El Vibora (Ishmael Bernal, 1972)

Loosely based on historical figure Artemio Ricarte, El Vibora is a surprisingly good actioner from Ishmael Bernal. It is of the same mold as an FPJ revenge movie. There are lots of solid action scenes and wicked villains.

In F. Sionil Jose’s book Vibora, Ricarte’s place in history was examined. The General-In-Chief of the Philippine Revolutionary Army was a staunch anti-American. He saw how the Americans massacred Filipinos. He can’t stomach the acts of people who turned a blind eye to the atrocities committed by the Americans.

Ricarte refused to pledge allegiance to the Americans, whom he considered the real enemies of the Filipinos. This strong stubbornness to his ideals and excessive love for the Philippines were also tackled in the film although in various forms.

In the film, Vic Vargas portrays Vibora (Viper), a leader of the revolutionary army during the early years of American conquest in the Philippines. He gets into a fight with fellow revolutionists who kowtowed to the Americans. He believes one of them was responsible for the death of his wife.

Vibora goes on a killing spree. Every lawless man he encounters on the road ends up dead in his hands. His tenacity and notoriety convinces the authorities to offer a huge sum of $10,000 for his arrest.

In the end, the identity of the major villain is a big surprise. Just as in the book, the villains have assumed the air of respectability after ‘collaborating’ with the Americans. They ended up powerful and looked upon as decent people. They are not easily identified as evil. But, the sad truth is they are the true villains. They are the real enemies of the Filipinos. They are the ones who raped and brutalized the Philippines.

Bernal was able to keep the film on a frisky pace. The only chink to his solid direction was the explosion of the church. It was obviously a model.
__________________________________________________________________

CAST
Vic Vargas : Vibora
Boots Anson Roa : Cecilia
Eddie Garcia : Alvaran
Leopoldo Salcedo : Gismundo
Max Alvarado : Gulimbat

*original online posting in 2008

Himala (Ishmael Bernal, 1982)

The highly-regarded film Himala has been around for thirty years and is still relevant as before. Film issues such as end-time signs, the need for miracles, sainthood, apathy, and the importance of faith are very much in the news and on theater screens. 

A Cinemalaya 2012 film Sta. Niña borrows heavily from the film. Another Cinemalaya finalist Aparisyon deals with people's indifference to crimes during the Marcos regime.

Just when we’d shook off end-of-the-world jitters, a meteor pierces through the skies of Russia and ends up hurting hundreds of people in February 2013. The burst of blinding light is in stark contrast with that of a total eclipse of the sun. Both, however, had the same effect of scaring shitless the superstitious and weak-hearted amongst us.

Ito na yata ang katapusan! 

Himala begins with a woman getting hysterical as darkness engulfs her village during mid-day. A neighbor calms her down by saying it is just a solar eclipse.  Meanwhile, Elsa (Nora Aunor), a petite woman in her mid-twenties, wanders around a hill. She hears a voice calling out her name twice. Then, she kneels down and prays as if caught up in a trance. 

The filmmakers capture the end of the eclipse with a stunning shot showing the transition from darkness to bright-lit day. Elsa gets basked in shimmering sun rays. She is staring at something or someone high above. We soon learned that she saw the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The New Society movement of the Marcos administration was supposed to be the new light that will reinvigorate the troubled country. The early years showed some semblance that indeed it was the cure to society’s ills. But, kleptocracy, human rights abuses, and excesses by the administration soon diminished the luster of the movement.

Director Ishmael Bernal, a member of the underground movement, is noted for subtle jabs at the Marcos administration. In Working Girls, he tackled the rise of yellow-clad activists and women empowerment. He also toyed once more with the idea of a woman president, which was the childhood dream of Elsa.

Walang himala!

With Himala, Bernal highlighted people’s apathy towards crimes in their midst. A documentary filmmaker witnesses a rape but didn't lift a finger to help the victim. (What is going on in his mind? Is he expecting something miraculous like a vengeful angel wrecking havoc on the rapists?) In the film’s climax, a gun, from the vantage point of the camera operator, goes off and silences the truth bearer. The positioning of the gun makes me agree with Nick Deocampo’s theory that the assassin is a filmmaker.

Bernal and scriptwriter Ricky Lee suggest some of their fellow filmmakers are not brave enough to fight evil doers. Worse, some of them are the ones committing crimes. These people shun away from showing the true state of the nation in their films.

Himala alludes to the descent of a disciplined society into a chaotic, corrupt, and morally bankrupt country. Martial law was not the solution. Elsa was right. There never was a miracle. It will come much, much later after a pack of lies, falsehoods, and assassinations (real ones and faked ambushes). The impossible dream of having a new president comes into miraculous reality with the ascension of a female president, Corazon Aquino, in 1986.

_________________________________________________________________________

CAST
Nora Aunor : Elsa

Working Girls (Ishmael Bernal, 1984)

In 1984, the big guns of local cinema exploited the loosening hold of the Board of Censors, a fascistic arm of the Marcos regime. Their movies begin hinting of the burgeoning yellow movement. Lino Brocka collaborated with Pete Lacaba on their long-delayed film project, Bayan Ko: Kapit sa Patalim, which dealt with striking factory workers. Mike de Leon’s Sister Stella L. broke the fourth wall with an enlightened nun exhorting the people to go out on the streets and fight for their rights and freedom.

