Internationally acclaimed
filmmaker Mes de Guzman is known for films that are poetic in their
simplicity—from 2005’s Ang Daan Patungong
Kalimugtong to his latest works, the Earth
trilogy.
De Guzman’s most ambitious
undertaking yet is his latest movie, Ang
Kwento ni Mabuti, one of eight entries in the ongoing CineFilipino Film
Festival. “The biggest challenge was having the Superstar in the lead role,” he
admits. Nora Aunor plays the titular character, Mabuti, a native healer forced
to make a moral decision, in this modern-day parable filmed entirely in De
Guzman’s home province of Nueva Vizcaya.
Bigger crew
“I shot Mabuti with a bigger crew and a much
bigger production budget compared to my previous indie films,” he relates. “But
I did it the indie way still, bearing in mind that it is just like my past
movies. That was how I survived the shoot.”
For Mabuti, De Guzman cast indie favorites Sue Prado, Arnold Reyes,
Mara Lopez and the late Ama Quiambao as Aunor’s costars. It was certainly his
first time to deal with fans who trooped to the set no matter how remote or
inaccessible.
Lopez reports that a mob
of Noranians descended on a shoot in an ukay-ukay market. “Entire families,
some lugging infants, would hike across mountains to catch a glimpse of Nora,”
De Guzman recounts, likening the shoot to a picnic. “We had fun, laughing and
chatting between takes.”
Beautiful location
Aunor learned to speak
Ilocano for the role, though De Guzman didn’t require it. “She said she had
always wanted to act and speak in another dialect,” the director says. A
Bicolana, Aunor reportedly wanted to stay in Nueva Vizcaya, awed by the
back-to-basics lifestyle led by De Guzman and his family. The filmmaker
relocated there in 2009 and has since been documenting the unique landscape.
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| The Superstar with direk Mes de Guzman and production designer Cesar Hernando |
“We discovered a beautiful
location in Aritao, a place literally surrounded by mountains,” he says. “Then,
I found a lake on top of a mountain and instantly knew we had found the
location for Mabuti.”
He first thought of this
story seven years ago. “I once called Mabuti
a narrative in no hurry to be filmed,” he says. Writing non-stop—“a three-day
marathon writing session”—he completed the script in time to beat the
CineFilipino deadline. “I work well under pressure—stress makes me think
faster. Then again, I knew the characters, the setting and the structure by
heart.” De Guzman is quick to
point out that his film is not based on Genoveva Edroza-Matute’s short story of
the same title. “I merely wanted to tell a story about honesty and
righteousness,” he explains.
In the original concept
paper, Mabuti was a man who travels to the city to seek a solution for his
father’s illness. “Along the way, he meets different people—a politician,
government employees, military men. For CineFilipino, I thought Mabuti should
be a woman,” he says.
Real meaning
When Aunor signed up, De
Guzman revised the script yet again three days before the shoot started. “Maybe
the story inspired me to search for the real meaning of being a good person.
Goodness is innate in Mabuti. She’s always on the side of what is right, in
spite of the conflicts and challenges that she encounters on her journey.”
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