This film could not have been made today, at least not without public backlash and definitely not by a major studio. This was my immediate reaction right after I saw the restored and remastered version of Mike De Leon’s Kakabakaba Ka Ba?, which was, in 1980, a last-ditch attempt at movie production of the now defunct studio juggernaut LVN Pictures.
Going into the theater completely clueless, as was my experience, is probably the most ideal way of approaching Kakabakaba Ka Ba? Any attempt to describe its plot would certainly be futile and would ruin the delight of seeing the wry storyline unfold. During the Q&A, Christopher De Leon, who played the lead character Johnny, said that the film felt like an acid trip, and while there was an actual psychedelic experience presented onscreen, his description holds true for the entire movie.
Kakabakaba Ka Ba? starts as a typical boy-meets-girl story between Johnny and Melanie (a foxy Charo Santos), who, together with their equally easy-going friends (a charming Jay Ilagan and a droll Sandy Andolong), revel in a carefree rock and roll lifestyle. In their pursuit of youthful thrill, they become entangled in a MacGuffin chase involving a non-music playing, opium-containing cassette tape. The film climaxes with a grand sing and dance showdown between the Japanese Yakuza (led by a dominating Johnny Delgado) and the Chinese Mafia (headed by a sharp Armida Siguion-Reyna) in a secret basement under a church. This is probably why Kakabakaba Ka Ba? has been tagged as a campy musical-comedy, which diminishes what the film actually is: a satirical and subversive commentary about imperialism and religion.
The film posits the idea that we Filipinos are helpless yet still blithe victims as underground forces battle for control over our resources. One such institution, according to Kakabakaba Ka Ba?, is the Catholic Church, the hypocrisy of which the movie pokes fun at in several scenes, such as when the characters take opium like Holy Communion – a quite literal depiction of the well-known if disparaged Karl Marx phrase “Religion is the opium of the masses;” or when the characters are apparently hypnotized by singing and dancing nuns, who underneath their religious habits are actually wearing glitzy clothing, highlighting that everything is just for show.
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There is no denying that Kakabakaba Ka Ba? is laden with cultural and racial stereotypes, with the Japanese and the Chinese being portrayed with clichés that are now widely considered unacceptable. Even the subtitles over the Japanese and Chinese dialogue switched the l’s and the r’s. The movie was also peppered with tons of inappropriate (rape, homophobic, and racist) jokes that would definitely generate outcry from proponents of political correctness. Yet I believe that the film needed to be offensive to make its point. Satire has to offend to be effective, and severe political correctness would be the death of comedy.
Undeniably, this work of genius by Mike De Leon is a classic that needs to be seen by a wide audience today, as the message it imparts remains relevant after more than thirty years. It’s a shame that mainstream movie studios probably wouldn’t dare make movies as bold as Kakabakaba Ka Ba? for fear of backlash or lack of profit. But we need more films like this, films that make us question our ambivalence and nonchalance for our cultural and national welfare.
P.S.: The irony that the largest major studio and the facility responsible for restoring classic films are under the same parent company is not lost on me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGOfF2MTgCY
