By PABLO A. TARIMAN
THIS year’s Urian Best Actress Awardee Angeli Bayani has joined the national outrage over Malacanang’s snub of Nora Aunor in the recently signed proclamation of National Artists for 2014.
Bayani said what President Aquino did was a virtual insult to the film community even as she deplored Malacanang’s inability to explain his decision.
“I may not know Ms Nora Aunor’s body of work by heart, but I am very much aware of her contribution to our society. There is obviously something going on here that we don’t know about. It’s an insult not just to Ms Nora Aunor but to the CCP and the NCCA as well. But in disregarding their recommendation, I’m afraid the Office of the President has disregarded something much more than Ms Aunor. He has disregarded them and what they stand and work hard for – our country’s arts and culture which is the country’s very soul. If the leader of our country acts so carelessly about it, I think we should be alarmed,” Bayani said.
Bayani beat Aunor, Vilma Santos (“Ekstra”) and Cherie Gil (“Sonata”) in the recently concluded 37th Gawad Urian Awards with a landmark role as Eliza in the Lav Diaz film, “Norte: Hangganan ng Kasaysayan.”
In the 2008 10th Cinemanila Film Festival, Bayani also received the Vic Silayan Award for Best Actress (International Category) for the 7-hour or so film “Melancholia” also by Lav Diaz.
Bayani rues she treats awards as reasons to be inspired although she is sure actors do what they do not because they are aiming for awards. “Nevertheless, it’s gratifying to take one home because, to me, you have something to show to your loved ones, the people who have supported you and who have been there from the very beginning.”
She wanted to show those trophies for all the hard work but it could be an award for everyone in the film for their patience, understanding and acceptance.
She reflects: “It is hard to follow one’s dreams. Because of economic pressure, it is often a luxury or even a fool’s errand to even want to try. But when you do, and you have people supporting you either at home or in the form of an award-giving body, it inspires you to continue on the path, to continue to do good work and in so doing, inspire others as well.”
As the hapless wife Eliza whose husband wrongly went to jail for the death of a money-lender in the Lav Diaz film, Angeli said her character seemed simple but it was one of the most difficult roles she has to portray. “I knew her, I understood her. That, I think, was the challenge: recognizing too much of myself in her but seeing darkness in her that was terrifying to me because it was urgent, real and possible. At the same time, there was this depth of love in her that I have no words for. She was at once, completely alien and utterly knowable. I did script and character analysis as one of my preparations but after reading the script, I realized all I had to do was listen. Doing ‘Norte’ was, in a sense, pretty much like doing my previous Lav Diaz films But this time around, I could not help but be anti-social. I felt like I was holding up a mirror to myself but seeing someone else’s eyes. It was the hardest thing that I have ever done so far, and I am so proud, so honored and so humbled that I was chosen for it.”
For years now, there is only one thing she wants to achieve every time she faces the camera and that is truth.
To her, acting works when you keep it simple, when you keep it real, when you listen.
She adds: “It works when you are honest with yourself. My job as an actor is to know my character, to find her Truth and discover my Truth in her. I believe it is an actor’s responsibility to be completely honest with oneself because that is the only way you can recognize the Truth of another human being. Once you do, then you would realize that really, all you have to do is Listen.”
Indeed it served her well portraying meaty indie roles such as the wife of Joma Sison in “The Guerilla Is a Poet” and a Filipino maid in another internationally acclaimed film, “Ilo ilo” by Anthony Chen. The film was watched by award-winning director Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Brokeback Mountain) and called her a “national treasure.”
To Angeli, meeting Lee was quite simply, a dream come true.
She recalls: “Hearing those compliments from him was something out of this world. Never in my wildest dreams did I think such a thing was possible. It’s like when you audition, you only want to do your best. When you get cast, you only want to do your best. You don’t think of winning awards, you don’t think about future projects, you just think about what’s happening now and what’s needed right now. You most certainly don’t think about meeting your hero someday. Meeting Ang Lee was like seeing a unicorn and being able to touch it. If that means anything.”