A rave for ‘Hele’ in Film Comment

HAZEL Orencio in “Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis”

The latest issue of the publication Film Comment features a rave review of Lav Diaz’s eight-hour epic, “Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis.”

Written by critic Olaf Möller, the piece recalled the Filipino film’s triumphant screenings at this year’s Berlinale, where it won the Silver Bear Alfred Bauer Prize.

Recounted Möller: “Diaz visibly enjoyed the adoration he received—all deserved, for he had achieved something that seemed almost impossible. He had made it to an A-level festival … without compromising his ethics, morality or aesthetics—and with one of his greatest works so far, to boot.”

Möller took note of “Hele’s” relevance in light of the spate of “historical” epics that have been churned out of late by both mainstream and indie filmmakers.

“Hele,” he wrote, “is not a film about [Andres] Bonifacio, but it is at least the third film in four years that’s related to the historical significance and the personal biography” of the revolutionary hero.

Möller pointed out: “There’s a war raging on Philippine screens over the depiction of the nation’s history and, therefore, its future. Most of these films have a political agenda, plus ties to parties and other powerful organizations.”

Indeed, films like Mark Meily’s “El Presidente” and Enzo Williams’ “Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo” are not innocent, objective signifiers—but powder kegs of meaning that could either revisit or revise history, depending on the filmmakers’ ideologies. Back to Möller, he asserted that “Hele” “is greater than all that … [it’s] a complex, demanding allegory and philosophical treatise.”

Möller described “Hele” as “a visually sumptuous modernist monument whose beauty is at times of an unexpectedly Eisensteinian inspiration.” He then added that the film “is a clarion call for change.”

Such insights become all the more potent because the country is at the crossroads once again. Möller noted: “Diaz certainly made no secret … of his political hopes for ‘Hele’: to influence [the] elections.”

Once again, Diaz’s timing proved impeccable.

“Hele” will have screenings at the  Cinematheque Manila on May 20, 22, 27 and 29. All screenings of “Hele,” which runs for eight hours and five minutes, begin at 11 a.m., with two breaks: one hour-long and the other for 30 minutes.