Director Brillante Mendoza zooms in on Duterte

GLARING AND GLOWING REACTIONS Director Brillante Ma Mendoza (left photo) has received glaring and glowing reactions for his cinematic framing of President Duterte during his second State of the Nation Address (Sona) to a joint session of Congress on Monday. ARNOLD ALMACEN / LYN RILLON

Just like last year, Cannes-winning filmmaker Brillante Ma Mendoza’s direction of President Duterte’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) has stirred up a hornets’ nest of opinions, both glowing and glaring, in the real and cyberworlds.

Director Sari Dalena quipped on Facebook: “Last year, it was Riefenstahl. This year, Dreyer or Leone?”

If last year’s camera work was compared to Leni Riefenstahl’s Nazi propaganda film “Triumph of the Will,” this year purportedly bore a striking resemblance to the divergent styles of Carl Theodor Dreyer and Sergio Leone.

Dreyer is known for careful compositions and stark realism (“The Passion of Joan of Arc”); Leone is noted for spaghetti westerns starring Clint Eastwood (“The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”).

In a tongue-in-cheek post, a blog (Thinking Millennials) assessed the panoramic shot of the lawmakers in the plenary hall and the extreme closeup of the President’s face with edifying earnestness.

Cinematic framing

“Do we count the pores? What is beneath the surface here? … And then it hit us … This was his message all along: In His Nose, we find the truth, the reality of life … the ultimate power among all powers that be… Digong is Illuminati.”

Although Mendoza finds all these theories fascinating, he offers a guileless explanation for the controversially cinematic framing.

The high-angle shot, he explains, shows that “the President is on top and the closeup simply says: ‘I am watching you! You cannot escape from me!’”

All this sounds Big Brother Orwellian — reminiscent of the poster of Pepe Diokno’s “Engkwentro,” which was purportedly inspired by the Davao Death Squad.

Reprimand

On the contrary, Mendoza points out: “I see the President as very fatherly. Speaking to the people, he often gets upset and scolds us and cracks jokes at the same time. He’s very real. That was what I wanted to capture with the Sona.”

At one point during the speech, the President, in his freewheeling bravado, chided the teleprompter operator, reprimanding “the director.” Some viewers thought the prexy took a dig at Mendoza.

In spite of the tumult in the director’s booth, Mendoza knew fully well that the Chief Executive was not referring to him, but to the guy behind the teleprompter.

“I was only in charge of the cameras, not the prompter,” he asserts. “I already had my hands full handling the shots, while keeping up with the ad libs and the prepared speech at the same time.”

Indeed, it was a long and draining day. From last year’s one hour and half, this year’s Sona clocked in at over two hours.

Although Mendoza joined the press conference, he had to skip the celebration after the Sona. Like last year, he didn’t get the chance to have a photo taken with the President. Mendoza didn’t even get to chat with the boss.

“I was dead tired,” the director relates. “We were there as early as 9 a.m.”

‘Job well done’

Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar later forwarded to Mendoza a text message from Mr. Duterte. “He thanked me and congratulated me for a job well done.”

In the end, Mendoza says, that’s what matters to him. “I take all the comments positively. But what I value the most are the thoughts of the President.”

The day after the Sona, Mendoza went straight back to work, attending the launch of his latest project, “Amo”—a 12-episode series that tackles the drug war, a raging crusade of the current administration. “Amo” debuts on Aug. 20 on TV5.

On Sunday, the monthly special “Brillante Mendoza Presents” will air its latest episode, “Kadaugan,” on TV5.

“According to our research, many Cebuano women end up marrying foreigners,” Mendoza remarks. “This month’s story will focus on a Cebuano girl and her Dutch boyfriend.”

All in all, the past few weeks have been frenzied and fruitful for the director.