Batch '81
| Batch '81 | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Mike De Leon |
| Produced by | Marichu Maceda |
| Written by | Clodualdo del Mundo, Raquel Villavicencio, Mike De Leon |
| Starring |
Mark Gil Sandy Andolong |
| Music by | Lorrie Ilustre |
| Cinematography | Rody Lacap |
| Edited by | Jess Navarro |
| Distributed by | Sampaguita Pictures |
|
Release date
|
18 November 1982 |
|
Running time
|
100 minutes |
| Country | Philippines |
| Language | Tagalog/English |
Alpha Kappa Omega Batch '81 (also known as Batch '81 or ΑΚΩ 81) is a 1982 Philippine dramatic film starring Mark Gil. Directed by Mike de Leon from a script by Clodualdo del Mundo, the film is about the titular fraternity's harsh initiation of a new batch of members in 1981 as seen from the eyes of Gil's character, Sid Lucero. It was screened at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival's Directors Fortnight. Although it is a joint production of LVN Pictures, MVP Pictures, and Sampaguita Pictures, the movie was also Sampaguita's last before it closed down.
Sid Lucero, a student at an unnamed university in the Philippines, is attracted by the prospects of joining the Alpha Kappa Omega, one of the school's most prominent Greek-letter organizations. He is considering a new direction in his life, as his mother was pushing him to take up zoology and later on to medical school.
Lucero is one of the fraternity's 15 initial applicants, but only eight make it into the group's six-month initiation program with the seniors overseeing it. One neophyte is kicked out on the first day for defying the masters' orders to strip after noticing a prerecorded tape of women giggling and talking about men stripping in front of them. The fraternity leader, Vince, orients the batch in the ways of the group before submitting them to their first hazing, which lasts all night.
Over the next several months, the fraternity masters submit the neophytes to a series of tests. Pacoy Ledesma has sex with a teacher whom a senior, Gonzalez, asked him to send a bouquet to, and is made to eat his lunch food mixed with soft drinks and ketchup when Vince chances upon him at the school cafeteria. For falling behind during a test where the neophytes ran in public in their underwear and sneakers, Pete Magtibay is forced to hold a mosquito net over Gonzalez as he sleeps all night. Ronnie Roxas Jr. is made to drink beer laced with his batchmates' spittle at a birthday party (and everybody else was in on it). A doctor who is an AKO member attaches surgical equipment as a pain-tolerance experiment to Lucero, whose girlfriend is concerned for his safety after losing her only brother in the frat's initiation rites two years before.
The psychological pressure takes its toll on Ronnie and Arni Enriquez and both decide to leave. When Vince discovers this, he has Ronnie tied to an electric chair as part of a quiz for all the neophytes to see. Ronnie's own father - one of the fraternity's founding members - oversees the session, where the younger Roxas will be shocked for the wrong answers. When the voltage is set higher and Ronnie Sr orders the session to continue, the neophytes are made to shock their friend even if he has to die in the process. When Pacoy sees that Ronnie is not responding to the questions, he refuses to do so and is made to replace Roxas, who suddenly wakes up. Ronnie Sr explains that everything was a set-up to help the neophytes trust their masters. Later, Arni gets angry at Sid being callous over everything and it takes the entire group to placate them; Roxas decides to stay.
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