A distinguished figure of slow cinema, Filipino director Lav Diaz has rarely left a festival empty-handed. Awarded at Venice, Cannes, and Berlin, he now returns to the Lido Out of Competition with Phantosmia, a film that seems to revolve around a single line of thought: “Do human beings have the right to kill other human beings?”
Phantosmia is an olfactory disorder involving the perception of a smell that is not there. What is the function of Phantosmia in your work? Does it hold symbolic significance, or is it used as a mere expedient?
Choosing a title is one of the most challenging things to do when making films. At times, the process takes longer than the production period itself. This is true. It is not as easy as entering a cafe. Choosing the right title entails work on so many levels and layers, including semantics and semiotics, catchy and pop, archaic and kitsch, popcorn and Coke, primal and pompous, ironic, nasty, and beat. I’ve considered many titles for this film, ultimately but grudgingly deciding on Phantosmia; the pressing reason being that it really is the right title, but at the same time, I felt strongly that it is giving away what the film is all about. I thought of subtler titles like A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Murder or The Talented Master Sergeant Zabala; and more epic headings like Citizen Zabala or poetic ones like One Hundred Years of Smell, but in the end, I got stuck with Phantosmia. It is a decision that I am not really happy about, but I am also aware that I’ll just have to be a slave to the process, a virtue I so steadfastly embraced a long, long time ago to keep me going, to continue stalking the muse, so to speak, and this could be the mysterious
reason why I am still making cinema. I am still in awe of the process, and the image.
Anybody who would come across the word phantosmia, can easily sense some ironic clarity (phantom! yes, consider this a horror film), and then, more of ambiguity (pretentious! yes, that most abused word in art), inasmuch as myriad meanings and symbolisms can be attached to it, depending on one’s culture and understanding of humanity’s struggle.
Hilarion Zabala is plagued by a mysterious olfactory problem that reoccurs regularly. The psychiatrist who examines him suspects it might be phantosmia, a rather rare condition that causes olfactory hallucinations. The radical therapy proposed to Hilarion will force him to con...
How did you become interested in the figure of Hilarion Zabala, the protagonist of your movie?
The character of Master Sergeant Hilarion Zabala has been in my psyche forever. I grew up in one of the most violent and militarized zones of the Philippines where the blood of my people has spilt for decades now. Zabala’s story and character are very familiar to me – men in uniform, men with guns, men who are into power and authority dynamics, men with extreme fascist perspectives. I even have relatives and friends who were military personnel and who acted like him. Dialectically, I have a better understanding now about what shaped them that way, how they were shaped that way, when and where were they shaped that way, and why they were shaped that way, and, ultimately, I am aware of the dire and dark consequences of their being, of their personas, their presence, the effect of species like them on humanity.
In the movie, Zabala is advised to go back to the past and face the darkest moments of his life to cure his illness. What, in your view, is the role of the past and memory? What can they teach us?
An earnest immersion into the past can help a person develop better empathy. How one sees the past and how one uses memory, how your brain works or its facility on issues of remembering and recounting, these impact one’s present bearing. And even if you are not aware of it, or refuse to remember and acknowledge it, there’s really no escaping the past. Naturally, you can be a better person if you have an understanding of where things are coming from and how the present setup came to be. Maybe you can correct some mistakes or improve on some failings, or simply change the bad habits. Making an effort to spend time on your memory makes you more become a part of your real self as self-reflection would be clearer and you can see the foundations and roots of all that is you. This extends to a broader scope, like a society’s collective setup where memory or an understanding of their history plays a vital role. In the film, Sgt. Zabala is tasked to confront his violent past by having him write some kind of a diary, a daily recounting, retelling of his military service.
But, of course, memory can be a pitfall, too, like believing in false narratives. It is more dangerous when these false narratives are embraced like ideology. A classic example is Vladimir Putin, who draws so much of his entitlements from a false history. We are witnessing its dire effects now. As man is predisposed to creating his own myths, there’s the danger of invented memories and revisionist histories. The more that these attributes become dangerous if they’re imposed on a mass scale. Collective memory can be influenced by a society’s setup. In authoritarian milieus, the ones in power dictate the trajectory of memory; it is an imposed narrative/history. North Korea is an example of this where the only narrative for decades now is solely on the family of Kim Jong-un. Alternative and the more authentic narratives can only survive through willful oral and written history.
In recent years, Filipino cinema seems to portray a rather sad and dark vision of life. Do you feel this is true? In your opinion, is this related to the country’s struggles and political situation, or does it reflect the global scenario?
Yes, as cinema is very much a cultural and a sociological activity, the works of Filipino filmmakers mirror what’s happening in their country, and how they perceive their society’s struggles. And yes, the majority of films from other parts of the world reflect their society’s conditions. All struggles are parallel and connected really. Albeit sad and dark, yes, but if the works are honestly delving and traversing into the greater issues and perspectives, then, they’re actually progressive as they create discourse, awareness and action.
