"Cinema Paraiso:" bliss on the big screen

Noel Vera

The National Committee for Culture and the Arts' (NCCA's) "Cinema
Paraiso" is a mixed exhibit of film memorabilia and Filipino film
classics--everything from Clodualdo del Mundo's script for "Maynila
sa Kuko ng Liwanag" (Manila in the Claws of Neon) to a rare still of
Eddie Garcia kissing a bloodied Mario O'Hara in "Tubog sa Ginto"
(Dipped in Gold, 1970) to Raymond Red's Cannes Palme d'Or for his
short "Anino" (Shadows, 2000) to the actual sword Fernando Poe Jr.
used in his "Panday" movies.

Opening the festival is Gerardo De Leon and Eddie
Romero's "Intramuros" (The Walls of Hell, 1964). A fairly big-
budgeted war epic set inside the actual Intramuros, the film outlines
the story of how Japanese soldiers made a suicidal last stand within
the walled city during the final days of the Second World War.
Perhaps not that suicidal--Intramuros was designed and built to act
like a massive city-sized fortress, with walls of solid rock twenty
feet thick; as one American officer so vividly describes it, they
hurled a hundred thousand shells against those walls, and still
haven't breached them.

It's standard war melodrama, with standard stock characters--stolid
American soldiers standing tall and godlike among their Filipino
compatriots; white man and brown brother fighting heroically to
liberate the oppressed Filipino from their Japanese tyrants. If
there's any breath of fresh air to be had from this picture, it comes
literally from the city's sewers--out of a metal trapdoor in the
ground that leads to the sewers: an extremely young Fernando Poe Jr.,
complete with Elvis Presley curls and a James Dean attitude.
Fernando Poe Jr. leans on one leg and lets his curls fall over the
other way; he lets his Latinolike arrogance speak for him, outshining
all the blandly blonde gods pointing rifles at his direction (you
believe they will shoot him, but you can't believe the bullets will
do harm). Poe has important information for the Americans: the
Japanese are holding a thousand civilians as hostage inside the city,
and might kill them all if an assault is ever launched. Among the
hostages, we learn, is one of the officers' Filipinia wives...

And so it goes; De Leon and Romero succeed in making the city itself
a character--an elaborate labyrinth of tunnels and chambers and
blasted ruins from which a continuous rain of dust (from the constant
shelling) falls. Behind every treacherous corner hides a Japanese
soldier with a stick grenade in one hand; within any possible moment
a shell might fall, blasting you into a thousand atomized pieces.

The climax is where most of the considerable budget (not to mention
the loud and effective sound effects) were probably expended, in a
non-stop barrage of pounding shells, chattering machine guns, and
heroic derring-do. De Leon and Romero stage the exhaustive (and
exhausting) battle sequences cleanly and coherently, with not a
little inventiveness (there's this heartstopping moment when the
Japanese round up the hostages in one corner to train guns on them--
then Fernando Poe Jr. goes into action...). "Intramuros" is
wonderful popcorn entertainment, set within the unforgettably immense
presence of the city's ancient walls. Not to be missed if it's ever
shown again. Also available online, on video and DVD.

Other films at the festival (the memorabilia exhibit will be open
throughout the festival's run): Mar Torres' "Jack and Jill" (1954),
starring Dolphy as a queenly brother and Lolita Rodriguez as a butch
sister, is perhaps the earliest gay comedy in Philippine cinema (Feb
21, Fri). F.H. Constantino's "Waray-Waray" (Visayan Lass, 1954) is a
delightful comedy featuring Nida Blanca as a spirited tomboy fresh
off a boat from the Visayas, looking for work in Manila and finding
love instead (March 3, Mon).

Mike de Leon's "Sister Stella L." is atypical de Leon, the
straightforward story of a strong-willed nun (Vilma Santos) who
achieves political consciousness (March 6, Thurs). Ishmael
Bernal's "Himala" (Miracle, 1982), is possibly his most hallucinatory
picture, about a miracle worker (Nora Aunor in her most famous role)
in a devastated land (March 7, Fri).

