The buzz on ‘Kung Fu Divas’ director Onat Diaz
by Bert B. Sulat Jr.
Posted on 10/20/2013 3:32 PM | Updated 10/20/2013 6:16 PM
http://static.rappler.com/images/Dir...-2013-1020.jpgBONGGA KAYO, ’DAY. Writer-director Onat Diaz flanked by his pea****-haired ‘Kung Fu Divas’ lead stars Marian Rivera and Ai Ai De Las Alas. Photo: Raymund Isaac
MANILA, Philippines - A curiosity among Philippine cinemas mainstream offerings this year is “Kung Fu Divas,” an action-comedy-fantasy romp from Star Cinema and the maiden motion picture of scriptwriter-filmmaker Jonathan “Onat” Diaz, heretofore the director of commercials and the talk show “The Buzz.”
The flick is a “maiden” movie in more than one sense: not only is it the 43-year-old Diaz’s first big-screen output, it is also fronted by a pair of actresses, Ai Ai De Las Alas and Marian Rivera. The two ladies portray beauty-pageant rivals turned unlikely kung fu-skilled partners, and this first-time casting of De Las Alas the comedienne with Rivera, often cast in dramas and love stories, incidentally reflects an unlikely pairing of sorts, given that Ai Ai is a “kapamilya” under ABS-CBN while Rivera is a “kapuso” under GMA.
“Kung Fu Divas,” a collaborative production between Star Cinema, Reality Entertainment, and Diaz’s The O & Co. Picture Factory Inc., also takes favorable advantage of modern-day filmmaking’s capacities, shot as it was with digital cameras and utilizing as it does a host of computer-generated special effects. The visuals, however, prove to be a rich icing to the multilayered cake that is the film’s narrative, which is by turns a near-satirical take on beauty-contest mania; a comedy whose humor stems from smart-alecky sendups, sight gags, and Pinoy slices of life; and a busy action caper reminiscent of a few recent celluloid fare from elsewhere.
http://static.rappler.com/images/GIR...-2013-1020.jpgGIRL FIGHT. Marian and Ai Ai in kung fu diva mode and garb. Movie screen grabs by Onat Diaz
All of this stemmed from the mind of Quezon City-born Diaz, who had earned a communication-arts degree from Maryknoll (now Miriam) College before going into advertising "by accident," he said.
"Even before I graduated, I got an offer to work at McCann-Erickson, [there becoming] an agency producer for close to 5 years," the director said in an interview with Rappler. While at that agency, Diaz got the chance to direct his first TV commercial, which eventually motivated him to leave the outfit to become a full-time TVC helmer. Along the way, he got hired to direct the ABS-CBN gossip/talk show “The Buzz,” which he has been handling since 2005.
“I’ve always wanted to get into feature film production,” said Diaz, who first conceived “Kung Fu Divas” a good 9 years ago. “My most immediate influence for ‘Divas’ was ‘Kung Fu Hustle,’” he said, referring to the great Stephen Chow's 2004 film that is itself an effects-heavy action-fantasy. “I felt that that entire film was one big ‘kabaklaan’ - and I mean that in a good way - [given] its endearing campiness, kitsch, visual language, and narrative. So I endeavored to create my own story and inject it with my own brand of humor and whimsy.”
Making his movie, however, had been a long journey “because we needed resources, both financial and technological, that weren’t available yet then,” Diaz said. Moreover, “I got too engrossed and distracted with my advertising work that I ended up pushing aside my first love, filmmaking. It took a lot of self-control, determination, and sacrifice [before I] finally told myself that the only way to do it was to drop everything else and just do it.” And so Diaz “seriously got into the pre-production and eventual production stages of ‘Divas’ [in 2012, but] as soon as the dust settles, I’ll probably go back to my advertising work.”
http://static.rappler.com/images/kun...n-rivera-3.jpgTHREE’S COMPANY. Edward Mendez, flanked by Ai Ai and Marian, rounds out ‘Kung Fu Divas' triumvirate.
“Kung Fu Divas” is an unabashedly mainstream movie, so it's interesting to note that Diaz’s favorite films are not exactly big box-office draws. "My ultimate favorite foreign film is Terry Gilliam’s ‘Brazil,’ though I’m also a big Hitch**** fan. [And] I’m a big fan of Mike De Leon. 'Kakabakaba Ka Ba?' and 'Kisapmata' are all-time favorites.
“I do appreciate all genres and a more recent favorite is Baz Luhrman’s ‘Moulin Rouge.’ Lately, though, I have gotten cynical and grown distasteful of very obvious ‘art films.’ In general, I like fanciful movies that are elaborate in terms of both production values and vision.”
“Kung Fu Divas” itself boasts of many production values as well as a vision, complemented in part by the movie’s lush locales, which stood for the film’s fictitious Isla Marikit. “I originally wanted to shoot in Batanes, since it’s the nearest Philippine island to China,” Diaz said, referring to the latter country in line with what chiefly stresses “Divas’” kung fu quotient. “I also wanted the isla to look exotic, mysterious, and unfamiliar enough to the audience so it would seem to the audience as a place where strange, magical things can happen. Scheduling considerations, however, made us end up with the isla as a composite of Mariveles, Anilao, Caliraya, Pakil, Balara, and Cainta.”
The movie also bursts with digital clarity, and many scenes have digital embellishments, replete with wirework. “All of the China sequences were shot against a green screen. It had to be that way because my vision of the mystical Chinese island was very precise and had the scale and grandeur not readily available for practical shooting.” And in certain scenes, “the mountains, the sky, and the seas were virtual sets.”
