13-minute “Greaseman” is one of the most acclaimed shorts in the Khavn's filmography, since it won the Tokyo Video Festival Excellence Award and also screened in Rotterdam in 2005.
After a number of images that seem either inside water or kaleidoscopic, and an intense song with dual vocals, the frame is split in two, with the left showing a rather pitiful, rag-tag man (the Greaseman) on the streets and the right a well-off one (the Yuppie) in his house. This duality also extends to the rest of the narrative, with the singing/narration in English functioning like the voice of the first man and the narration that is heard almost at the same time in Tagalog, seemingly telling a story, occasionally featuring some biblical (?) references.
The film proceeds with juxtaposing the lives of the two radically different men before another, similar with the initial, sequence, functions as a transition to a scene showing just the Yuppie in his car, driving. Eventually, he sees the first man unconscious on the side of the street. Surprisingly, he stops and carries him to his car and eventually, to the hospital, where he is treated. The next sequence has the Yuppie paying for Greaseman's expenses and again, taking him in his car and eventually, in his apartment. Another kaleidoscopic scene follows and then the focus turns on the Greaseman, waking up and proceeding on moving inside the owner's bedroom, and on a surprising as much as despicable act. All the while, the duality in the music, continues.
Khavn seems to have two comments to make with this short. The first one revolves around the “No good deed goes unpunished” theme and the second goes against the widely popular opinion that the have-nots are good and righteous and the rich cruel and uncaring.
The presentation is more linear than usually in Khavn's films, although the installation-like sequences that connect the sequences of the main the story, the extreme close-ups, and the music approach, once more, implement a sense of chaos in the film.
Also of importance is the casting, with Khavn having Lou Veloso, an actor, comedian, theater actor, musical theater director, movie director and politician who was actually councilor of the 6th district of Manila at the time, play the Greaseman, and Eric Quizon, another famous Filipino actor, play the Yuppie, with their antithetical chemistry, both in the style of acting and overall appearance, working quite well for the narrative.
“Greaseman” lingers somewhere between the film and the installation, but the cinematic value is quite evident, as much as Khavn's effort to present a couple of relatively common topics through an uncommon approach.
