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Let’s talk about a very special movie today:

Black and white film, long shot, fixed camera, wide panorama.

But the content is trivial daily life.

old movies?

No.

This is the new film by Lav Diaz, the leading figure in the Philippine film industry. In this way, he cuts into the real pain of ordinary people in a well-known grand history.

Strange country, strange place, strange things? What's the point?

These distant cries have a familiar echo:

When the Tide Passes

Kapag Wala na ang mga Alon

01

For Lav Diaz, among his many films with a duration of more than 300 minutes, "When the Tide Dies", which is only 184 minutes long, is already a compromise with the audience.

A "short film" that belongs to his creative dimension.

To this end, the sixty-year-old director divides the story into two lines in a clear and almost straightforward way, allowing the audience to follow the eyes of the two men to look at the modern social trauma in the Philippines.

The first man: Primo.

A former brigadier-general.

He was once the most powerful investigator in the Philippines. He had ability but no ambition, but was forced to participate in a massacre. He was then forced to be involved in a series of violent incidents such as endless kidnappings, bank robberies, murders of politicians, etc.

It was not until his most trusted students collected evidence of his violations that he was thrown into prison and spent a full 10 years in jail.

Maybe it was to make up for it or maybe it was to atone for his sins. In any case, his leader gave him endless money so that he could enjoy his old age, but he only wanted to do one thing: revenge.

And the object of revenge is clear at a glance.

The second man: Hermes.

Is a lieutenant.

Brigadier General Primo's most trusted student and also the Philippines' leading investigator. In some ways, he is like a replica of the brigadier general. He also has no ambition and is good enough to be a teacher to newcomers in the police academy, but he is also betrayed by the person he trusts the most.

Until one mission.

He discovered that he was suffering from an incurable form of psoriasis, so he retired from the police force indefinitely and began a long journey to find a cure.

One is looking for revenge, the other is looking for medicine. As they wander around the Philippines, the strongest feeling Sir gets is:

alienation。

An alienation from outside to inside, from surface to inside.

The Brigadier General is an extreme spiritual alienation beyond normal appearances.

He became obsessed with dancing, hotel rooms, busy streets, and the hometown of his enemies.

Whether there are audiences or not, whether there is music or not, as long as he is willing, anywhere can be his stage.

He became very neurotic.

one example.

During one boat ride, he suddenly stood up and began to pray fervently.

The ignorant boatman could only helplessly allow him to control him.

I thought kissing was the limit, but the next second the boatman was thrown into the sea.

murder?

Not really, it is the baptism of rebirth.

Alienation made his heart go crazy.

And the lieutenant?

The lieutenant's manifestation of alienation is a noticeable strange disease on his body, and psoriasis has spread to every corner of his body.

Investigators who were once admired by everyone now need to be fully armed when going out in public, and have to spend a lot of time explaining to people not to worry, as this is a non-contagious disease.

Overnight, the lieutenant was abandoned by the world.

But where does this strange disease come from?

During a nighttime raid on a private home, the lieutenant witnessed his companions shooting the male owner of the house amid the screams of women and children.

It was the child's gaze that gave him a persistent high fever, which led to his psoriasis.

When the massacre began

When we start killing the weak

His externalized illness left him with nowhere to escape.

Starting from the outside, he was stripped of all his dignity.

what to do?

What the film actually talks about is the road to atonement of two "sinners" who want to get rid of this alienation in order to save their souls.

The lieutenant's lifeline washome。

That represents a pure "original intention".

Just as when we are tired of the hustle and bustle of the city, we always look back at the mountains and recall our hometown, it seems that returning to the place where we started can purify our souls.

So he returned to his hometown.

On the one hand, he kept asking for forgiveness from his family, and on the other hand, he ran on the beach every day, trying to let the salt water relieve his psoriasis.

But what?

Soaking in the seawater of his hometown was of no use; the skin disease was incurable and, like the disease in his heart, would accompany him until his death.

The brigadier's lifeline wasBelief。

So he became madly obsessed with missionary work. Prostitutes on the street, strange girls who liked flowers, and even the only remaining relatives of his enemies were all the targets of his missionary work.

But does he really believe in God?

Not necessarily.

Maybe it was just God's mercy that helped him escape from prison life, but wasn't it God who sent him to prison?

After all.

All this is just proof that he has regained control of his own life and the right to his physical actions that was taken away by the system.

A detail.

The movie shows him accidentally killing a prostitute.Skilled and calmThe mummy-shaped body looked exactly like the drug dealer who was thrown on the roadside during the massacre. It was hard not to associate him with theThe WarHow many people have been killed in this way?

The difference is that before, corpses were handled for others, but now they are handled for oneself.

But the question is, why was there a massacre and what kind of war was this?

War on drugs。

02

According to estimates by ICC (International Criminal Court) prosecutors in court documents, the "war on drugs" launched by Duterte during his tenure as Philippine president from 2016 to 2019 caused between 12,000 and 30,000 deaths.

It is controversial internationally.

