A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery

A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery (Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis) is a 2016 historical fantasy drama film directed by Lav Diaz. It was selected to compete for the Golden Bear at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival. At the film festival, it won the Alfred Bauer Prize (Silver Bear, 2nd Prize). The film was released on 26 March and was distributed by Star Cinema.

Cast

 * John Lloyd Cruz as Isagani
 * Piolo Pascual as Simoun / Crisostomo Ibarra
 * Hazel Orencio as Gregoria 'Oryang' De Jesus
 * Alessandra De Rossi as Ceasaria Belarmino
 * Susan Africa as Aling Hule
 * Joel Saracho as Mang Karyo
 * Bernardo Bernardo as Lalake / Tikbalang
 * Cherie Gil as Babae / Tikbalang
 * Angel Aquino as Androgynous / Tikbalang
 * Sid Lucero as Basilio
 * Ely Buendia as Musikero
 * Bart Guingona as Kapitan Heneral
 * Kuya Manzano as Padre Camorra
 * Menggie Cobarrubias as Padre Florentino
 * Ronnie Lazaro as Sebastian Caneo

Reception
The film received mixed reviews from critics, with criticism mostly directed towards its pacing and confusing narrative. Guy Lodge of Variety states in his review that "A major disappointment from a major filmmaker, Diaz's latest super-sized tapestry of historical fact, folklore and cine-poetry is typically ambitious in its expressionism—but sees the helmer venturing into the kind of declamatory, didactic rhetoric that his recent stunners Norte, the End of History and From What Is Before so elegantly avoided." Part of the Berlinale Jury citation, headed by Meryl Streep:"...for opening new perspectives in cinema." Screen Daily calls it as "...one of Lav Diaz's best works."

The scholar Noel Vera says:"Ah no--no. Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis is a gorgeous film that traces the outlines of the Philippine character, flaws and virtues and all, from the ferment of an end-of-the-century rebellion through four hundred years of colonial past down to ancient pagan roots. If every foreign critic hated it for its many flawed details (forgot to mention, some of the Spanish sounded stilted), its dialogue-heavy dramaturgy, its (ultimately irrelevant) length, none of this would matter. The film was made for us Filipinos, to fill our hunger for poetry and narrative and magic, to give us back a sense of our storied past, our mythical and historical dead." The Italian critic Giampiero Raganelli cites:"Eight hours of mesmeric black and white, eight hours of beauty."

“This expansive and richly detailed story is to the screen what ‘War and Peace’ is to literature. Tracing various character paths and threads throughout the Philippine Revolution of 1896-97, the embroidery on display through calculated measures that redefine patience weave urban legends, local traditions, real-life artistic expressions with the most sensitive chapter of Philippine history.” —Nikola Grozdanovic, Indiewire

“An ambitious statement by one of contemporary cinema’s authentic radicals.” — Screen Daily

“Certainly one of Diaz’s finest films.” — Cinema Scope