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| Sakada |
Sagisag Films'
Sakada has so ruthlessly and completely stripped the pretty mask off Philippine society to reveal a face crawling with maggots and social injustice. No other film has evoked in us not the rhetorical tears that we were ashamed of afterwards, but painful tears welling from the depths of sympathy for the victims of exploitation. Our response to the movie is complete and authentic because the story is solid, realistic and coherent. The squalor of the pigsties called
cuartels which are home for the
sakadas, the leech of a
contratista who sucks what is left of their earnings. The deprivation of these workers of any government benefits and the suppression of their complaints through guns and goons shock us into speechless but intense anger. And yet,
Sakada is no mere documentary but a coherent story of two families, one a
hacendero's and the other a
dumaan's (a worker residing with his family in the
hacienda), and of how they grow into a realization of the futility of suppression and the urgency of uniting to fight for their rights. Acting in
Sakada is as true and honest as its story. Of the nine principal characters who rendered such competent performances, five stand out as truly memorable. Hilda Koronel as Ester, the
dumaan's daughter turned prostitute has none of the cloying cuteness or irritating petulance of her earlier roles shows a true sensitivity which successfully portrays a character hardening over the fresh wound of its innocence. Robert Arevalo is engaging as Salvador. He matures from selfish, family-centered individual to unflinching, yet human leader of the
sakadas. Gloria Romero has found the role that fits her like a glove. As Doña Consuelo, a
hacendera resplendent in diamonds and jade, and jaded as well to the plight of the workers who buy her diamonds. Alicia Alonzo's performance as Auring was nothing short of great, as a vulnerable, sensitive
sakada housewife, who only lives to please her husband and gets bruised by his silence and mangled by his words of impatience. Rosa Rosal proves her mettle once again as Dolores, where she grows from a pusillanimous, sentimental widow and mother, to a committed, woman leader of the
sakadas, brandishing her bolo
to cut down injustice.
Sakada's direction is intriguing and commendable. Behn Cervantes has sprung full-grown and mature, for he successfully steers his way between two dangerous tendencies of western-educated filmmakers who either indulge themselves in artistry that makes their films meaningful to them alone, or simply allowing themselves to be sucked into the mire of commercial quickies that make up the bulk of Philippine cinema. Cervantes is successful because he did not make a film to end all films, but because his only interest is in getting across a very important story to his audience as cleanly and clearly as possible. Thus, he spares his viewers of distorted camera angles and contorted blocking that scream of artistry. Cervantes puts aside such pyrotechnics in favor of a more difficult kind of artistry. The double artistry that hides, but delivers the film's complete undiluted impact. Cervantes' direction whittles down the effects to bare his story. Thus, his camera zooms out, zooms in, pans and dollies, but allows only what is essential into the frame. It closes up on Alicia Alonzo to record every fibre of her emotion. It pans through the
sakada crowd to show their number against the mass of armed men. Perhaps, because of Cervantes' stage background, his camera is static and frontal at times, creating a proscenium technique which is not always proper in film. However, Cervantes manages to tell his story with as little art and commercialism, and in a straightforward, wholesome manner befitting the urgency of its subject matter.
Directed By: Behn Cervantes
Screenplay: Lualhati Bautista And Oscar Miranda
Director Of Photography: Edmund Cupcupin
Musical Director: Lucio D. San Pedro
Film Editor: Edgardo Vinarao
Produced By: Sagisag Films
Release Date: February 20, 1976
Sa Ugoy Ng Duyan theme song from Sakada performed by Regine VelasquezIn memory of Behn Cervantes August 26, 1938 - August 15, 2013