SUBSCRIBEAutohystoria – Raya Martin, 2007
I’ve been raring to watch a Raya Martin work one time or the other after reading so much about this young director but haven’t really been able to do so. I missed Indio Nacional in a filmfest last year and even with an invite via flickr mail by Direk for a Monday screening at the UP Film Center a few weeks ago, I wasn’t able to go there.
Yes, his movies are not mainstream and are usually accessible only during film festivals here or abroad or screenings at UP Diliman which is another planet for me.
Thanx to Cinemanila, I finally was able to see his work Autohystoria which won the Lino award grand prize for the Digital Lokal category as well as Best Director when it was shown again on the last day of the festival.
Like most of his other films which usually has a historical connection but interpreted in a way that becomes the director’s own , Autohystoria is his version of the murder of Andres Bonifacio and his brother Procopio with a modern twist set in present day Manila.
Its very sparse with just a question, two lines in fact, uttered almost at the end of the (digital) film. It opens with a male strumming his guitar, singing but he is not shown. Just total darkness. This is followed by a lengthy, around 30 minutes, footage of a young male walking to his home. Then another lengthy shot of the Monumento (I’m not just sure but can this monument been chosen because of the theme –> Bonifacio and the Bonifacio monument?) at night followed by two young men held against their will and bound inside a car encircling again and again the rotunda.
No words. Just scenes. Just actions. Their facial expressions tell you what exactly is happening. Then the two captives, walking the darkness, a hand bound to the other on their way to their end.
Autohystoria is not for everyone or anyone short of patience. Or those used to a fast paced movie and might even be exasperated watching it because of the slow tedium. To appreciate it also is to have a little background of who the Bonifacio brothers were, what happened to them and their place in history.
Watching it, especially the lengthy monotonous parts reminded me of Lav Diaz’s Heremias. But as the film’s write up says: its a collection of dreams and reality.
Beyond that however, I do like the way the director unfolds his story and quite interesting for me in how he presents it, how visuals are interspersed and contrasted.
Will I watch another Raya Martin movie? Of course. Here is one director who is not afraid to tell his story his own way. It may be unconventional. It may be a lot different from the usual but its another viewpoint that I just want to explore and be exposed to more.
