Khavn‘s statement about the film: In 2005, the organizers of the La Palma International Digital Film Festival posted a challenge to the filmmakers in attendance: create a short film within the span of the festival. I finished twelve. The following year, I decided to challenge myself further: I tried to make a full-length film within the week of the festival. This is the result.
Khavn directs another experimental film, which functions as both a tribute to Philippine National Hero Jose Rizal through the poem he wrote before his execution in 1896 titled “Mi Ultimo Adios”, and a kind of a tour guide to Las Palmas. In that fashion, the narrative follows a path that includes black-and white shots from various locations of the island, frequently featuring dancing sequences, which are interrupted by black screens with lyrics from Rizal’s poem, in a style similar to that of silent movies. There is no dialogue, but the flamenco sounds from Junji Lerma’s banduria fill the narrative, inducing it with a distinct sense of melancholia, courtesy of composers Khavn and Lerma.
Through this approach, Khavn seems to connect Spain’s colonialist past, particularly regarding their deeds in the Philippines, with the present, with the fact that a Filipino is invited to Spain and shooting a film there creating an ambivalence that permeates the narrative.
The camera presents a number of images, of which a plethora are rather powerful. The dancing scenes, particularly the ones on the stairs are the most dominant ones, but others, like the kids playing in the sun, the woman who seems to be in despair, the empty conference room that eventually is filled, the forest, and the ones by the port and the sea are equally powerful and also “promote” the overall sense of melancholia the film emits. At the same time, the extreme, trademark images of Khavn are not missing from here also, with the woman under the cross and the close up to a man’s mouth and the movements of his tongue moving towards this direction. although this element is much toned down compared to other works of his. On a trivia but also kind of cult note, former pornstar current actress Celia Blanco aka Cecilia Gessa also makes an appearance in the film.
Lawrence S. Ang’s competent editing connects the various images through a rhythm that fits both the music and the overall aesthetics, while the screens featuring the lyrics are well-placed.
As is very frequently the case with Khavn’s films, “Ultimo: Different Ways of Killing a National Hero” is quite hard to review, particularly since it moves somewhere among the movie, the installation and the music video. However, there is obviously power here, and enough melancholia and artfulness to satisfy any viewer that is looking for cinema beyond the norms.
