The Rekrut cast on boat during their shoot last summer in Cavite
In Rekrut, the soldiers were suppose to train for
AFP and fight in their own land but neither do they know they would be sent to
a land beyond the Philippine territory. Same goes for the 1963 recruits who
were supposed to be sent to Sabah.
Operation Merdeka was the destabilization program code name at that
time. The plan involved 200 Tausug and
Sama Muslims from Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.
In both cases, the recruits complained about not
receiving their salaries and eating the same food every day. This led them to be sent home supposedly. However, they were murdered before they left
the island. The military fired at them
as they helplessly tried to fled from the island.
Joem Bascon as the lead actor in Rekrut
The sole survivor in the 1963 massacre, Jibin
Arula, told the story of how they were executed by the military. He survived when he held on to the driftwood
and fishermen rescued him near the island of Cavite.
Director Añonuevo and line producer
Krisma Maclang-Fajardo shared that it was the first time for a journalist to
interview almost the entire cast. JM de Guzman (as Lando Dela Cruz), Rob Sy (as Waldo Palaypay), Manuel
Chua (as Nikanor Tuglao), Dominic Roco (as Omar Mahadin), Maxene Magalona (as
Yasmin Alura), Diomar Dyangco (as Tuan Iklali), CJ Ramos (as Ghani Amad), Eduardo
Orgel, Jr. (as Shober Aldas), Alwyn Uytingco (as Ben Ishmael), Alchris Galura
(as Ulfi Majanjanay) and Meko Buenaventura (as Abdul Abaza) were all there.
The cast of Rekrut with Director Danny A
ñonuevo and Line Producer
Krisma Maclang-Fajardo
One could sense their brotherhood and bonding from afar. Roco explained the cast were not that close but as they get
to know each other, their bonding became stronger and it was really brotherhood
in the making.
It was a bit intimidating to interview a lot of actors at the same time
but they were surprisingly very humble. Emilio
Garcia (Sgt. Manuel Lapus), Joem
Bascon (Jamir Alura), Nar Cabico (Sajid
Soliman), Acey Aguilar (Hashim Majadin), Archi
Adamos (Col Mariano) and Rich
Asuncion (Maribel) were not
present. Instead, I called Garcia after the Cinemalaya Awards night for an interview on winning the
Best Supporting Actor award. He was very
accommodating and down to earth.
JM de Guzman, CJ Ramos and Dominic Roco shows what brotherhood is all about
“Unexpected.
We weren't expecting it will win. I was surprise that my name was called. It
was like [the] first time again to win an award. It doesn't changes. Still,
you'll feel nervous, your [mind] will become blank, [and] you’ll forget to
thank other people. It feels like you're
on a cloud nine or you're floating,” explained Garcia over the phone.
Director Añonuevo was described as “rock and roll” kind of director by
his actors while Garcia said the director was very cool, always in high spirits
and meticulous with his work. He was
also a very, very good editor.
Led by Rob Sy's character, the recruits jog and keep up with him
“You can see
it in his eyes asking ‘Are you ready?’ He gives us freedom as actors. He has [a] vision,” told de Guzman, who
played one of the Christian recruit who had a long distance relationship with
his girlfriend whom he left behind.
Meanwhile,
director Añonuevo explained it was collaboration. “I'll give the situation. As an actor,
they'll do their part. They're easy to
direct,” he elaborated. When asked if the
group was rowdy since mostly are male, Fajardo immediately said yes but
nonetheless it was fun to work with them.
Even Garcia
was surprised because they were passionate with their craft. Even if they knew the salary was merely
enough to cover gas. Rekrut was shot last
summer under the awful heat of the sun in Cavite. “It's like we were training for
military. There were no complaints from
them. We shoot at midnight, they don't
shower[and] they smell. But they don't
complain because they love the movie.
They're like a group of friends,” said Garcia.
In the wilderness, the boys were almost like training in real life
“I was
trapped in that island. I have no family, my family is the island. You can't remove me from it,” he explained
furthermore.
