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Entertainment => Film & TV Talk => Pinoy Entertainment => Topic started by: keating on Jan 10, 2007 at 09:10 PM
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Saw BRUTAL for the first time. Its very grim and depressing but there's redemption at the end. Amy Austria and Gina Alajar were both terrific! The narrative was neatly done, women are not merely sex objects. Abaya's forte of feminist angst started in this film was effectively conveyed, continued in MORAL, the last in KARNAL.
TANIKALA her directorial debut sank into oblivion. SENSUAL lost the heat along the way. Tried smorgasboard formula in BOYSTOWN.
MILAGROS inspite of being restrained, divided the critics and the audience. JOSE RIZAL & MURO AMI are two of her biggest hits.
And yes, its true. She was close to the late master filmmaker ISHMAEL BERNAL.
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BRUTAL (Marilou Diaz-Abaya, 1980)
Back in the 80's when the MMFF churned out some classic movies and not crap, Jessie Ejercito thru Bancom Audiovision gambled on BRUTAL. It became the trademark of Ms. Abaya who would later succeed in dealing with feminist angst issues that women are equal with men and not to be treated as only sex objects and victim of society.
The result is something to brag about. From the acting of Amy Austria as the naive Monica & the liberated Cynthia played flawlessly by Gina Alajar to the script by Ricky Lee, production design by Don Escudero, cinematography and editing by Manolo Abaya are all top-notch. Charo Santos was also stand out as the lawyer assigned to tackle the case of Austria after the lass committed murder that serves as the narrative of the story. The flashback are told in a simple manner, straight forward and yes its grim and very depressing but there's redemption at the end.
I missed this kind of movies, once again Alajar earned more respect from my book. Definitely as Cynthia she's the most colorful and greatest slut Philippine Cinema has ever created.
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Amy Austria was first asked to play the role of Cynthia with Alma Moreno as Monica. the latter backed out of the project and instead shot her reunion film with ex-husband Rudy Fernandez entitled Babalik Ka Rin. with Alma out, Amy, sick and tired of playing slutty roles, asked if she could portray Monica. Marilou has to look for another actress for the role of Cynthia, Ricky Lee suggested Gina Alajar who just stepped into the bold bandwagon with her re-launching film Diborsyada.
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I know that Gina drank tequila before dancing infront of Jay Ilagan & company on that controversial orgy scene wearing only undies, but how did Marilou convince her?
What I like about her character, she was redeemed and ask forgiveness at the end. It almost eclipsed Amy Austria's character.
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I haven´t seen Brutal but I´ve heard a lot of good things about it. Karnal I think is a mess, and Moral is her best.
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Most people didn't get the ending of MILAGROS. Marilou is the only choice of the late Rolando Tinio to helm the movie after Ishmael Bernal.
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May Nagmamahal sa Iyo is one of her best too, I think.
That said, I thought her team of Ricky and her husband as cinematographer was her best work--she lost a lot of that low-key reailsm when she started using other cinematographers.
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MAY NAGMAMAHAL SA IYO is on my watch list as far as Abaya is concerned. Was Lorna even great here Noel, than in MORAL?
Marilou is at her best doing those combo with Ricky Lee. Even her husband Manolo can't save TANIKALA but they rebounded vigorously in BRUTAL.
That sequel to MORAL, they should have retained the original cast.
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Lorna's front and center in May Nagmamahal, along with the actor playing her son. Jaclyn Jose has a lovely cameo. Moral is a team effort, though Lorna's very good there too.
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Marilou takes Robbie Tan's place as monitoring committee head of this year's CINEMALAYA.
I hope she's also generous like Mr. Robbie Tan, hehehe.
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Hope to watch another Marilou Diaz-Abaya film in the league of Moral and Karnal. And I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I liked those two movies I've mentioned. Feminist films as it may but it get straight to the point.
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Has anybody mentioned MILAGROS? The first choice for the part was the late Stella Strada. The 90's came and the role went to Sharmaine Arnaiz.
How would it fare if it was made during the ECP days?
Weird but true, in Rolando Tinio's original script, MILAGROS encounters UFO.
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i'm sorry but i never liked Milagros... the film seemed too cold for me. it lacked the sensuality of Karnal, Moral's brilliance and Brutal's power.
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It was so restrained, that the audience left the theatre confuse and thinking. Yeah, Abaya is not the perfect filmmaker for the part. But she consider it, her most personal film along with MORAL.
It has less feminist angst that she delivered in MORAL, BRUTAL & KARNAL.
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really most personal? she should rethink this. Marilou is a mother and i believe that the film May Nagmamahal Sa 'Yo should be her most personal film along with Moral...
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She was so fond of the late Rolando Tinio and she would always ask Ishmael Bernal whether its now time to do MILAGROS when it was still on the planning stage.
