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ariel alba
Guerrilla cinema and gay life in the Philippines
'Bathhouse', the highly provocative drama by Crisaldo Pablo ('Moreno', 2007), is a precursor of a cinema that has its dramatic epicenter in spas, saunas and public baths, where homosexual men congregate to relax, organize clandestine dates and having sex, such as the American 'Spa Night', directed in 2016 by Andrew Ahn; the Finnish 'A Moment in the Reeds', written and directed by Mikko Makela in 2017; the British 'Sauna the Dead: A Fairy Tale', directed in 2016 by Tom Frederic, the Spanish short film 'I come to look for you', written and directed in 2023 by José Provencio, among other films.
The Filipino director draws on the waters of 'Hamam: Il bagno turkish', the Italian film written and directed in 1997 by Ferzan Ozpetek, among others, to deliver an emotional 106-minute film about first love and leaving closet, which takes the viewer on a dark journey to a world where meeting the wrong man could mean paying the ultimate price.
After his first film, 'Doubt', in 2003, the Filipino filmmaker films the queer comedy-drama 'Bathhouse', which has a script he wrote.
With a tone typical of many Filipino gay films, although a little different given the style of the director (who plays Cris's father in the film), 'Bathhouse' revolves around the college student Rico, played with great sensitivity by Ray-An Dulay, a young man discovered by Crisaldo Pablo and introduced into the Philippine film industry with him, until he became her favorite actor, starring in his films 'Retaso' and 'Moreno', both from 2007, and 'Pitong Dalagita', 2006.
Ray-An Dulay also starred in other LGBT+ themed films directed by Joselito "Jay" Altarejo, another of the great filmmakers of Filipino queer cinema, such as 'Little Boy Big Boy', from 2009, 'Kambyo', from 2008, and 'The Game of Juan's Life', 2009.
In 'Bathhouse', as Rico awakens to his sexuality and accepts being homosexual, he finds himself drawn to the local gay bathhouse, where he longs to establish a connection with the regulars in the clandestine world of homosexual encounters.
At the gay club and sauna, Rico establishes a friendly relationship with Genesis, a role played by a magnificent Andoy Ranay, an actor who had already worked under Pablo in 'Doubt'.
Rico receives an exclusive invitation from a stranger about 15 years older, named Cris (Jet Alcantara, an actor who debuted in 1999 in the action film 'Bullet' and starred in 'Gugma sa Panahon sang Bakunawa', by Peter Solis Nery), to meet that night at Klub Hombre, a private bar for gay men, also attended by heterosexuals looking to have sex with other men in the anonymous comfort of darkness.
In the darkness of the sauna, Rico can also glimpse bisexual and transsexual characters; people who, in the anonymity of darkness, seek to form a bond and a kinship, although they cannot later identify themselves in the light of day.
After having sex with Cris, the college nerd will fall intensely in love with the heartthrob, and accepts his habits as a gigolo or man-slut. All of this is set against the backdrop of the evolution of gay hookup culture in the Philippines, from meet-ups in parks to personal ads, to phone lines, to pagers.
In this sense, while Rico sings and plays the guitar in a park, he is interrupted by some religious boys. This sequence gives a very Wong Kar-Wai feel that I really liked.
At almost 20 years old, Rico has evolved from these primitive forms of human connection before the advent of cell phone services and gay dating apps, to a clandestine club where random sexual encounters occur, except our main character, Rico, looks for love, not sex, and gets a little lost along the way.
The reason for turning the corner is that the man she has fallen in love with is a jaded person who has combined all hopes of love and emotional connection with his nocturnal descent into the bar's orgy den.
When Rico claims that in the darkness of the sauna he can only see silhouettes of bodies around him, Cris responds: "Because we are all here for lust. Lust has no face, only flesh," to defend himself from the instant affection that the boy feels for him.
For his part, Rico will respond: "I don't want to have sex in the dark. It's for the same reason I hate movie theaters... It's very dark like you're having an illusion... When you're done, you leave the room." cinema and it's as if nothing had happened.
And Cris doesn't listen to him, and drags him into his world, a very dark world, but full of fun.
The chemistry between them is immediately hot and intense. In love with Cris, Rico rejects the other sauna customers who are looking for a night of adventure.
