Mababangong Bangungot (Perfumed Nightmare) by Kidlat Tahimik,
 91 min, 1977.


Kidlat Tahimik is a Filipino filmmaker and shaman who applies his
quiet strength and sharp wit to lead the viewer through the cultural 
maze of his homeland. Born in 1942 during the US occupation, Tahimik 
spent "the next 33 typhoon seasons in a cocoon of American dreams." 
His first feature film, Mababangong Bangungot (Perfumed Nightmare), 
and his second film, Turumba, investigate the convoluted historical 
and political events surrounding the colonization of his homeland. 
Through concentrating on the individuals and communities that have 
been shaped and irrevocably affected by the technological age, he 
has created a humorous and incisive fable which explores his 
awakening to, and reaction against, American cultural domination.


Mababangong Bangungot is a semi-autobiographical film which follows 
Kidlat Tahimik (literally 'Quiet Lightning') as he discovers that 
the American dream of space travel, industrialization and 
technological superiority are really sweetly scented illusions 
which quickly reveal themselves to be less than benign. 


An independent production costing $10,000 US, Perfumed Nightmare 
was funded in part through Tahimik's work transporting people and 
objects in his jitney or 'jeepney' (abandoned American army jeeps 
which are salvaged and dismantled by Filipinos and rebuilt to 
become taxis). The 'jeepney' is prevalent in the film and acts 
as a metaphor for the cultural flotsam which infects an occupied 
country and the many ways resistance can flourish. Using first 
person voice-over Tahimik narrates this uniquely structured film 
which revolves around The Voice of America, The Werner Von Braun 
Fan Club and the desire to buy an electric light for his village's 
only access--a bridge. Tahimik juggles and juxtaposes American 
technology with traditional Filipino knowledge including 
pseudo-documentary accounts of "First-" and "Third World" economic 
talks, folk tales and European travel films. As the film's lead 
character, Tahimik mockingly takes on the role of a wide-eyed 
"Third World"er to lead the viewer through the swampy quagmire 
of cultural colonialism; in so doing he balances comedy and 
social critique. Shot in the Phillipines, Paris and Germany,
Perfumed Nightmare depicts colonialism for what it really is: 
500 years of a bad idea.

order this video from Flower Films
Perfumed Nightmare (1978) (91 minutes)
Produced and directed by Kidlat Tahimik. This semi-autobiographical fable by a young Filipino born
in 1942 during the Occupation tells the story of his awakening to, and reaction against American
cultural colonialism. In his small village, Kidlat dreams of Cape Canaveral and listens to the Voice of
America; he's the president of his village's Werner Von Braun fan club. Winner of the International
Critics Award and a Blue Ribbon at the American Film Festival. ISBN: 0-933621-28-0.