Batch '81
Alpha Kappa Omega Batch '81 is a 1982 Filipino psychological drama film directed by Mike de Leon from a screenplay he co-written with Clodualdo del Mundo Jr. and Raquel Villavicencio. The film depicts the titular fraternity's harsh initiation of new batch members as seen through the eyes of pre-med student Sid Lucero, played by Mark Gil in what is generally recognized as his breakout role.
The film premiered at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival during the Directors' Fortnight, screened alongside de Leon's 1981 film Kisapmata. The Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino included it on their list of the Ten Best Films of the Decade. In 2017, the film was digitally restored as part of the Venice Classics section.
Plot
Sid Lucero, a university student, is pushed by his mother to take up zoology so that he may later go on to medical school. He is attracted to the prospect of joining Alpha Kappa Omega, also called AKO, one of the most prominent of the school's Greek-letter organizations.Sid is one of the fraternity's fifteen initial applicants, but only eight make it into AKO's six-month initiation program, which is overseen by the fraternity seniors, called "masters" by the neophytes. The fraternity leader, Vince, orients the pledge batch in the ways of the group before submitting them to their first hazing.
Over the succeeding months, the fraternity masters submit the neophytes to a series of tests: Pacoy Ledesma has sex with Jenny Estrada, a prostitute, which is recorded and shown to the group. The group is made to run in public in nothing but their underwear and sneakers. Ronnie is made to drink beer laced with his batchmates' spit at a birthday party. A doctor, who is an AKO alumnus, attaches surgical equipment to Sid as a pain-tolerance experience. Sid's love interest, Mariel, expresses concern for his safety, revealing that she lost her brother in a frat initiation rite two years before.
The physical and psychological pressure takes its toll on neophytes Arni and Ronnie, both of whom decide to leave. When senior Vince discovers this, he has Ronnie tied to an electric chair for the rest of the batch to witness. Ronnie's father, an AKO alum, oversees the session as his son is given electric shocks by his batch mates. As the voltage is set higher, much to the discomfort of the young men, Ronnie's father orders the session to continue and the neophytes obey. Pacoy notices that Ronnie is no longer responding to the questions and believes him to have died. When Ronnie suddenly wakes up, his father explains that the session was set up to test whether the neophytes would trust their masters. Ronnie decides to continue with the initiation, much to the delight of his batch.
At the university's inter-fraternity talent show, Upakan, the AKO neophytes perform a drag rendition of songs from the musical Cabaret, with Sid dressed as Sally Bowles. The rival fraternity Sigma Omicron Sigma performs an original rock composition.
After the show, Sid, Arni, and Arni's girlfriend, Tina, are waylaid by members of SOS. Their leader, Tina's brother Abet, makes good on his earlier threats to stop Arni from dating his sister, drowning Arni as Sid watches. Now committed to avenging Arni's death, Sid asks AKO leader Vince to retaliate. The two fraternities break their truce and decide to settle everything in a street brawl. Ronnie is killed by an SOS member, who falls to a cleaver strike by AKO neophyte Gonzalez. Gonzalez and Sid work together to kill Abet, but Gonzalez dies in the process.
After one last hazing at a beach, the remaining neophytes, including Sid, are officially welcomed into the fraternity. The closing voice-over by Sid reveals that he eventually becomes one of the AKO masters overseeing the initiation program of another batch of neophytes.
Cast
Production
Development
Producer Marichu Maceda of MVP Pictures approached Mike de Leon to direct a film for her. At that point, de Leon had directed three films, including his directorial debut Itim, and was also known for his cinematography work on Lino Brocka's Manila in the Claws of Light and Eddie Romero's Aguila. After meeting Maceda, de Leon reached out to screenwriters Clodualdo del Mundo Jr. and Raquel Villavicencio, both of whom he had previously worked with on Kakabakaba Ka Ba? They proposed a story that would explore the educational system in relation to contemporary society. Maceda and de Leon gave different accounts of the inspiration for the film: Maceda said the idea came to her after her son had been beaten up by his would-be fraternity brothers, while de Leon said that he came across the culture of an underground university brotherhood via a personal friend.According to del Mundo, some of the material for the film came from interviews with "informants" of Upsilon Sigma Phi, a fraternity based in the University of the Philippines.
Casting
A casting call was announced for the film and by December 1980 there was a shortlist for all parts except for Sid Lucero, the narrator, as de Leon did not want the role to be played by a newcomer. Producer Maceda was initially interested in casting Christopher de Leon. However, director de Leon had found the young actor difficult to work with on the set of his previous film, Kakabakaba Ka Ba?. In the end, Mark Gil, a then-up-and-coming actor with a reputation for being a serious performer, was chosen for the role.Before filming began, a ten-day acting workshop was held at the residence of Maceda. It was attended by those on the shortlist, as well as established actors such as Charo Santos and Jay Ilagan, both of whom had previously worked with de Leon on Kakabakaba Ka Ba? and who would work with the director again on Kisapmata. Actress Alma Moreno was in attendance, having been considered for the role of Tina, but she ultimately lost out to Sandy Andolong.
Sid Lucero, the child of Gil and his Batch '81 co-star Bing Pimentel, credits the film as "that movie was where my dad met my mom" adding he "would not have been made if not for that movie." Lucero, born a year after the film was released, and whose real name is Timothy Pimentel Eigenmann, took his stage name from his father's character in the film.
Filming
Principal photography began in February 1981, starting with the initiation scene. In order to avoid having to get permission to film on an actual school campus, the Sampaguita Pictures lot and the LVN Pictures compound were used as filming locations. The dorm scenes were filmed at the dorm of the Sampaguita contract players, while the initiation scene was shot in the basement of the Maceda residence. Nevertheless, some scenes were shot on actual school campuses: the opening sequence was filmed at Ateneo de Manila University, while the inter-fraternity talent show was filmed at Colegio San Agustin.Several months into shooting, production on Batch '81 came to a halt as Maceda's other film, the Vilma Santos-headlined Pakawalan Mo Ako, was behind schedule and eating up their financing. During the three-month hiatus, de Leon and his creative team made the psychological horror film Kisapmata. Shooting resumed after Maceda was able to raise more funds. By August 1981, principal photography was completed.
The song used during the graduation of the fraternity is the Latin hymn "Gaudeamus igitur," which de Leon first heard from the 1954 MGM musical film The Student Prince.
Post-production
A scene was filmed where Miss Casuso, played by Nanette Inventor, performs a disco rendition of "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" from the musical Evita, which was intended to be part of the musical performance at the inter-fraternity talent show. De Leon admitted that this was a reference to First Lady Imelda Marcos. At the time, the Marcos regime "orally banned" Evita due to comparisons between Imelda and Eva Perón, the former First Lady of Argentina and the subject of Evita. Although there was never a formal ban by the government on the productions of Evita, permission to produce the musical was orally denied or discouraged by members of the first family, namely Imelda and her daughter Imee. As such, de Leon was told by Maceda, who was a personal friend of Imelda, to choose between keeping the disco number or the Martial Law question asked during the electroshock scene. Although de Leon chose to keep the latter, the question was ultimately cut by Philippine censors before its Philippine theatrical release. The removal of the "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" number also prompted de Leon to cut out the story arc of Inventor's character, limiting her role to the opening scene.Navarro's editing of the film is recognized as his first notable work; he also edited de Leon's Kisapmata, Ishmael Bernal's Broken Marriage, and Peque Gallaga's ''Oro, Plata, Mata.''