Ishmael Bernal’s Working Girls has a trio of small scenes that may be seen as a nod to the yellow fever engulfing the country. A friend of a sexy lady shopping for clothes gently approves of her color choice (yellow), which he says is just right for the times. The second scene shows another character alighting from a tricycle. Prominently plastered in the vehicle’s windshield is a yellow sticker with the words ‘Hindi Ka Nag-Iisa,’ a slogan coined by people seeking justice for the death of former Senator Ninoy Aquino. The third scene shows a secretary stripping pages from a telephone directory. The yellow pages will be shredded and used as rally confetti. Those scenes may be too tame compared to the heavily politicized scenes and in-your-face rally footages featured in the films of Brocka and de Leon.

However, the hilarious, blockbuster hit Working Girls is notable for espousing the idea that a woman can go places where no woman has gone before. The new Filipina can rise to become a chairperson of a large bank or even assume the leadership of our country. What a man can do, a woman can also do. As the film shows, women can do it better.

The stunning and sensuous women of Working Girls are all denizens of Makati’s central business district. Carla Asuncion, Isabel, and Suzanne work for Premium Bank. Amanda de Luna, Ann Concio, and Rose belong to a professional management company. Nimfa is a jewelry seller plying her wares to employees of the two offices. Most of them are assertive and know what they want. They achieve their goals with dogged determination and lots of cunning.

The film is recommended to people thinking of getting a job in Makati. It basically says 'no weaklings' allowed here. The searing portrayal of office politics is still spot on even today. Transport fare for airconditioned buses and dollar exchange rates may have changed but the dreams, needs, and idiosyncracies of Makati-based female workers haven't changed. Seductive secretaries prey on top male executives, who gamely go along for the ride. These powerful executives utilize their money to hide problems such as unwanted pregnancies and affairs with subordinates. Married women are not immune from these playboys. Sometimes, lack of appreciation from husbands lead these married women to have affairs.

Office gossip is not entirely a women's pastime and social weapon. Jealous and envious men also indulge in gossips and backstabbing. A jilted suitor of Isabel connives with his friends to spread unsavory rumors about Isabel. The pregnant girl, given advice by her boss Carla, eventually learns to fight back. Her restaurant vengeance act draws applause from fellow women employees.

Carla Asuncion has a hard time getting her objections taken seriously by the male-dominated board of Premium Bank. The male directors laugh at her female intuition. She gets downright dirty in getting evidence to support her objections. In the end, she has the last laugh as she gets promoted as chairwoman of the bank. It is interesting to note that Carla Asuncion's initials are C.A., which can be an allusion to Corazon Aquino.

Some viewers back then must have begun entertaining the possibility of Cory Aquino's ascension as the country's president. It is not an 'Impossible Dream,' as what Nimfa is humming at the start of the film. There is no such thing as an unbeatable foe. The Filipino people can win if they join forces to fight the enemy. The 1984 films of Brocka, de Leon, and Bernal show that they were lots of people (eg. striking workers, enlightened nuns, Makati girls) fighting the system. Two years later, they did win by kicking out the Marcos regime in the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution.

****

Originally posted in ‘The Persistence of Vision’ blog at http://cinefilipinas.blogspot.com

Re-posted in remembrance of the martyrs of Martial Law

Nonoy Marcelo’s Tisoy (1977, Ishmael Bernal)

Viewing tip: 

Before watching this delightful film, make sure to watch the following excellent films:

a) Lino Brocka’s Maynila: Sa Mga Kuko Ng Liwanag

b) Ishmael Bernal’s Nunal sa Tubig

c) Eddie Romero’s Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon

d) Lino Brocka’s Insiang

e) Lupita Kashiwahara’s Minsa’y Isang Gamu-Gamo

Thanks to cable channel Cinema One and those unofficial not-to-be-named archivists, I’m slowly getting exposed to the obscure gems of Ishmael Bernal. Among the surprisingly good ones I’ve seen lately is the comedy film Tisoy.

Straight from the comic strip series by Nonoy Marcelo, Tisoy (Christopher de Leon) is a bohemian balikbayan searching for his father. He gets help from his friends as they scour the immaculately clean Metro Manila. The magnificent opening scenes show the beauty and splendor of the metropolis as Tisoy rides his chopper.

Among the characters he encounters are the iconic Aling Otik (Moody Diaz), a street sweeper who blissfully dances with colleagues along Roxas Boulevard; Maribubut (Charo Santos), a smart, jealous Kabataang Barangay member cleaning up the monumental Rajah Sulayman statue in Malate; Clip, son of Aling Otik; and Tikyo (Bert Tawa Jr.), a well-received balikbayan who’ve seen Americans slowly lose their fruits, oil, and food resources. Tisoy’s casual remarks unveil Tikyo as a former apple picker, gas attendant, and waiter. Tikyo’s interactions with his mysterious boss are truly hilarious.

There is a scene that was probably pilfered from Bernal’s earliest work Ah Ewan, Basta sa Maynila Pa Rin Ako! Nestor Torre writes in his column that producer Eddie Rodriguez was the one who completed the film. A traffic jam scene in the film was, in Torre’s own words, ‘outrageously funny stuff.’ A reboot of the scene done for Tisoy is still stupendously funny. The bumper-to-bumper gridlock took so long to unravel that a potted plant grew into an enormous tree. It was a blast seeing the beauteous plant owner entangled among the branches.

Scriptwriter Nonoy Marcelo is an obvious cinephile. Almost all the films he allude to in Tisoy are titles you regularly see in ‘Top Pinoy Films’ lists.  If you haven’t seen them all, then try to catch the titles listed above. Those films, including Tisoy, were made during the mid-1970s, the so-called Second Golden Age of Philippine Cinema. Maybe I’m missing a couple of film references. Is there a Mike de Leon- or a Celso Ad. Castillo-directed film in there? I need a re-watch. Join the hunt and get a barrel of laughs along the way.