Archive of films Norte, The End of History / Norte, hangganan ng kasaysayan

Philippines
2013, 250 min

Section: Another View
Year: 2013

Lav Diaz, leading figure of independent Philippine filmmaking, caused a stir at the recent Cannes festival when he presented his four-hour Dostoevskian opus examining a trio of individuals whose lives change irreversibly after one of them commits a crime.

Synopsis

After interrupting his law studies, young intellectual Fabian decides to stop merely philosophizing – he longs to put his ideological concepts into practice. But his attempt at a revolutionary liberation from established norms, institutions, and history leads him to murder a local loan shark. He escapes justice, however, when a man is convicted of the crime and sent to jail, leaving his wife alone and in need. Offering a uniquely compelling perspective on the lives of its three protagonists, Norte presents an open commentary on the contemporary social and ideological situation in the Philippines. Director Lav Diaz uses this exceptional story – a variation on the tale of Raskolnikov from Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment – as an emphatic warning that recent Philippine history in the guise of dictator Ferdinand Marcos may well repeat itself. A profound and formally inventive and provocative film that garnered considerable attention following its screening at Cannes.

About the director

Lav Diaz (b. 1958, Datu Paglas, Philippines) is a director known for the extreme length of his films, some of which run more than eight hours. He began as a musician, poet, and screenwriter for local television, and established himself as a filmmaker in the early 1990s. His best known works include the almost eight-hour long Melancholia (2008), which won the main prize at the Venice IFF, and the nine-hour Death in the Land of Encantos (Kagadanan sa banwaan ning mga Engkanto, 2007). In both subject matter and style, Diaz’s films are firmly rooted in Filipino culture. Their typical aesthetic features include (in addition to their long run time) slow pacing, extensive takes, and the absence of music. Using these tools, Diaz tries to reproduce the specific aesthetic peculiar to the Filipino mentality, which is not subject to the Western perception of time.

Contacts

Wacky o Productions
Click Digipost, 5th Floor, Valderrama Building, Esteban St., Legaspi Village, Makati City, , Manila
Philippines
Tel: +63 281 729 81
E-mail: [email protected]

+ 1

About the film

Color, DCP

Section:	Another View

Director:	Lav Diaz
Screenplay:	Rody Vera, Lav Diaz
Dir. of Photography:	Larry Manda
Editor:	Lav Diaz
Producer:	Raymond Lee
Production:	Wacky O Productions
Cast:	Sid Lucero, Angeli Bayani, Archie Alemania
Contact:	Wacky o Productions

Guests

Raymond Lee

Producer