Lav Diaz's ten-hour epic Evolution of a Filipino Family tells the story of a poor and struggling family and the evolution of their farming clan--we gradually see the rise of their farming clan, and then also see the gradual downfall and eventual collapse of their clan--over the process of ten hours.
Also intertwined with the primary storyline are scenes depicting the time period in which these characters' lives are set against--these characters and their storylines being set against the backdrop of the authoritarian government led by dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
I must say that like I felt while watching this ten-hour epic, you might just feel easily swept away by the many characters and their storylines that inhabit this film. When reaching the two-hour mark, I forgot that I still had eight and a half hours left to go. I felt this feeling that I was almost there with the characters, living with them, and being with them in their most difficult and tragic moments in their lives.
In a strange way, you begin to bond with these characters in a more personal way, as if you have known them and lived with them--the characters feel more real to you, rather than simply feeling like fictional characters in a film. You feel as if these characters embody reality in their own sense, and the characters feel real to the viewer as the viewer becomes swept in the characters' lives.
As you watch this ten-hour film, you may wonder why this film is so long. However, once you get acquainted with Lav Diaz's style, you will notice that most of his films follow the same pattern you will notice in this film: they usually run over four hours long (some other films of his ranging in length from 6 to 9 hours long).
You will also notice that in many of Diaz's films, including this one, Diaz makes great use of long takes--many of his shots last very long lengths of time, some lasting 15-20 minutes long (one shot from another film of his lasting a full hour). Diaz uses these long and uninterrupted takes to convey the passage of time, the slow and gradual process of time and how time passes by very slowly and gradually. To convey this process, Diaz will use very long takes in his films to show this effect.
It might take some time to get used to Diaz's unconventional style of filmmaking--also, Diaz is known for his frequent use of still shots in his films. Most of his shots in his films are static and involve minimal to no camera movement.
However, this technique of using still and static shots also makes everything in his films seem real and believable, being that everything is portrayed objectively, rather than from the perspective of certain characters--everything is shown as it is, and usually from a far-away distance to present that objective view of reality that Diaz presents in his films.
Also, Diaz's films are shot on very low and below-typical production values. This can affect the quality of the film, usually in terms of the quality of the cameras used and the video quality--being that a lot of his films are shot on low production values, his films will usually have a Standard Definition quality to it instead of the typical High Definition quality films usually have.
However, Diaz doesn't focus on high production values and quality camera equipment--he also doesn't focus as much on the length of his films--Diaz's focus is simply on capturing the simple, beautiful, tender, warm, yet also the despairing, sorrowful, bleak, and melancholic moments of life--he captures these moments at their realest--and with the finest sense of detail and patience these moments ought to be given more of in the typical Hollywood productions of today.
