The Hero's journey in Ilo Ilo and Hinilawod (The Adventures of Humadapnon) by: Lizette Tan

1. ELECLIT: MYTHPOP
By: Anthony Chen
The Adventures of Humadapnon
By: Lizette Tan

2. Anthony Chen
IloIlo is the debut feature film of Singaporean film director
Anthony Chen. Set in the midst of1997 Asian finnancial
crisis, the film follows a young Singaporean boy, Jiale, and
his family. The boy’s crazy antics drive his parents to hire a
Filipina maid, Teresa. The arrival of the Filipina bring about
challenges as the family adapts to the stranger now living
with them. It presents a unique bond the child and maid form
as “Auntie Terry” begins to be part of the family.

3. Anthony Chen
IloIlo was revealed by director Anthony Chen to be loosely
based on actual accounts of his childhood. In his younger
years, Chen too had a Filipina maid who took care of him
and his brothers for a span of 8 years. The heartwarming
tale of IloIlo has bagged itself several awards including the
prestigious Camera d’Or prize for a full-length film at the
recent Cannes Film Festival in France

4. The Adventures of Humadapnon
Hinilawod is tells the epic of three demi-Gods of Panay. The
epic is traditionally chanted for a period of three days. This
presentation will focus on the Adventures of Humadapnon, a
bachelor in search of his maiden

5. JIALE A young Singaporean living with his dysfunctional
family. A delinquent who is eventually “tamed” by their
Filipina maid.
BUYONG HUMADAPNON Strong, handsome and
wealthy. A bachelor in search of a maiden to
spent his life with

7. The hero lives a normal life. This is the setting before the
hero’s journey begins

8. JIALE is introduced as a naughty boy. Jiale’s parents are
also seen as very busy and are unable to fully attend to their
child.
BUYONG HUMADAPNON is introduced as a great
datu who is getting old and without a lady to call his own.

9. The hero faces a force that bring about the journey.

10. JIALE ‘s mother is forced to hire a Filipina maid (Auntie
Terry) to take care of her child while she is occupied with
work. Auntie Terry is characterized as obedient and
respectful to all her employer’s commands.
BUYONG HUMADAPNON ‘s spirit friends, Taghoy
and Duwindi, appear to him in his dream informing him of a
young maiden (Nagmalitong Yawa) that lived in the village
by the mouth of the Halawod river.

11. The hero is scared and attempts to refuse the call.

12. JIALE refuses to cooperate with Auntie Terry. He continues
to cause mischief . (Attempting to get Auntie Terry into
trouble and not follwing her orders)
BUYONG HUMADAPNON is restless and uneasy
before begining his adventure. Thoughts of the place where
Taghuy saw the maiden came into mind. (It was not explicit
that he refused the call, he just had his doubts)

13. A powerful figure gives the hero power to continue his
journey.

14. JIALE ’s contant clash with Auntie Terry eventually causes
him to be accidentally hit by a cab. The event was an
eyeopener for Jiale, Auntie Terry’s willigness to help him
aided him in realizing her good intentions
BUYONG HUMADAPNON ‘s sister , Uwa Labing
Anyag creates a brother, Dumalapdap for Humadapnon to
be his “side-kick”. (Uwa Labing motivation for creating a
brother was to encourage Humadaplon)

15. The journey begins, the hero leaves the ordinary world to
go forth the journey

16. JIALE ’s bond with Auntie Terry streghtens as they both
become closer to each other. Jiale starts to accept Auntie into
the family.
BUYONG HUMADAPNON leaves with his golden
bangka to venture into the open seas. His journey is faced
with many struggles as they take a long journey.
Humapadnon first has to conquer the two colliding
mountains and then a 7 month journey in a bloody ocean.

17. The hero is faced with numerous challenges, there he
meets his friends and foes.

18. JIALE ’s closeness with Auntie Terry is realized by her
mother and she begins to be jealous of their budding
relationship.
BUYONG HUMADAPNON and his men then are
enchanted by sorceress Ginmayunan and held captive for 7
years. During the captivity of Humadapnon he is challenged
by beautiful maidens. In this obstacles Humapadnon must
conquer his desires.

19. The journey is faced with setbacks where the hero is to
utilize the things he has learned so far

20. JIALE begins to prefer to be with Auntie Terry over his
family. On his birthday, Jiale asks for more pictures with
Auntie Terry over his mother. Jiale’s mother becomes cold to
Auntie Terry accusing her of smoking and stealing her
clothes.
BUYONG HUMADAPNON was later saved by Nagmalitong Yawa
who transformed into Buyung Sunmasakay, she later reveals herself. The
two instantly fall in love with each other and decide to get married after
the wedding, Dumalapdap requests that Humadapnon accompany him
to the upperworld to take to Nabalansang Sukla ’s parents.

21. The hero must face a great challenge

22. JIALE ‘s ultimate test comes when a classmate insults Auntie Terry.
This escalates into a fight, Jiale’s classmate gets hurt. Jiale’s parents
are asked to come and Auntie Terry comes as a proxy. This
aggravates Jiale’s mother to tell off Auntie Terry. Jiale is punished
by being spanked in front of the entire school
BUYONG HUMADAPNON ‘s journey to the upperworld takes him
over 7 years to complete. HumaHe arrive home to find out that his wife
is set to marry Sumagulung. The two brothers were so angry that they
killed all the guests and the groom. Humadapnon later also stabbed his
wife to death upon learning of her treachery.

23. The ordeal brings about a reward for the hero

24. JIALE ’s parents start to work on their problems. They sell
their car and start to spend more time with each other
BUYONG HUMADAPNON is remorseful and regrets what he has
done to his wife. Uwa Labing Anyag feels her brother’s sincerity and
revives the fallen woman.

25. The journey back to the ordinary world

26. JIALE ’s parents cannot afford to have Auntie Terry to stay
in their company. They are forced to ask her to return to the
Philippines
BUYONG HUMADAPNON . Nagmalitong Yawa is ashamed of
her actions and runs away to upperworld. Humadapnon chases after
her there he meets challenges.

27. The hero faces his final test.

28. JIALE is unable to accept that Auntie Terry will be leaving.
He attempts to bet in the lottery to give his parents money but
is unsucessful. A final scene between Jiale and Auntie Terry is
heartwrenching as Auntie Terry bids farwell and tells the boy
to learn to take care of himeself
BUYONG HUMADAPNON
Nagmalitong Yawa is ashamed of her actions and runs
away where she meets a man riding the wind.
Humadapnon’s love for his wife enables him to chase after
her. Humadapnon challenges the stranger to a battle. In this
battle, the two are equally matched and it lasts for 7 long
years

29. The hero returns. He brings his “elixir” back with him to
share to the other people

30. JIALE is left with his father as they await a new addition to
the family. Auntie might have left but a new member awaits
them. It wasn’t explicitly said but the arrival of the baby is
Jiale way of learning to take care of others, being less selfish.
BUYONG HUMADAPNON .‘s final battle results in
neither of the two being victorious. Alunsia (the goddess
watching over the two) does reveal that the two of them are
related. As a result, Alunsina decides to half the body of
Nagmalitong Yawa , giving each of them a part of her that
Alunsia turns into whole. Humadapnon and his wife return to
Panay to rule the land. The elixir , in this case, being love
and the bravery of Humadapnon. Through the journey we
learn his love for his wife and his willingness to battle, he
becomes selfless.