Some people say that Duterte's tough style has greatly changed the public security situation in Philippine society and that the war on drugs is the right thing to do.

Similarly, some people believe that anti-drug operations are filled with a large number of illegal violent acts, and even cover up a number of violent crimes. Executions without trial completely violate the original intention of legal fairness and justice and bring harm to the entire society.

The director of this film, a native Filipino intellectual, holds the latter view.

When the wave has passed, the wave is the war, and the pain after it has passed obviously needs to be borne by all parties involved and the whole society.

Take a close look at the two “alienated” protagonists in the movie.

None of them are bad people.

The lieutenant was loved by all the freshmen in the police academy. After his reputation became controversial, he chose to resign to maintain the dignity of the police academy. He would also be merciful when facing the children of those who insulted his reputation.

The brigadier general was not a bloodthirsty person; he could even be considered kind.

He would deliver a lunch with a Coke to people on the street who had no food to eat, and even when he went to find the lower-level residents who complained about his dancing disturbing others, he only dared to knock on the door gently.

But why did it turn out like this?

of coursethat power。

Personal goodwill is vulnerable in the face of absolute power.

Under the rule of a powerful country, most people can only act as tools. When they are required to shoot and kill people or lie to the public, they have no choice.

So in the end, killing becomes a professional necessity, weaving lies becomes the purpose of investigation, lynching and revenge are always on the lips and no one will dissuade them, and people will not be surprised when corpses appear randomly on the streets.

An era of disorder was born.

In such a situation, what can good intentions do? I am afraid that they can only turn into insurmountable fear and endless guilt.

Let them fester from the inside out.

So Diaz's position in this film is actually very clear:

You shouldn't kill people.

The film contains a large number of long dialogues and symbolic metaphors, all of which express his accusation against the disregard for human life under the rule of power.

For example, “Murder has become the norm and Filipinos are living like chickens.”

Or, “a stupid country that would harbor criminals like us.”

Compared to the more common PTSD, the pain that the protagonists in the movie feel after getting stained with blood is more concrete.

The rotting outside and the collapse inside.

The country that corresponds to both of them is the Philippines.

The wave hit, and even though it crushed everything in its path, it also left behind devastation.

We can only hope that time will slowly heal.

03

There is a very important character in the film who never appears:

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.

Sir believes that many netizens’ understanding of Duterte comes from the image of a political strongman he presents in the media and public opinion field.

As for the "war on drugs" he launched, he looked at it from an outsider's perspective.

Even on the Chinese Internet, one can see support and endorsement for this kind of strongman politics and this kind of powerful anti-drug campaign everywhere.

But as a local Filipino intellectual, the director clearly provides a more relevant and flesh-and-blood perspective on the "war on drugs."

No one is immune to a storm.

Sir is certainly not saying that his views are necessarily correct. Even if you observe carefully, you can find the complex mentality he reveals in the movie.

Although it is about yin and yang and denounces the harm and alienation that power politics causes to people.

But what’s interesting is that the audience can feel a strange sense of fireworks from time to time in the film.

In the sunshine, drug stores and flower shops are open for business.

The children were enjoying the relaxing afternoon.

There is such a scene in the movie.

When the brigadier general walked out of the hotel and onto the street, and saw the endless stream of pedestrians and the prostitutes laughing and talking, he let out a joyful and strange cry and twisted his body wildly.

Why?

Perhaps this is because it is a testament to the success of the “war” he participated in, and it is also what many Filipinos expect.

He realized that he was not a complete sinner.

Yes.

All this might have been difficult to happen before Duterte's "war on drugs" began.

According to data from the Philippine National Police, during the Aquino administration before Duterte came to power, the number of recorded crimes reached 1.1 million, of which crimes involving people (such as murder, injury, etc.) and property crimes (such as theft, robbery, etc.) were particularly serious.

Instead, it is the brutal means that bring about a distorted sense of security.

△ Excerpted from Asia Times

This is what Sir finds interesting about this movie.

Because although director Diaz denounces ruthless massacres, attacks ignorant power and respects the preciousness of life in the film.

But at the same time.

It is almost an admission that it is precisely the things he accuses that give him more space and freedom to speak, write, and complain.

So you see.

A good movie is not actually an indignant manifesto. While expressing its opinions, it also carefully records the true reality.

It does not distort the truth.

Instead, while telling you different aspects, you can still raise your own questions in a very realistic way.

Tell people not to repeat past mistakes.

But the reality is changing faster than the director expected.

According to China News Weekly, on June 25 this year, Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte announced that her two brothers will compete with their father Duterte in the 2025 senatorial election. This seems to be a clear sign of Duterte's return.

Yes, the wave has passed, but it seems that the wave is about to come back.

Sir believes that many people can understand this complex emotion.

All calls begin with beautiful hopes, hoping to use a bigger wave to wash away the trauma of the past.

But after wave after wave of waves kept coming.

Can stay.

I'm afraid there will only be countless broken families.

And a broken heart.

The pictures in this article are from the Internet