Kakabakaba Ka Ba? (Will Your Heart Beat Faster?). 1980. Philippines. Directed by Mike De Leon. Screenplay by De Leon, Doy Del Mundo, Raquel N. Villavicieno. With Christopher de Leon, Charo Santos, Jay Ilagan. DCP. Courtesy ABS-CBN Sagip Pelikula. In Japanese, Filipino; English subtitles. 104 min.
“A gem of social satire…. Generations to come will see it as a charming slapstick farce sitting on top of a volcano” (Agustin Sotto). Mike De Leon, in Last Look Back, writes, “Looking back, I think the film is more surreal than satirical, an abnormal combination of very normal elements from everyday life. The premise was: what if fake Catholic priests and nuns (or rogue elements of the Church?) and Japanese technology (the Chinese connection came later) were mixed in some lethal cinematic brew, the point of the story being the spread of drug addiction among Filipino children?”