THINGS I LIKE IN LAV DIAZ'S FILMS

Things I like in Lav Diaz's films include:

1.the feelings that I still don't know enough about the characters in the films, and want to know more about the characters, want to see more of their lives, or to say it in another way, the feelings that the films are still too short

2.the question about the existence of God, or the governing force in the universe. Is this governing force benevolent or malevolent? HEREMIAS and DEATH IN THE LAND OF ENCANTOS give me some cosmic feelings, and these cosmic feelings make Diaz's films very different from other political films, such as FIGHT FOR US (Lino Brocka)

3.The sense that human beings just temporarily pass through the world/this earth, and the world may not have mercy or may not feel anything towards us. The world existed before we are born and will still exist after we are dead. This sense is derived from many scenes in which we see the places before character enter and after characters exit

4.The suffering from injustice

5.The dark forces in society and the people's fear to rise up against them, as shown in the last hour of HEREMIAS, the victim's refusal to testify in MELANCHOLIA, and the paranoid of Hamin in DEATH IN THE LAND OF ENCANTOS


6.the important things which happen offscreen, such as the cart stealing in HEREMIAS (2006), the death of Hamin in DEATH IN THE LAND OF ENCANTOS (2007), or the death of Renato in MELANCHOLIA (2008)

7.The surrealistic/absurdistic touch, such as the paper-eating performance in MELANCHOLIA, and the dark-skinned man who warn people to hide in DEATH IN THE LAND OF ENCANTOS

8.The distance from the characters, which helps preventing the films from being overly dramatic

9.The unclassifiability of the films

10.The cinematographic beauty without lighting

11.The avoidance of unnecessary camera movement

12.The presenting of folklores and some superstitious beliefs