Jason says: “Going
in, I half-thought that I had seen THE SEARCH FOR WENG WENG before,
what with IMDb showing a date of 2007 on it and there being at least
some time spent on the 2’9” Filipino action hero in MACHETE MAIDENS
UNLEASHED, another Aussie doc about the Philippine movie industry. If
there was a 2007 version, though, director Andrew Leavold has added a
great deal to it to make something quite memorable in its latest
incarnation.
“When Leovold started the film, the video store operator – 20 years
running Trash Video in Brisbane – didn’t realize that there was more to
Weng Weng’s ouevre than FOR Y’UR HEIGHT ONLY. But, when he comes to the
Philippines with a rough cut of the film and a request for any
information that those in attendance have, he soon finds himself not
only finding more movies Weng Weng starred in, but meeting a lot of
colorful characters along the way, from former movie stars back in
working class circumstances to the Marcos family.
“It’s not without bumps, as Leavold, something of an underground
filmmaker, is filming his own quest and finds himself going around in
circles a bit, often returning to the same point, letting information
that will be contradicted stand, and ultimately allowing a lot of the
uncertainty of making the film overshadow what he’s learning during the
making of it. It perhaps reflects the way he learned things, but it
doesn’t really feel like he’s avoiding the straight line for a purpose
as opposed to being new at this. Not that I’d want much of this
material removed – even if a lot of the people seem to have the same
things to say, they’re all worth meeting and giving enough face time
that a viewer doesn’t ask who that guy is when a group is shown
together. Similarly, a side trip to see Imelda Marcos goes on a bit
long and doesn’t come across as quite so surreal as his narration
builds it up to be, but it is still kind of eye-popping; there is
probably another great documentary to be made about the apparent
affection many Filipinos seem to still have for their long-time first
lady even though westerners probably assumed that she and her husband
were strung up after Ferdinand Marcos was deposed.
“He also makes great use of his documentary’s subject. Out of the
public eye since the early 1980s, his popularity never made him rich –
heck, it didn’t even make him not poor after the company that produced
his movies closed – everybody talks about him with great affection and
no little sadness. The archive material Leavold has is striking, both
for how great a physical actor he was, doing crazy stunts and
commanding a scene with genuine charisma (the ‘pinoy’ movies he did
were played straight, even if they were cheap and often absurd), and
how his always-looking-up eyes in the middle of a Peter Lorre face grab
a viewer.
“Leavold also does a pretty neat trick in how he puts the film
together; rather than just pulling out clips of Weng Weng’s movies when
the story reaches them chronologically, he’ll drop them in when the
scene illustrates some part of the story, or can be made to by
presenting it out of context. It gives us a look at Weng Weng as an
actor and an idea of what things might have been like instead of just
having people narrate it to us.
“I don’t know if you could do that when making a documentary about
other actors – Weng Weng’s obscurity is necessary for it to work – but
it makes this one a bit livelier, downright celebratory even though a
much more downcast take is possible. And that’s the right tone for
this; though Leavold acknowledges the villains and bad situations, he
never loses track of how his subject’s movies brought him joy, and
that’s what Weng Weng should be remembered for. 4 cats“
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