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FILM: McBain (1991) This film was shot partly in the Philippines so it represented my first trip ever crossing an ocean to a foreign country. And because it was such a minor role, Angry Stockholder #2, with an angry monologue of about a minute, this job in a way almost seemed unreal. A Town Car picked me up for my flight out from JFK and a stretch limo met my return flight for my ride home. I\u2019d never been in a stretch limo before so I was like a kid, touching everything, looking into all the cabinets and the driver said to help myself to the liquor cabinet but I passed – to early in the day. The Director told me that for my role, in addition to the people he auditioned in New York, he also saw expats living in Manilla for the part but still liked what I did the best. Hence, my trip halfway around the world. The film is about an American Soldier of Fortune, Christopher Walken, out to avenge the death of a Vietnam War colleague by toppling the corrupt government of Columbia, South America. And in an exceptional coincidence of art imitating life I experienced a somewhat similar situation.<\/span><\/p>\n When my flight touched down in Manilla after a 5 hour layover in Tokyo I was pretty much exhausted from being on New York time. When we passengers exited the airplane the airport seemed strangely empty. It was late but not wee hours late. We proceeded to the luggage area and then to customs check-in. The building was deserted except for airport personnel and people from incoming flights. After we finished customs we were directed to a long cavernous hall to exit the airport. I had to hookup with my driver. It was a long walk through that hall and as we got closer to the exit doors a perceptive din could be heard and as we got closer it grew louder. And we passed through the exit doors to face a sea of humanity behind security railing and armed soldiers between us and the yelling, moving crowd. I was stunned. What the Hell was going on? I asked another passenger but he was just as surprised as me. A soldier directed us to an area further down the barricade line where a bunch of drivers with signs with names on them were standing. My driver and I jostled through the crowd to his car and we got in. He explained that there had been a coup attempt by a group of Army Colonels against President Marcos so the Country was under Martial Law and the airport was closed. I thought, Wow, art imitating life because that was pretty much the premise of the movie I came to work on.<\/p>\n The drive from the airport to downtown Manilla was unnerving. Even though we were on a major thoroughfare the road was pitch black. The only lights were headlights and taillights. But the spill of light from our headlights saw many, many people walking on the side of the road in both directions. I could also make out long stretches of shanty like structures and open fires set back from the road. When the driver stopped at an occasional light those walking by would peer into the car, curious as one might be at a zoo. When we reached downtown Manilla it was a completely different world – bright lights, traffic, stores and restaurants looked busy. The presence of armed soldiers was the only hint that something might be amiss. The next day when I finally got up I stood on my balcony of the Hotel and drank coffee while checking out the bustling City in the light of day. Across the Avenue I noticed a cluster of building 2 to 3 stories high. Some of the walls of these buildings had these random odd looking big pock marks though they didn\u2019t seem to be design element. They looked strange. A couple of hours later I asked the maid about them. She said the soldiers fired big guns at those buildings because some of the rebels were held up there. <\/p>\n I couldn\u2019t help but think about the juxtaposition of an armed rebellion from elements of the Philippine Army and the seemingly oblivious Manilla population going about its business. Perhaps the rebels were led by the spirit of reform represented by the mass of humanity on the side of the road and the populace of Manilla proper were led by the spirit of Marcos\u2019s promise of the good life. My role, Angry Stockholder #2, and even the film now seemed so inconsequential. The United States of America is one of the few great societies that has never been invaded by another country. This has allowed us to have a well grounded sense of security. An assuredness the coups are events that only happen in third world countries, inferior in character to ours. But deep seated red and blue cracks are now appearing in our veneer so maybe it\u2019s just a matter of time. My ride home to my apartment in the stretch lime was so blatantly in the face of what I had just seen in the Philippines but I don\u2019t remember thinking much about that as I stretched myself out in the leather upholstered seats. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [aesop_document src=”https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kubota\/wp-content\/plugins\/editus\/public\/assets\/img\/empty-img.png” type=”pdf”] FILM: McBain (1991) This film was shot partly in the Philippines so it represented my first trip ever crossing an ocean to a foreign country. And because it was such a minor role, Angry Stockholder #2, with an angry monologue of about a minute, this job in a way almost seemed unreal. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-highlight"],"metadata":{"_edit_lock":["1557098930:113"]},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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