philippines.?
The instrument used, guitar, ?is reflective of the period and of Spanish culture. We didn?t use the piano as it would have been out of context. Piano is more of Europe. When you hear guitars, it evokes the Spanish-colonial period.?
As it turned out, the music of Buencamino set the mood of the film and helped enhance certain recreations of Philippine history. Only directors with impeccable taste in music and sense of history can use musical contrasts the way Abaya did in ?Rizal.?
(The Marilou Diaz-Abaya Film Institute and Arts Center is now accepting applications for enrollment to its summer film course and basic course in Motion Picture Language and Production, which will start June 2009. Call 7245678 or e-mail mdafilm@gmail.com.)
2008 Namcya winners
Grand-prize winners in the recent National Music Competitions for Young Artists (Namcya) were pianist Ralph Carlo Monakil, violinist Sara Maria Gonzales, violist Rey Casey Concepcion, cellist Giancarlo Gonzales and contra-bassist Paolo Alcantara.
Other winners were clarinet player Hernan Manalastas, flutist Crystal Milarose Rodis, oboist Franz Miguel Ramirez and bassoonist John Lei Nadurata.
The finals were held Nov. 16 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
The classically trained youngsters continued the tradition started almost four decades ago under the leadership of National Artist Lucrecia ?Tita King? Kasilag.
The 2008 competition was titled ?Paghubog sa Kabataan, Paghubog sa Sangkatauhan? (Shaping the Youth to Shape Humanity) and was a tribute to Kasilag, who passed away earlier this year.
Besides the individual winners, the Berlin Junior Kantorei?the Baao National High School Special Program in the Arts for Chorale from Region V?placed first in the choir category.
Namcya also had Jared Jehowil Tan placing first in the senior ballet competition.
The traditional-music ensemble category had four national winners: Begnas Festival of Baguio City National High School; Datu B. Balunto National High School; Amanat Ko Kalumbayan Ensemble of Marogong National High School; and Sibol Theater Arts Group of Iligan City High School.
Namcya chair Veronica Tapia-Merk says the 35th edition of the competition was no longer about winners and losers. The emphasis now is to encourage both the most promising and those ?who need further nurturing.?
