Norte, the End of History (Philippines: Norte, hangganan ng kasaysayan) , 2013.
Directed by Lav Diaz.
Starring Archie Alemania, Angeli Bayani, Soliman Cruz, Miles Canapi, Sid Lucero and Hazel Orencio.
SYNOPSIS:
A man is wrongly jailed for murder while the real killer roams free. The murderer is an intellectual frustrated with his country’s never-ending cycle of betrayal and apathy. The convict is a simple man who finds life in prison more tolerable when something mysterious and strange starts happening to him.
At the beginning of the Lav Diaz’s four hour existential patchwork Norte, the End of History, we are introduced to two Filipino men devoid of purpose. At this stage, there are no clues to suggest the journey Diaz will take them on. One, Fabian (Sid Lucero), is an intellectual on a break from studying law, now instead spending his nights drinking and discussing politics and ideology with friends (in scenes reminiscent of early, youthful Godard).
Only Fabian’s calls for revolution are hollow and misguided, and Diaz, we feel, recognises hot air when he sees it. Fabian is no revolutionary: he’s merely looking for ways to distinguish himself before it’s too late, lamenting that great revolutionaries cease to be useful after the age of 30. He, along with Joaquin (Archie Alemania), who wanders the streets with his freshly-shattered leg confined to a cast, watching the wife he takes for granted work as he rests, is of an aimless generation. Both appear defeated in the rudimentary stages of Norte.
Then, a la Cristi Puiu’s Aurora, Norte, the End of History turns on its head following a single act of violence: Fabian, tired of his treatment by local loan shark Magda, kills and robs the woman in her home, as well Magda’s daughter, witness to the crime. But Joaquin is the one charged with the crime, leaving Fabian free and Joaquin sentenced to life imprisonment. The film suddenly acquires a focus, and is consistently surprising from then on.
Does Norte, the End of History necessitate a four hour running time? Well, as the film progresses, revealing more of its characters and deepening in exploration of its themes, it’s hard to think how Diaz could have achieved the same effect with a shorter time frame. Character work is slow-burn but quietly captivating. The development of Joaquin from feckless waster to prison saint is a story of hope to contrast Fabian’s downfall.
Between the experiences of the two, we’re given a snapshot of the infrastructure apparently currently making up The Philippines, taking in law and order, the underworld, the education system, agriculture and the prison system. But even against the abject poverty of the life of Joaquin’s wife, who also makes appearances throughout the film (in its less interesting moments, it must be said), the moneyed Fabian’s is the more uncomfortable scenario to watch, perhaps alluding to the hollow nature of money, even in a country this poverty-stricken.
As Joaquin selflessly becomes guardian angel to a despotic prisoner suddenly felled by a stroke, Fabian continues his descent. We discover before the end that his catalytic act isn’t an isolated incident at all, but the action of a seriously disturbed mind. We only learn how disturbed when he returns to his childhood home, where we find out – as he chats combatively with his devoutly religious sister – that his privileged upbringing saw him raised by the household maids rather than his parents. It’s left him embittered, another unhappy, wandering soul in a country Diaz argues is made of them.
The desperation felt in Norte, the End of History is in no small part down to the impressive use of locations. Diaz presents The Philippines as a stunning natural beauty overrun and strangled by man’s creations, with rusted half-built structures and litter-filled dust roads scarring the landscape. For the most part, scenes are simple long takes, but helicopter shots drifting like a spirit over the country, echoing Mikhail Kalatozov’s I Am Cuba, are almost transcendental.
It’s hard to know who’ll seek out Norte, the End of History beyond cinema fans and film students. It requires patience, and presumably makes most sense when taken in one sitting. Like recent big dramas Synecdoche, New York and Margaret, Norte, the End of History is an intimate drama played out on a grand scale, making sense of its length by containing a rich amalgam of ideas and proving that the historical drama, the war movie and the crime saga aren’t the only genres worthy of epic length.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Brogan Morris – Lover of film, writer of words, pretentious beyond belief. Thinks Scorsese and Kubrick are the kings of cinema, but PT Anderson and David Fincher are the young princes. Follow Brogan on Twitter if you can take shameless self-promotion.
Originally published November 17, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
