A Noranian posted this at another forum but I thought I'd share it here too:
1. Nora in Nakaw na Pag-Ibig standing on the edge of a ravine. She is pregnant. Her face is clear. She imagines the possibilities of the place. The reflections, the romance and the possibility of murder. She looks at the man beside her (Philip Salvador) and suspects his motives. She panics and plunges to her death. The wide range of emotion she displayed during that scene from calm to hysteria can only be played out by a true artist whose talent is "pure instinct", according to Bernal.
2. Nora in Bulaklak sa City Jail giving birth alone at night inside a cage at the Manila Zoo. People find her. She cradles her newborn, holds on to it, protects it. Recall how she squints as flashlights blind her. This powerful primal image of giving birth is unequalled in film history. Nora was, at that moment, not human. She was a nocturnal animal giving birth in the dark.
3. Nora, the flower vendor in Condemned, locked in a battle of steely nerves against a crazed mobster matriarch (Gloria Romero) over a bounty of dollar bills in Nora's possesion. Gloria taunts her. They're fake, she says. Nora remains calm. She burns the dollar bills one by one. Her eyes cold as she defies evil, "Fake?"
4. Nora, the unfavoured daughter in Bakit Bughaw ang Langit. Three sequences capture her character's transformation, from quiet sufferance, to defiance and ultimate liberation. 1) She waters cactus plants with complete devotion. Recall the almost zen-like manner in which she performs this task, her only source of fortitude against her abusive family; 2) She is thrown out of the house. As neighbors struggle to hold her still, she hurls in pain one of the most memorable lines of Nora Aunor against her oppressors in Philippine cinema - in this case, her mother, a former actress (Anita Linda). "Laos na kayo Inay!", her delivery solid and crushing; 3) The family moves away and as the truck leaves, we see Nora across the street, wearing a t-shirt and a skirt and holding all her possessions in one small luggage. She is, finally, on her own.
5. Himala. Not the raved climactic scene where Nora, the faith healer was fatally shot but the funeral scene. Her power begins to fail and children die one by one. Nora in black, attends the funerals, a white cloth wrapped around her forehead and a veil covering her head. One of the dead children's mother lunges at her and curses that she will go to hell. Recall how this jolts Nora, as if stabbed. And how she wailed. I remember reading an interview with actress Susan Valdez about that scene. "It was as if all the pain she went through in life was captured in that single moment…". True, like a dam that suddenly cracked and burst.
6. Nora, the fan in Bona. Two scenes. 1) After abandoning her family to serve her idol, she returns to attend her father's wake. Clearly, she is unwanted. She walks to the coffin in fear. She presses her face to her late father's. Close-up of her final respects, her grief clenched tightly like a fist. A tear falls. Suddenly, her brother pulls her hair so violently, she gasps in shock, her momentary grief interrupted by a more painful assault. A mute sequence only La Aunor could give the unbearable weight it requires. Which brings me to the finale. 2) Betrayed by her idol, she seethes behind a pot of boiling water. If you want to see Nora at her most disturbing moment, when all hope is lost - recall how she stares blankly at the steam rising from the boiling pot: vengeance and madness darkly, quietly brewing.
7. In Atsay, Nora the maid is alone in the kitchen. She is going to eat her meal. She does not sit at the table. She eats standing right next to the corner where she cooks and washes dishes. She does not use utensils. She uses her hand and eats a mouthful. She almost throws up. The food is spoiled. It does not revolt her. She does not get angry. If she is sorry for herself, we do not see it. As if it had to happen naturally once in a while. Classic.
8. In Minsa'y May Isang Ina, all hope is gone for Nora and she loses her sanity. In a burial, she cracks and regresses. She believes she is being abandoned. She clings to her younger sister and starts calling her "Ate! Ate!" Much has been said about the wide range of emotions Nora's eyes can convey but if you want to see her eyes dead, as if the soul itself had departed, watch her final scene at home where she stuff her mouth with crumpled paper and then hangs herself.
9. Nora, the nurse riding the New York subway train in 'Merika. This scene was repeated several times in the film. It's not much. Nora simply stands in the crowd. She does not have to do anything. But the message is clear in her face: her life has no meaning; it is a pointless ride from one station to another. Nothing interests her. I hate to compare but Gil Portes did the same thing for Vilma in Miss X but the effect was laughable. Only Nora could portray displacement.