'Katips'’ Vince Tañada: Portrait of the lawyer as an artist
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Made on an indie budget of less than P6 million, it has recouped its production expenses with sold out screenings not just in Metro Manila but in the provinces as well.
It fought a good fight against Darryl Yap’s Maid in Malacanang, which turned out to be the most pilloried film of the year.
Maid in Malacanang made money no doubt, but it is a classic case of a film destined for infamy.
And Tañada’s Katips was a timely foil.
It did well fighting all the lies of the other well-funded film and went home with several FAMAS awards from best picture to best actor and best director, among others
When Katips (short for Katipunan) was first screened in November last year, nobody knew the Marcoses were poised for a dramatic comeback.
Thus, the film was treated as another brainchild of the young Tañada — the lawyer who pursued theater as his consuming passion.
He is not a stranger to the story of the musical.
Vince Tañada in an early musical, Sindak. (Source: Adamson Chronicle)
The late distinguished activist-senator Lorenzo Tañada was a relative. Moreover, he went over the stories of other martial law victims and came up with a play set to music.
The film was originally labeled as a rock musical staged in 2016-2017 and called Katips: Ang Mga Bagong Katipunero.
Writer Tañada said he wrapped up the play with the help of a historian to make sure the chronological accuracy of events is preserved.
He pointed out he is against historical revisionism. As a movie, the script had undergone changes without affecting the narrative.
He pointed out earlier: “I did this to make sure that the film remains neutral in its political stand and continues as a statement of facts about the realities of the ‘70s until the latter ‘80s through the eyes of fictional students who might have been real people sporting different names.”
For one reason or another, the musical’s theatrical release was stalled.
At the height of the promotion of Darryl Yap’s Maid in Malacanang, the young Tañada thought his musical was a good foil to the historical fantasies of the controversial filmmaker.
In the end, Katips and Maid in Malacanang vied for the same playdates and opened on the third day of August.
“I worked hard to get playdates that will counteract the lies peddled by Maid in Malacanang,” said Tañada in a presscon.
(Maid in Malacanang, directed by Darryl Yap, seeks to tell the side of the Marcoses before fleeing to Hawaii during the 1986 People Power Revolution.)
As it is, there is a lot going for Katips.
It has a good musical ensemble, and the singing actors like Mon Confiado (as Lt. Sales who represents the heartless military) and Dexter Doria (the activist nun) make the parts they play deeply memorable.
Nicole Laurel Asensio’s radiant theatrical style of singing makes its mark on the musical.
The character of Tañada as Panyong metamorphoses from martial law activist to post-martial law grandpa and connects very well with the character of Jerome Ponce as Greg.
As the musical unfolds, the grim fate of martial law victims is given true-to-life recall.
The highlights of the martial law cruelty are indeed the most harrowing sequence of the film.
Mon Confiado as Lt. Sales, the heartless member, of the military is doubly striking. He is the face of the military in the musical, and he makes sure his brand of cruelty will not be lost on his victims.
The evolution of Panyong (Tañada) is a moving portrayal of the fate of activists past their prime. His appearance in the finale depicting the inauguration of the Bantayog ng mga Bayani is both touching and symbolic of the life of activists in this country.
For the most part, Tañada triumphs as an actor and is quite innovative as director.
Musical director Pipo Cifra has a way with transforming melody into heart-tugging yarns, especially the music he uses to highlight martial law abuses.
To be sure, Katips needed a lot of editing at the time it was first screened last year. There were just too many details that hampered natural flow of the story. When you thought the story was about to end, Tañada had added more sequences that belabored his message.
But on the whole, it is a fairly good and viewable musical.
Katips won seven major citations in the 70th FAMAS Awards night including best picture, best actor (Tañada), best director (Tañada), best supporting actor (Johnrey Rivas), best original song (“Sa Gitna ng Gulo”) and best cinematography, among others.
Vince Tañada in the FAMAS awards night. (Source: Facebook/Vince Tañada)
Tañada beat other nominees, namely, Dingdong Dantes (A Hard Day), Christian Bables (Big Night) and Daniel Padilla (Kun Maupay Man It Panahon) and Mon Confiado (Arisaka).
In the film’s provincial screening in the Festive Mall in Iloilo City, Tanada said he was all the more determined to show his film when he realized he was up against fake news peddled by the other film’s promoters. “Theater is something that we cannot record. It is live. It is only through films that we can remember even if I am no longer around.”
Vince Tañada with Katips best supporting actor awardee John Rey Rivas during the Iloilo screening. (Source: Facebook/Vince Tañada)
The actor-director also clarified that the decision to compete with Maid in Malacañang was made more to avoid the inconvenience of sharing a release date with foreign films. It is common knowledge Filipino films can’t compete with Hollywood blockbusters. “There were no foreign films on the August 3 playdate, so we took it. It’s not because Maid in Malacanang was also showing on that date.”
He also emphasized his musical is not about the Marcoses and the Aquinos. “The film was done from the point of view of ordinary people's narratives.”
Looking back, Tañnada said, “Talking to real people victimized by Martial Law made me realize that all our sacrifices -- on top of coping with online bashing, name calling and red-tagging -- were all worth it.”
If there is something he misses in litigating cases, it is the oral argument in court. “It doesn’t take much to realize I am indeed a performer even in court. I know my family is associated with the famous Tañada clan of Philippine politics, but we really belong to the modest lineage. I fell in love with the performing arts early in my life, and my father knew what that meant. It means a life of deprivation even as you enjoy the audience applause.”
From the very start, his father’s wish was clear to him: finish law first and pursue his passion later.
His father turned out to be right all along. It was the call of theater that sustained him, but it was his legal cases that put bread on the table.
On the side, he became an educator as he taught humanities and labor law in a law school and at the same time serve as dean in another law school.
Looking back at the theater group he founded (Philippine Stagers Foundation), Tañada reflects on a personal passion that has remained alive for 20 years. “My first love was writing, but I have realized since then that putting that passion in the service of theater is the best combination.”
And thus, were born several original plays and musicals including the now celebrated Katips.
The following is the schedule of international screening of Vince Tañada’s Katips:
MIDDLE EAST:
Kuwait - until 9/22
U.A.E - until 9/22
Bahrain -until 9/22
Oman - until 9/22
AUSTRALIA:
Melbourne - 10/1
Adelaide - 10/2
Brisbane - 10/5
Gold Coast - 10/5
Sydney - 10/8
SPAIN:
Barcelona - 10/16
United Kingdom : 10/18-20
GERMANY:
Stutgard: 10/22-23
LUXEMBOURG:
10/24-25
SWITZERLAND:
Geneva : 10/28
Zurich: 10/29
ITALY:
Rome: 10/31 to 11/2
USA:
New Jersey: 11/11
New York: 11/12-13
Los Angeles: 11/17-19
San Francisco: 11/20-22
Sacramento: 11/23
Hawaii: 12/12
CANADA:
Vancouver: 11/28-29
Edmonton: 11/30
Winnipeg: 12/2-3
Montréal: 12/5
Ottawa: 12/7
Toronto: 12/9-10
HONG KONG:
12/17-18
Pablo A. Tariman contributes to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine Star, Vera Files and The Diarist.Ph. He is author of a first book of poetry, Love, Life and Loss – Poems During the Pandemic. He was one of 160 Asian poets who made it in the anthology, The Best Asian Poetry 2021-22 published in Singapore. Born in Baras, Catanduanes, he has three daughters and six grandchildren.
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