Jaguar (Lino Brocka, 1979)

If you'll be my bodyguard  

Jaguar has a tony reputation: directed by Lino Brocka, loosely adapted by Jose 'Pete' Lacaba and Ricky Lee (from the true-life story "The Boy Who Wanted to Become Society," by Nick Joaquin), edited by Augusto Salvador, lensed by Conrado 'Carding' Baltazar, it's the first Filipino film to compete in the Main Competition of the 1980 Cannes Film Festival.

That said the film doesn't come up as often in cinephile discussion as Brocka's Maynila sa Mga Kuko ng  Liwanag or Insiang, which shouldn't be a surprise. Maynila and Insiang were released on DVD, Blu-ray, and streaming as part of the Criterion Collection; Jaguar is only available in crummier and crummier streaming copies, in the nether regions of the internet-- until recently, when the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), the Philippine Film Archive (PFA), and Cite de Memoire all collaborated on a restoration. The film premiered in last year's Lumiere Festival in Lyon France, then opened the Sinag Manila Film Festival last night with a star-studded screening. After over forty years, Jaguar returns to Filipino audiences with a vengeance. 

Revisiting the film (using aforementioned crummy streaming venues, alas) I'd say a fair amount of the picture holds up-- Joaquin's short true-crime tale is deftly transposed, from 'teen corrupted by gang-affiliated friends' to 'hired security Poldo Miranda (Philip Salvador) corrupted by friend/employer Sonny Gaston (Menggie Cobarrubias).' The gap between the two (from 'lower-class / middle-class' to 'lower-class / upper-class') has been visibly widened, an employer / employee dynamic introduced; there's also the motif of trophies passed down from rich man to minion, everything from plaid shirts to aspiring model Cristy Montes (Amy Austria), in the manner of an owner throwing his dog a bone. 

The initial three-fourths of the picture works best-- Salvador's wide-eyed Poldo comes to Sonny's rescue; Sonny shows his appreciation by taking Poldo under his wing. Along the way different strata of society are described, and we see how the lower classes behave (they don't betray the other; they help out as much and sometimes beyond what they're capable) as compared to the upper classes (poaching each other's girlfriends; indulging in random fights and drive-by shootings). Sonny's slippery attitude towards his pet Jaguar*-- at times affectionate, at times cruel, at times an uneasy mix of both-- is perhaps the film's most fascinating element. When Sonny suggests that Poldo dance with Cristy, there are undertones of fond condescension ('You've been good, here's something for you'), smug confidence ('I know you won't actually try anything because you wouldn't dare'), and not a little homoeroticism ('We share everything: clothes, guns, girls-- everything'). 

* (Easily the film's cleverest conceit, a slang where the last syllable of the Spanish word for security ('guardia') is exchanged for its first ('jaguar'))

Cristy's attempt to seduce Poldo could easily descend into softcore farce but Austria's intelligence and delicacy keeps the exchange interesting: she starts by teasing ("Don't I interest you?"), shifts to self-pity ("I wanted to be a star, now I'm a prisoner. Complete with prison guard."), shades softly into shared confidence ("(Sonny) lied to me--") while managing to retain a sense of irony ("Wanna see the sex symbol of 1979? Free of charge!"). She sips from a glass to feign tipsiness, turns hostile ("Are you gay?"), ultimately demands attention-- and more-- from Poldo. It's a fine scene, one Austria handles with ease, as if the layers of seduction and confession were no challenge at all-- the most challenging possible way to approach the material. 

Even better is when Poldo knocks on Sonny's door after the nightclub shooting and Sonny-- who at this point considers Poldo to be an untouchably hot potato-- tries to get rid of the latter as fast as possible. Austria has no dialogue here, nothing to work with save her eyes, but the way she looks from one to the other-- a mixture of unspoken horror and withering recognition-- fully tells her tale. 

Poldo is a thornier character to parse-- I'd like to have seen some of Sonny's corruption rub off on him but Poldo beyond one major lapse** retains his virginity almost up to the end, and one wonders if this was for the best. On one hand we lose the potential for more texture;*** on the other we lose the simple elegance of the fairy tale, which in many ways is what Jaguar is: a Cinderella story, complete with what happens next when her (his) carriage turns back into a pumpkin. I tend to prefer the former (Poldo corrupted), but can see the appeal of the latter. 

** (On the matter of said 'lapse'-- the fact that Poldo and Cristy wake up the next morning acting guilty as convicted criminals only confirms their mutual innocence)

***(A bit of business that does suggest Poldo's discomfort in his new role is also one of the film's finest throwaway details: when Poldo buys new footgear thanks to Sonny's money he runs his finger along the leather rim, suggesting the shoes are too tight.)

Finally the business of the gun-- when you're on the run for accidentally shooting a man, what's the first thing you do with the weapon? If Poldo hangs on to his gift from Sonny, I'd like to see more preparation for the faux pas: a scene maybe where Poldo is shown about to toss the pistol and then having second thoughts, or at least a scene where Poldo practices with said weapon, forming some kind of attachment, some sense that he doesn't feel like a real jaguar--doesn't feel any self-worth-- without it. Otherwise, the finale could (and should) unfold entirely without. 

On the other hand the finale, brought about by that pesky gun and shot by the legendary Carding Baltazar-- does have its merits. Baltazar is arguably Brocka's MVP, turning Manila into a gaudy playground, the slums into a simmering nightmare (I'd seen Sorcerer again only a week before and while Friedkin has the resources of a major Hollywood studio behind him to help stage his squalor, Brocka only has to visit Tondo and he has his unspeakably lurid urban squalor). The sight of Poldo running down the streets of Manila, the sight of Poldo struggling up the slopes of Smoky Mountain-- literally a mountain of garbage-- with the fires of damnation burning all around****-- speaks volumes of how Brocka can throw logic out the window for the sake of showmanship, somehow make it all (visually at least) work. 

****(Mind you I saw this in fuzzy streaming video; imagine how it'd look restored on the big screen)

That's the film's dramatic high point, not necessarily its climax. Brocka's final trick is to bring Sonny and Poldo together one more time, outside Poldo's jail cell, where Sonny offers his former Jaguar one last deal. Augusto Salvador pulls off an extraordinary feat of editing, showing Poldo flicking his new cigarette lighter (a gift from Cristy) on and off on and off from differing angles, inserting close-ups of Sonny and Poldo at an ever-accelerating pace, suggesting Poldo's anger is just about to boil over. Obvious as hell metaphor but damn if you don't feel the urge to cheer Poldo on-- during these exponentially more corrupt times, with the urge to kill or strangle or eat the out-of-touch rich stronger than ever,  Poldo may not be the smartest man on earth but he speaks to the suppressed anarchist in all of us.