Then a flurry of historical-hero films: Raymond Red's debut
feature "Bayani" (Hero, 1992) is a hauntingly photographed
alternative-universe version of the life of Philippine hero Andres
Bonifacio (March 11, Tues). Tikoy Aguiluz's "Rizal sa Dapitan"
(Rizal in Dapitan, 1997) is a documentarylike take on one episode in
Philippine hero Jose Rizal's life, his four-year exile in Dapitan
(March 12, Wed). Marilou Diaz Abaya's "Jose Rizal" (1998) is an epic
treatment of Rizal's life (March 13, Thurs.); Mike de
Leon's "Bayaning Third World" (Third World Hero, 1999) is a brilliant
deconstruction of that life, as two filmmakers out to do a Rizal film
demonstrate the impossibility of making a Rizal film (March 14, Fri.).

Octavio Silos' "Tunay na Ina" (True Mother, 1939) is the oldest
surviving print of a Filipino film, a melodramatic musical involving
a child (Tita Duran) born out of wedlock (March 17, Mon.). Gregorio
Fernadez's "Malvarosa" (1958) is a well-made slum melodrama about a
woman (a young and lovely Charito Solis) and her five brothers (March
18, Wed.).

Ishmael Bernal's "Ikaw ay Akin" (You are Mine, 1978) is an intriguing
love triangle involving two of Philippine cinema's foremost actresses
(Vilma Santos and Nora Aunor) (March 20, Thurs). Manuel
Silos' "Biyaya ng Lupa" (Blessings of the Land, 1959) is a Renoirlike
portrait of a countryside family, considered by some as the finest
Filipino film ever made (March 21, Fri.). "Shake, Rattle, & Roll"
(1983) is an omnibus film with two interesting segments: Ishmael
Bernal's "Pridyider" (Frigidaire) a tongue-in-cheek horror short
about a killer fridge, and Peque Gallaga's "Manananggal" (Monster), a
straightforward thriller about a bat-winged predator (March 24,
Mon.).

Mike de Leon's "Itim" (Black, 1976--you might subtitle the
festival "A Mike de Leon Mini-Retrospective") is an atmospheric tale
of possession and supernatural revenge (March 26, Wed). Carlos
Vander Tolosa's "Giliw Ko" (My Love, 1939) is a sprightly musical
about a country lass who tries her luck as a singer in Manila (March
27, Thurs.). Lino Brocka's "Stardoom" (1972) is an intense showbiz
melodrama about two brothers (Mario O'Hara, Walter Navarro) and their
love/hate relationship with each other and their overambitious mother
(Lolita Rodriguez) (March 31, Mon).

Lamberto Avellana's "A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino" (1965) is
a faithful adaptation of Nick Joaquin's most famous play (April 1,
Tuesday). Gerardo de Leon's "Sanda Wong" (1955) is a wonderful
fantasy-adventure about the friendship between a fugitive from the
law and a notorious bandit named Sanda Wong (April 2, Wed). Lino
Brocka's "Orapronobis" (Fight for Us, 1989) is brilliant agitprop
about a former priest's journey from moderate liberal to militant
radical.

The festival closes with Ishmael Bernal's first feature
film, "Pagdating sa Dulo" (At the Top, 1971) a masterful debut by one
of the Philippines' greatest filmmakers, and a caustic, withering
look at the Filipino film industry (at that time, ironically, about
to enter its Third Golden Age).

All films to be preceded by shorts from Daniel Red, Jon Red, Robert
Quebral, Yam Laranas, Mes de Guzman, Nick Deocampo, Ellen Ramos,
Ricky Orellano, Jo Atienza, Miguel Alcazaren, Roxlee, Auraeus Solito,
Tad Ermitano, Quark Henares, Cesar Hernando, and Raymond Red's Palme
d'Or-winning short, "Anino."

(NCCA Building is on 663 Gen. Luna St., Intramuros, near San Agustin
Church. Shows are free at 7 pm)

(First printed in Businessworld, Feb. 21, 2003)

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