Director Añonuevo said he was so professional, patient and had no
complaints. There was one scene when he
was teaching the recruits while holding the grenade. He slapped the actor. “That wasn't part of
the script. It was good for the scene. We took it four times because it wasn't hard
enough,” he recalled.
He also said
Adamos was a good actor. He played the colonel
in the movie. He said that “give him one
direction, instantly he got it.” Sy added Adamos gave tips behind the camera which
were very helpful.
The heat of the sun was one of the most challenging things they had to deal with during shooting
“We [had] to
be tough. The sun was so hot. It was a first time for me to be tan. We weren't
talking to each other literally. We were just looking at each other because it
was so hot. It was a whole day shooting
of the truck scene,” recalled Chua.
Director Añonuevo said some of the scenes were real, especially the
action scenes. The actors showed me their scars—and yes,
there were a lot.
De Guzman
could attest to that by saying that “you don't have to act from the training
alone. The training was really rigorous.
You felt like you were really a soldier so every effort you put is very
real.”
Lined up and ready to battle
There were
real AFP soldiers to train them during workshop. One of them was sergeant Serrano. “We asked help from a
sergeant from AFP, Sergeant Serrano. He
taught them the right way to hold [the gun] and drill. All you see in the movie
are all real actions military officers or trainees,” shared Director Añonuevo the rigorous workshop everybody went through. Furthermore, Garcia got stories from his
military friends so he learned a lot from them on how to train his
recruits.
Meanwhile,
Sy who also played the other lieutenant said his preparations were so hard
because he had another shoot for another project at Mt. Arayat in Pampanga
and he had to go to Mt. Maragondon in Cavite.
“I was [almost] flying. It had the same schedule. It was hard. I wasn't
able to work out. I wasn't able to do a lot of things but then it felt great
that I was there to play that role. Of course, I owe everything to direk and
the whole production crew,” Sy said.
Dyangco said
now he understood what it took to become a soldier. “It’s no joke to follow someone else’s orders
even if it means compromising my principles.
I grew respect for them,” he said on working with Rekrut cast and crew.
Ramos played
a character who wanted to do things quickly.
“I'm the one who wants to fire a gun, I want to become a soldier. In my
real life, I really want to become a soldier.
When JM called me, he told me to make a movie and we're soldiers. I didn't act it because I wanted to become
one. It was easy for me to portray that character,” he said. He felt that he grew older. It was easy for him because the cast were his
friends so he was comfortable. He said
his director was “gigil” to direct and director Añonuevo wanted to prove more.
He said Rekrut was a beautiful film to make.
Behind the camera amusing stories
from the cast
They gamely posed saluting in front of the camera
There were a
lot of funny stories they shared that night.
Beginning with Garcia accidentally firing a loaded gun on Uytingco’s character,
he didn’t know it was loaded. “I shot
the gun but I didn't know there was a bullet. I stood by it. After the take, there was a bruise on his
back,” told Garcia. Uytingco also
reminisced that he was “really hurt. I
was asleep during that shot. All of a
sudden, 'Bam!'”
Another was
a scene from the film when Buenaventura’s character ate a banana—skin and
all. It fell off his head while they
were eating in a square manner. He cried
because his throat hurt from eating it.
Garcia said he saw how they sacrificed their job and he won’t ever
forget that.
“I'm Abdul
and he loves to eat . . . The scene was good, even if it's small, you have to
do it well. It was a good experience in
Rekrut. It was my first time with Cinemalaya.
I was a theatre actor in UP,” elaborated Buenaventura.
Definitely a thumbs up for Rekrut
There was
another scene where the recruits swam across a lake. “We had a scene swimming. It was edited
out. Dyomar, that time, was sick. He didn't tell us. He wanted to do the scene. Meko didn’t make it [to the other side of the
lake] because it was a first time for them to swim in that place. Joem wasn't
really a swimmer. He's not that trained
to swim,” shared Director Añonuevo. Bascon almost drowned but thank God he
didn’t.
Fajardo
added that they rehearsed the swimming but Bascon admitted he didn’t swim well
but still he did it without a double.
