JessicaRulestheUniverse.com

Badil, the political thriller directed by Chito Rono from a screenplay by Rody Vera, was screened at the Film Development Council of the Philippines’s (FDCP) Sineng Pambansa festival in 2013. One of the finest Filipino movies of the decade, it tells us why elections in this country are so screwed up.

After the sparsely-attended festival, Badil seems to have disappeared from the face of the earth. Election season has begun, and the audience needs to see Badil in order to understand what we’re up against. But there are no plans to show the movie.

The director is amenable to screening it. The writer is amenable to screening it. The independent producer is amenable. Sine Pop-Up, which screens rarely-seen indie films, is eager to organize screenings. Even the movie theatres would be amenable to showing the film. What is holding it up?

The FDCP needs to get on board. Apparently showing a movie that already exists, that was partly funded by the FDCP and is just gathering dust (virtually), involves lots and lots of red tape. Even if a screening wouldn’t cost the FDCP anything. Why was the movie even made if we cannot get to watch it now, when it could not be more relevant?

Let’s get Badil shown. Spread the word on social media. Ask the FDCP to let the people see Badil.

Here’s our review of Badil from 2013.
Badil: Democracy for Sale

Elections are the pinnacle of Philippine political life – so emotional and all-encompassing, everything that follows is practically negligible. Every effort is exerted and no resource spared in order to win the vote; by the time the winner is proclaimed, there is nothing left.

During election season, we make stirring declarations about truth, justice, change. “Vote wisely.” “Be guided by your conscience.” “Don’t sell your vote.” We mean what we say. The problem is that we know nothing.

Democracy is founded on the principle that the citizens have the right to choose their own leaders. Badil (“Gun”), the gripping political thriller by Chito Roño, shows us a system that has perverted this principle.

Badil takes place on an island in Samar – the kind of community that is most vulnerable to super-typhoons like Haiyan – 24 hours before election day. A small-town political operator named Ponso (Dick Israel) gets ready to make his rounds. He orders his daughter to count a sheaf of 1,000-peso bills and affix stickers with Mayor Del Mundo’s name on them. Ponso has had a stroke that left half his body paralyzed; he needs his son Lando (Jhong Hilario) to help him get around.

Dick Israel lets us feel the impatience and frustration of a physically powerful man reduced to hobbling. This is a man who does not accept defeat, and as he traverses the barrio on Lando’s arm, we see that he is a man of influence. The people pay their respects, he asks after their families, and then he gives them some of the money in his stash. (A lot of money is given away; how do you think the winning candidate gets it back?) Ponso is not buying votes; he doesn’t have to. He already owns them. He is merely handing out reminders that the barrio folk should go out and vote tomorrow.

It’s become a staple in Filipino social realist indies: the character takes a long walk through his neighborhood and has seemingly aimless, repetitive conversations with the people he meets. It’s supposed to capture the smallness of ordinary life, and in the hands of an unskilled filmmaker it can make you scream with boredom. Lucky for us this is Chito Roño at the helm, and the small talk spells out the power dynamics in their community.

Read our review of Badil at InterAksyon.