From What is Before Film Difficulty Ranking: 5
This is Lav Diaz. He’s one of torch bearers of the slow film movement having made some of the longest cinematic films. In From What is Before he documents the history of a small rural town in the Philippines during Marcos’ rule. Like Gabriel Garcia’s Macondo, this small town serves as a metaphor for the entire country. As a result, this is your chance to experience contemporary Filipino history.
Here’s a little snippet courtesy of the Toronto International Film Festival. It shows you exactly what slow cinema is like – are you patient enough to try it?
Why Watch From What is Before?
- You want to one of the best examples of Slow Film there is!
- To truly immerse yourself in the recent history of the Philippines
- Witness how fear can undermine a community
- For your chance to see the beautiful Filipino countryside in monochrome
The Breakdown
“This story is a memory of my country”
The film starts with a beautiful black and white shot of the Filipino countryside. You can see the fields of corn, tall hills in the distance, and a small shack in the foreground. This is the rural Philippines in 1970.
From the outset you can tell this is a slow film. You can tell because the camera rarely moves, each of the shots lasts for at least 2 minutes, and there is very little dialogue. Contrast this with the 5 second shot length in Hollywood films, and a load of action and dialogue, and you’ll understand why this is called slow film.
The length of From What is Before allows Lav Diaz (the director) to properly show us the gradual growth of fear in the rural town he examines. You’ll meet all the people of the town before the first signs of Marcos’ martial law start appearing around the 3 hour mark. Then you’ll see how the military rule slowly undermines the community through fear.
Conclusion
For an exploration into the power of fear in undermining unity, this film is a masterclass. Watch as Marcos’ martial law slowly envelops a small town in the Filipino country.
For more Slow film try the following:
- Melancholia – also by Lav Diaz
- In Vanda’s Room – Pedro Costa’s observation of drug users in Lisbon
- Mysterious Object at Noon – Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s unique exploration of the world of storytelling in Thailand
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