Uytingco further added also that the lake was slippery and full of rocks
so it was dangerous as well.
At the Cinemalaya Awards Night 2010
There was
also a story when Buenaventura saw a ghost beside Dyangco who asleep. Dyangco admitted he didn’t know. Director
Anonuevo said that they had the bomb scene filmed that day so they disrupted
those unseen living in the area.
The rest of
the cast told their director how they wanted to play a trick on Sy because of
his role as one of the very strict lieutenant in the film. “We were planning already in the barracks. ‘Okay,
take.' We were supposed to do a
ramble. When the gun went off, he wasn't
expecting it. So everybody went on top
of him,” said Director Añonuevo.
The women in Rekrut
What would
be an action film without some romance in it?
Bascon and de Guzman’s characters had love interests whom they left
behind. Magalona played Bascon’s wife
while Asuncion played de Guzman’s girlfriend.
Fajardo said
that it was de Guzman who recommended Asuncion for the role. “It's a coincidence, she's Cebuano. I was
looking for one. So he [de Guzman] referred her to us so I saw the picture and
I said okay. It was not hard for her
because her role was Cebuano,” she explained.
“Our opening
was supposed to open with Joem when he was saying goodbye to his wife. That night, they made love. The next day, it was the continuation of
bravo. We didn't have time and we had a
problem with Joem's schedule so we didn't [shoot] that scene,” said director Añonuevo on a scene that didn’t happen in Rekrut.
Dominic Roco's character during the rigorous training of soldiers
Meanwhile, Magalona
shared that she got the offer at 11:30 p.m. when she was with her friends de
Guzman, Uytingco and Roco. There was no
one to play her role and they had to pull out someone at 1:00 a.m. “I don't
accept indie because I feel like I wasn't ready, I don't know how. I feel like I'll be criticized. I called my mom immediately. I thought she
won't approve because it was sudden but she said go. She wanted me to join indie. In the end, I said game,” recalled Magalona.
She was able
to cry during the scene of receiving her husband’s letter because of her
dad. The sun was already setting so she
had to do it immediately. She was pressured but she was able to do it. She thought it wasn’t that good but she
explained that “every actor feels that way after every scene but it was okay.” But the entire Rekrut cast and crew said she
did great.
Translating the script from Bisaya to
Filipino
The entire Rekrut
cast and crew applauded Orgel for doing the taxing job of translating the
script from Bisaya to Filipino. He said
it was hard to translate and teach the cast with a Cebuano accent. He was taken aback by doing so but he had to
do it for them. “There was a script that
was given. I translated quickly. I'm proud I did it even if it was hard. I'm thankful that [even if] the Filipinos
find it hard to have a Cebuano accent but they were able to do it correctly,”
he shared.
The bombs disrupted unseen elements in Cavite, said the director
Buenaventura
added that it was hard to memorize and understand. “You just got the concept but sometimes your
mind goes blank,” he said. Uytingco
added that they were able to do it correctly.
Criticism of gay role and first time
Cinemalaya actors
Galura said
his character was not gay but effeminate.
“As he goes through the training, he became manlier. It was hard because I was imitating other gays. But I also had another gay role before at
Cinemalaya too. A lot of people said it
wasn't convincing as gay so I got nervous.
Hopefully this time I can do it and act like a girl,” he said on his
role as Ulfi Majanjanay.
It was
Chua’s first time also to do an indie film.
He was among the two Christians in the cast apart from Lando (played by
de Guzman). “One time, I fought for him.
I was a Christian and brave. They
said there are no Muslims that are cowards so I showed them no Christians [are
cowards],” he said.
The Rekrut
film was a success and same goes for the bonding between the cast and crew of
the film. Their friendship goes beyond
the film and director Añonuevo
said if he decides to create another film in the future, hopefully his Rekrut
cast will also be there. it will be shown either in September or October in local theaters and also compete in the Montreal World Film Festival.
http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/lifestyle/23015-jabidah-massacre-revisited
Photography by Rem Lucio
Other photographs were from the Rekrut cast and crew
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