DESAPARADISO (2015) - ♦♦♦

Directed by - Khavn

Written by - Khavn

Starring - Dante Perez, Chris Pasturan, Raye Lucero

"The title of DESAPARADISO literally means "no heaven". In the film, KHAVN is once again returning to the black heard of FERDINAND MARCOS' dictatorship in the Philippines and the long lasting affect they had on the country. He draws imspiration from the people who were kidnapped during those years, many of whom were tortured, killed or never found, and those who did return were left with physical and mental scars. 

DESAPARADISO focuses on one such story, and in particular it is the story of a man who sets off to find his disappeared brother in a mysterious forest. Once again, KHAVN returns to the scene with a film that is influenced by genre films. Here, the influence comes from adventure matinees, myths and fairytales and this influence is most prominent in the second part of the movie where the filmmaker unleashes a lot of the elements that define the outrageous and eccentric visual style of his colourful previous works - and this can be seen from the use of music to the use of the exaggeratedly carnivalesque costumes. 

The first part of DESAPARADISO, which is shot in black and white and with inaudible dialogue as the sound is taken over by loud radio static which is not only a character in the film in its own right, but also a comment on the uselessness and shallowness of newscasts and media at the time of the dictatorship as well as the silence that still envelops the years of the MARCOS dictatorship both nationally and internationally. The poetic representations that draw inspirations from old myths and legends are impressively preceded by a haunting introduction that could in fact have stood on its own two feet as an amazing short archive documentary, accompanied by darkly evocative piano drones and a piece of poetry that illustrates the trauma this country suffered.

Like most of the director's film, it seems to mostly be connected by the man's own perception on themes and unique take on non conventional narrative, sometimes far too alien for the viewer to fully grasp. It's vivacious, loud and uncomfortable, but still somewhat one of his most unusually restrained works."

Drama, Philippines