My more or less comprehensive article on Rico Ilarde (I hadn't been able to catch Villa Estrella (2009) at the time of this writing, unfortunately) is on Senses of Cinema:
Z Man, or: how do you solve a problem like Rico Ilarde (A horror filmmaker? An indie artist? Pinoy?)?
Excerpt:
Rico Ilarde is that strange, strange creature, the filmmaker that flits in and out of both independent and mainstream studio system with apparent ease. He is not your classic idea of the “indie” or “art-house” filmmaker—when critics or journalists write about him, he’s usually characterized as a “horror / fantasy” director, with elements borrowed from the martial arts / action genre.
He has worked as an independent filmmaker in one sense—he has directed at least three features (his first, and his two latest) without the resources of a mainstream Filipino film studio behind him. One is tempted to ask, is Ilarde a true Filipino independent filmmaker—meaning, I suppose, do his films embody the spirit of Filipino independent filmmaking? Are his films Filipino in the first place? Art, perhaps? What is an independent film, a Filipino film, an art film, and how do we distinguish from the various categories involved?
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6 comments:
Congrats sir noel! You made us proud! ;-)
Thanks. But if you mean being published on Senses, I've been published there before.
And before.
And before.
Great work, Noel, in bringing to to light these lesser known (?) filmmakers. Terrific stuff.
Thanks. As mentioned, Rico's caught in a bind--he's too odd to be a straight commercial filmmaker, too I don't know, 'genre' to be a straight arthouse filmmaker.
Noel, congrats-- the writing is top-notch. Thanks for the attention. If it doesn't make me "number one with a bullet," then it at least helps bring me within the crosshairs of relevance, he, he. If anyone deserves a couple of free plane tix to the local festivals here, it's you. At worst, you've been the most effective international ambassador of Pinoy cinema by far. At best, it's most eloquent. Anybody out there in those "commissions" listening?? And for the record, Katia's flowery oratory style in COGON was supposed to be borne out of her weening herself on children's literature and fairy tales. That's the line we took anyways. But you're right as well-- it's a very Filipino thing. We tend to have EPIC emotions here in the humble third world. Long post. More power, man.
Thanks, man...
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