MORAL certainly deserves a dvd treatment! When I saw it in U. P. Film Center during Ricky Lee's retrospective works, the audience were laughing, crying and shouting at the right places!
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all of Abaya's early films deserves to to be released on DVD from Tanikala to Karnal. the sad part is the lack of good clean prints...
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Was MORAL from Bancom Audiovision, Jo? Marilou was present in the U.P. screening and gave some tidbits about the movie. LT was already two months pregnant and they hide the news about it. Gina and Anna Marin were also there.
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no... Moral was produced by Jesse Ejercito's Seven Stars Productions. when was this UP screening? Amy Austria was supposed to play Joey but she had a spat with Jesse although she had a short appearance in the party scene with Claire de la Fuente.
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It was one of the fantastic and wonderful screenings I ever went to! U.P. people are the best movie audience in this planet.....their reaction was so tremendous and applaus was heard after the screening.
This was late 90's jo. They hold a retrospective of Ricky Lee's works from the movies he penned with Brocka, Bernal, Abaya & Chionglo.
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so it was a Ricky Lee retrospective... i miss attending these kinds of gatherings. i met Marilou almost ten years ago in New York during the first Filipino Film Festival at the Lincoln Center. she was gracious enough to sign my festival programme...
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Yep, MORAL was the opening film. Marilou should go back to these kind of films again.
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she shouldn't go back but direct something much better...
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I missed Abaya's SIC O'CLOCK NEWS and PUBLIC FORUM. It was also fulfilling on her part for doing those tv shows after the Edsa Revolt.
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(http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m132/keating_01/1.jpg)
(At the opening of KING KONG, a club owned by the Abayas & Manny Santander in 1983: Writer Jorge Arago real soulmate of Ishma, Marilou Diaz-Abaya and the late Ishmael Bernal.)
How Marilou Diaz-Abaya met Ishmael Bernal:
"My film BRUTAL was released on Dec. 25, 1980 as an entry to the MMFF. On Dec. 26, a messenger delivered a small memo pad with the letterhead Ishmael Bernal. So when I opened it and read his name on the top, I nearly fainted. It was a very short note. It said: Dear Marilou, Congratulations for a very original and brilliant film. See you one of these days. Ishma.
Two days later I was sitting in a corner at Jack's restaurant a beer joint on P. Tuazon and Edsa, with Manolo, my husband. Jesse Ejercito, my producer was celebrating because he had managed to get most of the awards on awards night, which was on the 27th. Close to midnight, the door was thrust open and a huge voice boomed: Si Marilou Diaz-Abaya nandito ba?
It took me about five or ten seconds before I had the courage to tentatively raise my little finger. Then he walked very deliberately toward me and Manolo and planted himself in the chair infront of us. He said, I am Ishmael Bernal and now that we know each other, would you mind telling me what it is that makes your marriage and profession work successfully? So I asked him how many days he had to sit there to chat.
From the moment that he sat down, I felt that I just got attached to something. I think it took both of us very many, many years to find even tentative answers as to why that happened."
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where did you get this picture? the article just confireed the beautiful friendship these two filmmakers shared. it's interesting to note that while Abaya adored Bernal, Guillen loved Brocka.
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Its from the Sunday Inquirer mag when they paid tribute to Ishmael Bernal dated 1996. Marilou was interviewed and recall the friendship that she had with Ishma. I didn't know that Laurice adored Brocka over Bernal.
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it's nice that you have clippings of these articles... Guillen has been working with Brocka since the early 70's. in her debut film Kasal? she even asked Lino and Phillip Salvador to have brief appearances in the film.
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The photo is very rare, its good that Marilou shared it with the readers. She is so fond of Ishma, even the line spoken by Amy Austria in HINUGOT SA LANGIT......"happiness is not an accident, tinatrabaho yan!" came from her.
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i remember the line... so it came from her. she even had a cameo in Hinugot, as Maricel's new employer towards the end of the film. Marilou was also in Working Girls.
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I was laughing when I read again that article on how Marilou was introduced to Bernie's friends in the industry. Ishma will say to her, this is Rita Gomez, she's our mother, this is Peque Gallaga, she's your brother, this is Jorge Arago she's your special brother. ;D
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he referred to Jorge Arago as your special brother? i wonder why...
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Jorge Arago was untouchable among the people who is close to Ishma and vice-versa. Often he would ask, what was the real motive of that person close to Ishma. They collaborated on NUNAL SA TUBIG, right?
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he did write Nunal Sa Tubig and Bakit May Pag-Ibig Pa... he also wrote the english subtitles of Himala.
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Jojo do you remember the exact location of KING KONG before it folded up? My cousin used to tag me along on that watering hole, he was close to one of the daughter of Sofronio Blando who owns Agrix films before it went to bankruptcy.
