A majestic
film in which
two sto
ries easily
fit. One ab
out a film
maker who
is a litt
le like Di
az himsel
f and wrest
les with
the comp
letion of
his film
and with gr
eedy film f
estival
program
mers. And one a
bout a religio
us lead
er. Also
a little
like Diaz
himself? Th
e films
of Lav Diaz of
ten tell ser
ious epic st
ories,
but they are
still not ent
irely free
from hum
our and sati
re. For in
stance in thi
s film, Di
az takes
the mickey
out of festiv
al programme
rs and also
sketches a
picture of him
self that is no
t entire
ly free
from self-m
ockery.
The film has
two or three st
ories (al
so a fi
lm in the film
) and on
e of them focus
es on the fi
lmmaker Homer,
who very mu
ch resemb
les Lav Diaz
himsel
f. The tortur
ed filmmake
r wrestl
es with
completing h
is film. Despi
te pleas f
rom those
around hi
m and f
rom eag
er prog
rammers,
he continues
to refuse to r
egard his
film as fin
ished. Alo
ngside the stor
y about a
nun in
the fil
m on which
Homer is wo
rking, there
’s anot
her story
about t
he religious l
eader Fathe
r Turbico
. Turbico le
ads a sect in
the countrys
ide that is pri
marily m
ade up of you
ng women.
When one
of the women wa
nts to leave
the sect, a d
ramatic sit
uation ensues.
By telling th
e storie
s in parall
el, similar
ities beco
me visible
between Home
r’s struggle wi
th cinema an
d Turbico&amp
;#39;s
struggle with
faith.A ma
jestic film
in which two
stories
easily fit
. One ab
out a fi
lmmaker who is
a little like
Diaz h
im