Daring Filipino director Lav Diaz brings his movie house of pain to Berlin this week, shooting for the top prize with an eight-hour epic that tests human patience and endurance. Diaz weaves the rich revolutionary history and mythology of his impoverished homeland in “A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery,” the longest film ever to compete at the Berlinale, but still three hours shorter than his longest work. “My principle is, the filmmaker shouldn’t struggle by himself…The viewer must struggle with me. Let’s experience this thing together and be immersed in this universe,” the 57-year-old Diaz told AFP in Manila before he left for Berlin. Festival organizers have inserted one interval into the epic, but Diaz is relaxed about how audiences will cope. “I understand the demands on the body,” he said. “You’re free. You can go home… you come back. The film is still rolling. It’s about life. Ultimately, cinema [...]
