"AURORA" fights to be seen

'Aurora' fights to be seen
X marks the spot
By Rome Jorge, Lifestyle and Entertainment Editor
The Manila Times/Reel Views
Friday, January 16, 2009

Adolfo Alix Jr. is an independent director who has shown his artistic range. Donsol, his debut full length feature that was finalist for the Best Picture award at the 2006 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival and won Special Jury Prizes at both the Asian Marine Film Festival in Japan and the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival in the US, and Kadin, a favorite at the 2007 Cinemalaya, were tranquil films of idyllic seaside and pastoral panoramic settings. On the other hand, Tambolista, finalist for Best Picture at the 2007 CinemaOne Originals, is a gritty urban survival drama shot in black and white.

In Aurora, he goes deep into the Philippine jungle into no-man’s land where renegade rebels have abandoned all ideology and turned to banditry.

“It’s also a departure from my earlier films because it’s a bit political. I’m always interested in doing something new,” Alix reveals.

Alix also explores an intriguing quandary: relying on your oppressor your very survival. In particular, he dares confront head-on a crime that happens to many female abduction victims which they themselves often hush and hide from even the most investigative reportage: rape.

The quandary and the criterion for artistry and depth in a film dealing with rape is to depict the act as it really is—a form of brutality—and not to inadvertently titillate viewers with gratuitous and superfluous sex-violence scenes or to de-emphasize its importance by demurring and glossing over it. In other words, a film should not turn on or desensitize but rather turn off men from hurting women. Does Aurora pass this criterion? Can it guarantee that no one in their right minds get the wrong ideas from the film?

“When I was thinking of how to do it, I decided it to be more realistic. I wanted to emphasize the brutality more than anything. The intention was to show that it dehumanized the character of Aurora,” Alix explains, adding “When she does something later, then people will understand. It justifies her actions.”

Alix attests, “If it was gratuitous, it wouldn’t have a place in this film. If it was, I would be the first person to cut it.”

However, the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) recently classified Aurora as “Double X” for having been evaluated and rejected twice.

Even with an honest depiction of rape that is truly necessary to the narrative, such a movie would still raise another quandary: can we trust viewers above the age of 18—the same adults we have entrusted since the Third Republic of 1946 with voting, marriage and parenthood, internal combustion vehicles and firearms—with such a mature narrative? Or must authorities classify it as “X-Rated”—not fit for any adult to watch?

“I applied for an R-18 rating. For TV, you need censorship because it’s free; you have children watching. But for cinema the idea is classification. Adults can go see the movie by themselves. You can’t pre-judge for the person. He has his right and freedom to see a film he has chosen. The idea of prior restraint is what we are fighting,” he explains.

“Filipinos are mature enough to see films. When they see the films, I don’t think they will be titillated by the film with the way it was shot. You have a psychological problem if you are still titillated. If you find that it is brutal, then you got the meaning,” Alix believes.

“There was no genitalia exposure. The shot in contention is just 27 seconds,” notes the director.

“I am trying to understand why they gave the film a ‘Double X’ rating because I’ve seen some films approved that were merely titillating. It’s always a subjective idea—five people sitting down to watch a film,” he says.

Alix now turns to the office of the President to overturn the MTRCB’s classification. Other films whose classifications have been successfully appealed include Steven Spielberg’s Oscar Award-winning Schindler’s List.

“Since it is a democracy, I am willing to submit my film through that process,” Alix says. He declares that is not willing to reedit or cut away the scenes. “I believe in the integrity of the film,” he attests.

“The films is about a woman fighting oppression and now the film is being oppressed by an institution that is supposed to promote liberalism. The audience has choices,” he opines.

This is all new for Alix; he has never had any of his films classified as “X.” But for lead actress Rosanna Roces, this is all nothing new. She holds the record for having the most number of films successfully reclassified from “X” to “R-18” or restricted for 18-years old and above. Her body of work includes Carlos Siguion-Reyna’s critically acclaimed Ligaya Ang Itawag Mo Sa Akin (1997) and Chito S. Roño’s La Vida Rosa (2002) for which she won Gawad Urian’s Best Actress Award.

Alix reveals, “I was thinking of a project for Rosanna. She wanted to do an indie film. I told her, ‘We can do something different from what you did before.’ I looked at what concept would fit her. Then I remembered stories of women kidnapped in Mindanao. That inspired me.” He notes that the movie title and character name Aurora means “the first light of day”—apt for story on woman enduring brutality in the dark of tropical rainforest.

Cast members include: Angeli Bayani, Best Actress Award-winner at the 10th CineManila International Film Festival for Lav Diaz’s Melancholia (2008); Sid Lucero, Best Actor Award winner at the Gawad Urian and the Thessaloniki International Film Festival for Paolo Villaluna’s Selda (2008); and Kristofer King, critically acclaimed for performances in Mario O’Hara’s Babae Sa Breakwater (2003) and Brillante Mendoza’s Tirador (2007) and Serbis (2008).

Adolfo Alix’s upcoming projects are no less stellar. Manila, a two-part film to be released in the first quarter of this year, is an indie film that stars and is co-produced by Piolo Pascual. Raya Martin directs the first episode and Alix takes the helm for the second. Karera, already in post production, tells the story of a family that lives inside the racehorse track of Santa Ana, also stars Roces as well Jay Manalo who won the Best Actor Award at the 2003 Gawad Urian for Erik Matti’s Prosti. Kalayaan, set to start filming in late February, is about Filipino soldiers stationed in the remote yet hotly contested Spratly Islands.


CATCH THE SPECIAL SCREENING OF "AURORA" THIS MONDAY, JANUARY 19,
7:30 P.M. AT THE U.P. CINE ADARNA.