The Blood Trail

Plot

The film tells the story of Himalaya "Laya" Marquez (Che Ramos), a 27-year-old travel photographer who projects a cold, aloof persona to her family and workmates. The beginning of the film reveals that she is estranged from her mother Luzviminda (Irma Adlawan) and her father, the famous Photographer Danilo Marquez (Pen Medina). The film also reveals that she hasn't had a complete dream or a full night's sleep since age 12.

Things come to a head for Laya when her father suffers from a heart attack. Although she pays for his hospital bills, she refuses to see him at the hospital, which leads to even further strain between her and her mother. The film reveals that her father used to visit Laya in her bedroom in the small hours of the night in order to abuse her - a fact which leads Laya's mother to leave, thinking that Danilo was seeing another woman, but not knowing that "the other woman" was in fact her daughter.

Not long after, Laya and new co-worker Eric (Neil Ryan Sese) are assigned by their boss (Mailes Kanapi) to document the Mangatyanan blood trail ritual of the Labwanan (a fictional Filipino tribe created for the story) before the practice dies out forever.

When the pair meet the Labwanan, they discover a severely dwindled group whose cultural identity is now asserted only by their tribal leader Mang Renato (Publio Briones III). While documenting the ritual, Laya feels a connection between the tribe’s predicament and her own.

When the disagreements and moral failures among the Labwanan lead to the disruption of the Mangatyanan ritual, Laya and Eric are asked to leave. Before finally leaving the tribe however, Laya runs away and takes it upon herself to perform the steps Mangatyanan ritual, one of the final steps of which is drinking a potentially fatal hallucigenic concoction.

While Eric and the tribesmen attempt to resuscitate Laya, the effects of the drink give her a vision of her father, who asks for her forgiveness. When she refuses, he instead convinces her to forgive her mother, which finally allows Laya to experience dignity and personal freedom.

Production

The Blood Trail was shot over the course of ten days, partly in Manila, and partly in Zambales. Manila locales include EDSA, the Metro Rail Transit, and various establishments near the Elisabeth Seton school. Zambales locales included Anawangin Cove PAndaquit Casa San Miguel and Capones Island.

As Director, writer, composer, editor, and sound designer (credited under different names), Jerrold Tarog had a great deal of control over many aspects of the film, but recognized that the other people who made the film were as much its creators as he was, saying "There's no such thing as an Auteur."

Fictional Tribe, Language, and Ritual

In a disclaimer at the end of the film's credits, Director Tarog notes that: "The Labwanan Tribe of Dimacan, their languages and customs, including the Mangatyanan Ritual are products of fiction created for the purpose of allegory. They do not represent real indigenous tribes of the Philippines." In the two commentary tracks on the DVD, he claims that the language of the Labwanan was created from a mix of Kapampangan and Bisaya, and then modified slightly.

Cast

Awards

Nominations