Based from Leo Tolstoy’s classic “God Sees the Truth but Waits,” Ang Babaeng Humayo (english title: The Woman Who Left) tells the story of a woman named Horacia who is released from prison after being wrongfully-convicted for thirty years. She resumes her life as a charitable pillar of the community. By night, however, she silently plots the revenge against her aristocratic lover who set her up.
The film which competes in this year’s Venice Film Festival, is written, directed, shot and edited by the tireless auteur himself Lav Diaz. It runs for about 3 hours and 47 minutes – a measly run-time compared to his previous work, A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery, which bagged the Alfred Bauer Prize in the recently concluded 66th Berlin International Film Festival.
The Woman Who Left, TIFF synopsis:
Released in 1997 after spending 30 years in prison, Horacia (Charo Santos-Concio) encounters a very alien world: her husband has passed away and though she has reconnected with her daughter, she cannot find her son. But she soon recognizes what hasn’t changed: the power and privilege of the elites — a fact that is brought painfully home when she realizes that her aristocratic former lover, Rodrigo Trinidad, set her up for the crime for which she was imprisoned. Ironically, he is now something of a prisoner himself, though his cage is considerably more gilded: like his other rich friends, he is housebound due to a recent rash of kidnappings targeting the wealthy. While they are entirely irrelevant to Horacia and those she befriends, for the ruling class the kidnapping incidents represent the greatest crisis in the country’s history. Horacia takes advantage of this hysteria as she begins to plot her revenge.
Charo Santos-Concio, in her first acting stint after almost two decades, plays Horacia.
John Lloyd Cruz (middle) plays Hollanda, an abused transgender prostitute.
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Michael De Mesa (left) plays Rodrigo Trinidad, Horacia’s artistocrat ex-lover.
Shot in black and white, the wordless teaser below shows spliced frames of Horacia standing and wandering around the streets of Calapan, Mindoro (Concio’s hometown). At one point, we can see her holding a gun at a point-blank range. Now, the question that pops into my head: Could this be an Asian-lite version of Kill Bill?
Here are some early reviews of the film:
“The Woman Who Left is an immensely immersive and engaging tale about a wronged individual’s grueling struggle between reconciliation and revenge. Featuring Diaz’s immaculate imagery — in high-contrast black and white, as usual — and a majestic performance from Charo Santos, The Woman should leave Venice with a few prizes before its long global trek.” – Clarence Tsui, The Hollywood Reporter
“The latest supersized opus from Filipino maximalist Lav Diaz is a powerful and, by his standards, refreshingly contained moral study.” – Guy Lodge, Variety
Do you think Ang Babaeng Humayo has a strong fighting chance in the Venice Film Festival? Voice your comments below.
