Ms. Jo Atienza is one of the founding members of SOFIA (Society of Film Archivist). She's the one who started it all. I've never met a woman in my whole life who has so much passion and penchant for Philippine Cinema. Ask Ate Jo and she knows the history of any Filipino film just like Teddy Co and where you can find also the rotting print of that particular film!
Thanks also Ate Jo for constructing finally the correct sequencing of ORO PLATA MATA. The dvd might be in the works soon!
I find it hard to come up with a ten best Filipino
film. The films are so diverse and so different from
each other in terms of intentions and circumstances
that I find it unfair to rank them and pass judgment
as to which one is better than the other. For me, as
long as the film is able to effectively convey what it
sets out to do in the first place or is able to
transcend the limitations of its original intent, then
it’s a successful film. Since every director has its
own intention or motivation to do a film, I don’t
think it’s fair that I rank one director’s work
against another director’s. But if I come up with my
favorite per director, I ran the risk of coming up
with each director’s standard “best” film, which will
be a most boring list since they’d been discussed ad
infinitum. So, instead, I’ve decided to come up with a
list of each director’s “underrated” film list. These
are films which were not given the recognition they
deserve, in my opinion. Call them my guilty pleasures,
films that I feel deserve the same respect as their
more prestigious and recognized siblings. Needless to
say, I also consider them my favorite. There is no
particular ranking.
1. Lino Brocka’s Inay (1977)
This simple charming film about a recently retired
school principal (Alicia Vergel) who tries to live
with each of her children’s families (including his
bachelor youngest son, played by Vergel’s real life
son, Ace), and, in the process, made to feel rejected
and irrelevant, is something that every parent and
child can relate to.
2. Ishmael Bernal’s Salawahan (1979)
Very few people got to see this Bernal comedy, about
two friends of different personalities (Jay Ilagan and
Matt Ranillo III) who suddenly find themselves living
the other guy’s life, because it had a first day, last
day screening at the theaters. This film, obviously
inspired by French comedies, relies mostly on
improvisations and, to me, is Bernal’s most daring
experimentation; much too ahead of its time.
3. Mike de Leon’s Hindi Nahahati ang Langit (1985)
Many will dismiss this komiks adaptation as Mike de
Leon’s worst film (which is not really that bad since
the guy has not done anything that’s less than
brilliant). And the fact that the film does not have a
director in it’s opening credit, many people wrongly
thought that Mike is ashamed of this film and wouldn’t
put his name in it (it was because of a non-creative
tiff with the producers). I agree it's not as good as
Mike's other films but I still like it because, for
me, his characters here are some of his more strongly
realized characters, the step-siblings who denied
their feelings for each other and the people they used
and hurt in the process. Repeated watching of this
film (I subtitled it) made me appreciate and feel the
characters’ dilemma and situation.
4. Celso Ad. Castillo’s Tag-Ulan sa Tag-Araw (1975)
Unlike Celso’s other films, this film does not boast
of breathtaking cinematography or artsy visuals. It is
simply the story of two cousins who found themselves
desperately in love with each other. The intensity of
the emotions and the vulnerability of the characters
who got themselves in an overwhelming situation which
in their young minds they couldn’t fathom, makes it,
for me, a very strong film.
5. Joey Gosiengfiao’s Bomba Star (1978)
This is the camp master at his campiest best. In his
look at the rivalry between an insecure “bomba”
superstar and an up-and-coming star wannabe, Joey G.
elevated camp into an art form. Every scene is
delightfully brilliant and there are not enough
superlatives to describe the finale scene. This film
was made before the much-talked-talked about
Temptation Island and, Lav Diaz agrees with me, this
one is even better.
6. Eddie Romero’s Aguila (1980)
There were so much expectations for this film, a right
after the cradle to right before the grave epic saga
of a man against the backdrop of Philippine history,
including a best actor trophy for its lead actor,
Fernando Poe, Jr. But as far as many of the people are
concerned, it did not live up to its promise: the film
was much too long, the ending and some of its parts
were too vague, the make-up and art direction were too
sloppy, and FPJ did not even get an award. But I still
find the account of fictional character Daniel
Aguila’s life to be one of the more intelligent film
discussion on how the “Filipino” evolved from the time
of the colonizers to the contemporary times. And this,
for me, is FPJ’s most “human” character ever, complete
with its doubts and vulnerabilities.
7. Gerardo de Leon’s El Filibusterismo (1962)
Noli Me Tangere is more popular and better discussed
than its sequel. There are also more Noli and
Noli-inspired films than Fili (especially if the Noli
wasn’t so successful, nobody bothered with the
sequel). I remember watching Fili on television when I
was still in high school and I couldn’t help but gush
on its beauty, particularly, the scene of Paulita’s
wedding where there was a close-up of her hands as she
wears the ring and a single tear drops on it. Seeing
Noli much later, I came to the conclusion that Fili is
the better film. Unfortunately, unlike Noli, the film
is gone. A copy of it was shown on cable recently, but
it’s a badly mangled copy where all of the Hule scenes
(played by Charito Solis) are missing.
8. Lamberto Avellana’s Pag-Asa (1951)
This story of two poor runaway orphan siblings who
find refuge in the home of a carnival ride operator is
definitely not one of Avellana’s prestige films
(e.g., Anak Dalita and Badjao), but still carries the
famed “Avellana touch.” It’s an entertaining melodrama
with realistic, casual dialogue and natural
performances by its actors.
9. Gregorio Fernandez’s Kung Ako’y Mahal Mo (1960)
In this film noir about a wrongly accused man, Nestor
de Villa gave his best performance ever, with the ever
sensual Charito Solis.
10. Richard Abelardo’s Mutya ng Pasig (1950)
This ghost story, for me, is the most underrated black
and white film. Special effects pioneer Richard
Abelardo had not reached the stature of De Leon,
Avellana, Conde and company, but he was no less
important. The haunting song (Nicanor Abelardo’s Mutya
ng Pasig), breathtaking visuals (the boat by the Pasig
River with a full moon) and brilliant but subtle
special effects (the ghost of Rebecca Gonzales, in a
pieta-like pose with unconscious daughter Delia Razon
amidst an island of water lilies, seamlessly
disappears when the people arrive) makes this one of
the most unforgettable films of all times.
