The Middle Mystery of Kristo Negro (2009)

Run Time - 70 min.  |   Countries - Philippines, United States  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Mark Deming

A primitive religious ritual leads to a strange journey for one man in this deliberately eccentric spiritual allegory from Philippine filmmaker Khavn De La Cruz (despite the claims in the trailer and credits that "This is not a film by Khavn"). As the film opens, a handful of native people on a remote landscape perform an animal sacrifice, killing a water buffalo to appease the gods and watching as the gutted creature breathes its last breath. Before long, a band of youngsters wearing the helmets of Roman centurions happen upon the scene, as does a man wearing a loincloth like Jesus wore at Calvary. The Christ figure grabs hold of the remains of the buffalo and begins dragging away the corpse, beginning a curious tableaux that resembles some ethnographic variation on The Passion of the Christ. Day Tingnga Ti Misteryo Ti Kristo Negro (aka The Middle Mystery of Kristo Negro) received its world premiere at the 2009 Rotterdam International Film Festival.