In depicting a present-day Philippines untouched by colonialism, the creatives behind the film “The Kingdom” drew inspiration from neighboring Thailand, the only Southeast Asian country to resist colonial rule.

With the baseline being the pre-Spanish 1500s—a time when the archipelago housed different independent polities, kingdoms and sultanates—director Mike Tuviera and a team of experts approximated how the Philippines would have evolved had things stayed in such a way.

“We tried to imagine how things would end up looking like through the passage of time … We tried comparing it to Thailand, which was never conquered. Its culture is pretty much intact. It still has a royal family. But it’s also very modern,” Tuviera told Lifestyle.

“Of course, avoiding colonization doesn’t necessarily mean that we wouldn’t be open to other cultures, or that we would be stuck in time. But I think we would have harnessed our resources differently, and maybe more effectively, because instead of serving others, we would have invested in ourselves,” he added.

Movie consultant Nestor Castro, an anthropology professor at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, conceded that there are a lot of “unknowns” about our precolonial past. But filling in the gaps or fleshing out the what-ifs in the name of “artistic license,” he stressed, should still be rooted in history.

Creative decisions

This is an aspect, Tuviera agreed, that he and the team really had to be mindful of.

“History tells us about the events, but not much about the people’s way of life—how they lived, what their politics were. We tapped historians and anthropologists,” he said. “What you will see is a combination of what we have learned in history, and what we think would have happened. We wanted all creative decisions to be grounded, and not resort to creating things out of nowhere.”

So what does “The Kingdom’s” alternate version of the Philippines look like?

The country, for starters, is called Kalayaan, whose government is a type of monarchy with no strict succession protocol. The crown doesn’t automatically pass to the eldest child. Women are also eligible to rule. And these distinctions will set the story in motion.

Produced by APT Entertainment and MQuest Ventures, the action-adventure drama film is an entry to this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival. It follows Lakan Makisig (played by Vic Sotto), an aging monarch whose legacy teeters on the brink of collapse.

And amid rising upheavals within the land, the ruler—torn between tradition and family—must choose who among his three beloved, but flawed children, should inherit the throne: Magat Bagwis (Sid Lucero) is ill-tempered; Dayang Matimyas (Cristine Reyes) has romantic relations with a political enemy; and Dayang Lualhati (Sue Ramirez) gets abducted by a secessionist group.

“This can serve as a cautionary tale of sorts. Is it good for a country to be under a monarch who holds all the power?” said Sotto who had never done a serious dramatic role from start to finish until “The Kingdom.”

Piolo Pascual, meanwhile, plays Sulo, an outcast farmer who becomes an unlikely hero in the kingdom’s quest for change.

Art and architecture

Kalayaan boasts its own flag, emblems and cultural symbols. Tagalog is still the primary language—without the heavy Spanish influence, but not completely free of loanwords (globalization would have still made an impact). The English alphabet and Baybayin are both used in writing, especially in formal communication.

“Language was actually one of the biggest challenges, because we had to remove and edit words that had Spanish or English roots, especially when the royalties speak in the old language. We also had to come up with new words,” Tuviera said.

The art and architecture have palpable Austronesian, Indian and Chinese features, a result of the country’s thriving trading history back in the day. And while people go about mostly in contemporary clothing, it’s not uncommon to see some in more traditional garb like Cordillera-inspired woven pieces and colorful precolonial baro at saya.

Tattoos are signs of nobility. And the ruling family’s regalia are reminiscent of those worn by royals in Brunei and Thailand.

“In designing the palace, for instance, I had to know what drives the architecture of an uncolonized Philippines. So I had to study economics as well and how trade played a role in it,” production designer Nestor Abrogena said.

Needless to say, set and costume design was one of the film’s biggest world-building expenses. Because even some of the details that may not even register on the audiences had to be created from scratch, Tuviera pointed out.

“Some of the things we spent money on people probably will not notice at all, like the unique faces on Sotto’s wristwatches or his cars’ license plates. The tattoos are unique to each character and have specific meanings; they’re not just random figures. We even created a bible of sorts for them,” he said. “Sotto’s body tattoos would take about four hours to finish.”

But more than the visual imagining of an uncolonized Philippines, the film’s loftier goals are to hopefully address misconceptions about our past and inspire better appreciation for our history.

“Not a lot of people know about our glorious past. Heroes like Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio looked back on our history to help us with decolonization. So now we have to look back and show the world that we already had developed civilizations before the Spanish came,” film consultant and UP history professor Vic Villan said.

“That’s one of the realizations here, that the Spanish didn’t keep accurate records and even revised their observations to make it look like the locals were underdeveloped, which isn’t true,” Tuviera added.

“I hope we can rekindle the people’s sense of patriotism and reinforce how beautiful our language, art, and culture is.” INQ