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i'm not sure about the exact location... it's in QC, i think.
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Lino, Laurice and Mario O were close collaborators. What broke them up, if I remember right, was Philip.
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Laurice was always cast in any Brocka film in the 70's. I'm dying to see LUNES, MARTES, MIYERKULES, HUWEBES, BIYERNES, SABADO, LINGGO where she played a bar girl along with Maya Valdez, Lorli Villanueva & June Keithley.
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If I remember right, the print of that film is gone. There may be a video copy left somewhere...
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How about Brocka's SANTIAGO, Noel? Does FPJ prods. have it?
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Santiago is gone... a lot of people I came across with had been asking me if there's at least a video copy left somewhere but as far as I know there's not one copy in existence.
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Too bad most Brocka movies in the 70's are gone now. I hope someone can find a video copy of LUNES, MARTES.
Was BRUTAL the top grosser in the 1980 MMFF?
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Brutal wasn't the topgrosser... i think it was Panday. the movie wasn't a commercial successs even after it won awards.
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SENSUAL was shown during the Edsa Revolt in 1986 but it was made in 1985. Marilou and the late Charito Solis were on Edsa instead of watching it.
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after i went to EDSA... on my way home i watched Sensual...
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I would love to see Santiago. Just to be complete about Lino. Was the action any good, Jojo?
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I just had a short chat with Ms. Vicky Belarmino, film archivist at the CCP this morning. SANTIAGO still exists Noel, in 16mm! LUNES MARTES MIYERKULES HUWEBES BIYERNES SABADO LINGGO, only LINGGO was found. ;D walang-wala na, sirang sira na yung print when Ms. Belarmino and company found it at LVN archive. :(
Jojo the package from Vincent is still in the box. WANTED: PERFECT MOTHER might be inside that box.
Too bad FPJ Prods. is now very strict when it comes to lending their films from their archive after the elections. Conrad Poe used to be the care taker before but he was booted out. I don't know the reason.
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Just bought my copy of KARNAL DVD (released by Unico). It was my first time seeing it. Medyo boring, IMO. It would be better if it focused more on Vic Silayan's sexual desire for Puring than the Puring and Goryo affair.
Yung pugot scene lang yata ang best part sa movie. ;D
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OT: I had the chance of knowing a student from the MDA Film School. 120k/year pala ang tuition nila! Ang tindi! Pang-mayaman talaga. However, you'll get the likes of Raymond Red and other prominent people from the biz to be your mentor.
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The facilities are superb, my friend had the chance to visit the school and will enroll this coming July. Yes, the mentors are mostly prominent people from the movie industry and you get a diploma after completing the one-year course.
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i'm sorry but i never liked Milagros... the film seemed too cold for me. it lacked the sensuality of Karnal, Moral's brilliance and Brutal's power.
Agree, Milagros felt so antiseptic. It's like the life was sucked out of that film.
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MILAGROS has a special place in Marilou Diaz Abaya's heart along with MORAL. Its very cold but I kinda liked the domestic setting.
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The facilities are superb, my friend had the chance to visit the school and will enroll this coming July. Yes, the mentors are mostly prominent people from the movie industry and you get a diploma after completing the one-year course.
A one-year course is just the basic training. Mayru'n pang advanced training which is, again, 120k. Their school/campus building is already on the works.
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Agree, Milagros felt so antiseptic. It's like the life was sucked out of that film.
Marilou was mourning and eulogizing for Ishma when she was doing MILAGROS. It completely changed her perceptions about the film right after Ishma died. There was a shot in the film where you can see the house of Dante Rivero at night and it looks exactly like a wake was being held. Very quiet, restrained and cold.
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my problem is i never really liked Milagros... i miss the Marilou of the 80's.
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She thinks that MILAGROS is the most liberated woman among her films. But I would pick LT as Joey in MORAL.
And what's the name of Charo Santos in BRUTAL?
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really? i would think that Sylvia (Sandy Andolong) in Moral, Cynthia (Ginal Alajar) and Clara (Charo Santos) in Brutal would be the most liberated.
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SYLVIA I think is the most open-minded among her films.
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she's also the most practical and sensible among the four females in Moral...
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Abaya's box-office hits are decades apart. Consider BRUTAL, JOSE RIZAL and IPAGLABAN MO. The rest of her films flop at the tills.
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Brutal wasn't really a box office hit... after it won awards at the 1980 MMFF, the movie still didn't make a killing at the tills...
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I thought it finished number 2 at the box-office? PANDAY was the top grosser, right?
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Panday was indeed the top grosser, i believe it was number 4 at the box office...
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The rumors are true that's why Marilou was absent during the presscon for Cinemalaya 2007. She has only few months to live.
God.....she was full of life, down to earth when I met her during the ist EB. :(