Once the fire cools, Rico believes he has found "Mr. Right", but finds himself on a roller coaster of love, jealousy and infidelity, while Cris continues his conquest of the baths.
Through the performances of exotic dancers on the club stage, the film pays tribute to or pioneers the Filipino queer film aesthetic that follows young people who work in the world of sibak, or in other words macho dancers, but identified with the figure of the hustler or prostitute, such as 'Sibak' ('Midnight Dancers'), 1994, by Mel Chionglo; 'Son of the Macho Dancer', 2021, by Joel Lamangan; 'Macho Dancer', 1988, by Lino Brocka, among other films.
A lot of nudity in this film, a lot of sex, and this, instead of detracting from it, supports the plot and the performances.
Rico is a very attractive character, but fortunately this is not the only thing that makes you invest in him.
'Bathhouse' also reminds me of 'Fuccbois', but in my opinion it is much better, having a more developed main character than Kokoy de Santos' Mico Ramos, Royce Cabrera's Ace Policarpo and Migs Villasis's Thor Villasis, protagonists of the Filipino LGBT+ themed film written and directed in 2019 by Eduardo Roy Jr., since in this case it presents a backstory of what Rico's life is like and how his sexuality and coming out to his environment and the people around him.
Likewise, it is commendable that the sexual scenes do not distract the viewer's attention from the dark and depressing situation in which Rico finds himself. Instead of telling a story in which the sexual scenes create a terrifying fantasy, which makes you want to escape in that situation, the explicit scenes cause the viewer to constantly worry about the fate of the characters, because you understand what is at stake for them.
Characterized by its low budget, the intervention of a small number of actors, mostly non-professionals; an unconventional production method, few resources in production, a script without great needs and expenses, few locations, predominating real places to the detriment of sets built for filming; filming where necessary without asking for the relevant permission, filming with reduced technical and artistic teams, 'Bathhouse' follows a raw and independent approach to the so-called guerrilla cinema, as Pablo did in his debut film 'Doubt', to show a somber story with a happy ending.
Heir to the guerrilla style, Cris Pablo has turned his cinema into an integral pillar of Filipino, Asian and world independent cinema, celebrated for its ingenuity, authenticity and unfiltered vision, to which he gives a documentary touch.
On this occasion, the filmmaker once again uses shocking images and strong characters to tell, through naked bodies, extreme sexual content, the squalor of the world of gay saunas and characters with an age difference, the story of gay life in the Philippines, while recreating an idea of how a Filipino bathhouse works, where emotions vibrate, love is made, love is lost and in the end true love is found.
The Filipino director draws on the waters of 'Hamam: Il bagno turkish', the Italian film written and directed in 1997 by Ferzan Ozpetek, among others, to deliver an emotional 106-minute film about first love and leaving closet, which takes the viewer on a dark journey to a world where meeting the wrong man could mean paying the ultimate price.
After his first film, 'Doubt', in 2003, the Filipino filmmaker films the queer comedy-drama 'Bathhouse', which has a script he wrote.
With a tone typical of many Filipino gay films, although a little different given the style of the director (who plays Cris's father in the film), 'Bathhouse' revolves around the college student Rico, played with great sensitivity by Ray-An Dulay, a young man discovered by Crisaldo Pablo and introduced into the Philippine film industry with him, until he became her favorite actor, starring in his films 'Retaso' and 'Moreno', both from 2007, and 'Pitong Dalagita', 2006.
Ray-An Dulay also starred in other LGBT+ themed films directed by Joselito "Jay" Altarejo, another of the great filmmakers of Filipino queer cinema, such as 'Little Boy Big Boy', from 2009, 'Kambyo', from 2008, and 'The Game of Juan's Life', 2009.
In 'Bathhouse', as Rico awakens to his sexuality and accepts being homosexual, he finds himself drawn to the local gay bathhouse, where he longs to establish a connection with the regulars in the clandestine world of homosexual encounters.
At the gay club and sauna, Rico establishes a friendly relationship with Genesis, a role played by a magnificent Andoy Ranay, an actor who had already worked under Pablo in 'Doubt'.
Rico receives an exclusive invitation from a stranger about 15 years older, named Cris (Jet Alcantara, an actor who debuted in 1999 in the action film 'Bullet' and starred in 'Gugma sa Panahon sang Bakunawa', by Peter Solis Nery), to meet that night at Klub Hombre, a private bar for gay men, also attended by heterosexuals looking to have sex with other men in the anonymous comfort of darkness.
In the darkness of the sauna, Rico can also glimpse bisexual and transsexual characters; people who, in the anonymity of darkness, seek to form a bond and a kinship, although they cannot later identify themselves in the light of day.
After having sex with Cris, the college nerd will fall intensely in love with the heartthrob, and accepts his habits as a gigolo or man-slut. All of this is set against the backdrop of the evolution of gay hookup culture in the Philippines, from meet-ups in parks to personal ads, to phone lines, to pagers.
In this sense, while Rico sings and plays the guitar in a park, he is interrupted by some religious boys. This sequence gives a very Wong Kar-Wai feel that I really liked.
At almost 20 years old, Rico has evolved from these primitive forms of human connection before the advent of cell phone services and gay dating apps, to a clandestine club where random sexual encounters occur, except our main character, Rico, looks for love, not sex, and gets a little lost along the way.
The reason for turning the corner is that the man she has fallen in love with is a jaded person who has combined all hopes of love and emotional connection with his nocturnal descent into the bar's orgy den.
When Rico claims that in the darkness of the sauna he can only see silhouettes of bodies around him, Cris responds: "Because we are all here for lust. Lust has no face, only flesh," to defend himself from the instant affection that the boy feels for him.
For his part, Rico will respond: "I don't want to have sex in the dark. It's for the same reason I hate movie theaters... It's very dark like you're having an illusion... When you're done, you leave the room." cinema and it's as if nothing had happened.
And Cris doesn't listen to him, and drags him into his world, a very dark world, but full of fun.
The chemistry between them is immediately hot and intense. In love with Cris, Rico rejects the other sauna customers who are looking for a night of adventure.
Once the fire cools, Rico believes he has found "Mr. Right", but finds himself on a roller coaster of love, jealousy and infidelity, while Cris continues his conquest of the baths.
Through the performances of exotic dancers on the club stage, the film pays tribute to or pioneers the Filipino queer film aesthetic that follows young people who work in the world of sibak, or in other words macho dancers, but identified with the figure of the hustler or prostitute, such as 'Sibak' ('Midnight Dancers'), 1994, by Mel Chionglo; 'Son of the Macho Dancer', 2021, by Joel Lamangan; 'Macho Dancer', 1988, by Lino Brocka, among other films.
A lot of nudity in this film, a lot of sex, and this, instead of detracting from it, supports the plot and the performances.
Rico is a very attractive character, but fortunately this is not the only thing that makes you invest in him.
'Bathhouse' also reminds me of 'Fuccbois', but in my opinion it is much better, having a more developed main character than Kokoy de Santos' Mico Ramos, Royce Cabrera's Ace Policarpo and Migs Villasis's Thor Villasis, protagonists of the Filipino LGBT+ themed film written and directed in 2019 by Eduardo Roy Jr., since in this case it presents a backstory of what Rico's life is like and how his sexuality and coming out to his environment and the people around him.
Likewise, it is commendable that the sexual scenes do not distract the viewer's attention from the dark and depressing situation in which Rico finds himself. Instead of telling a story in which the sexual scenes create a terrifying fantasy, which makes you want to escape in that situation, the explicit scenes cause the viewer to constantly worry about the fate of the characters, because you understand what is at stake for them.
Characterized by its low budget, the intervention of a small number of actors, mostly non-professionals; an unconventional production method, few resources in production, a script without great needs and expenses, few locations, predominating real places to the detriment of sets built for filming; filming where necessary without asking for the relevant permission, filming with reduced technical and artistic teams, 'Bathhouse' follows a raw and independent approach to the so-called guerrilla cinema, as Pablo did in his debut film 'Doubt', to show a somber story with a happy ending.
Heir to the guerrilla style, Cris Pablo has turned his cinema into an integral pillar of Filipino, Asian and world independent cinema, celebrated for its ingenuity, authenticity and unfiltered vision, to which he gives a documentary touch.
On this occasion, the filmmaker once again uses shocking images and strong characters to tell, through naked bodies, extreme sexual content, the squalor of the world of gay saunas and characters with an age difference, the story of gay life in the Philippines, while recreating an idea of how a Filipino bathhouse works, where emotions vibrate, love is made, love is lost and in the end true love is found.
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