A Review on Bona
By: Ivan Descartin
April 27, 2011
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3 times. I have
already seen "Bona" 3 times yet its emotional wallop never falters.
Beyond its narrative simplicity mainly set in a destitute slums lies the
emerging complexity from a character which may seem symbolic rather than true
molds from reality at first sight, but whose conflicts, choices and behavioral
preferences leads her to the truest form of inescapable existential mishaps
that prove to be in touch with the reality of mindless idolatry.
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The film opens with
the haze of confusion during the 'Feast of the Black Nazarene'. Countless
people grabbing the traditional rope, wiping their towels on the black statue
and others watching curiously as they converge for an unhindered faith in hopes
of blessings. Brocka shot this 'cinema verite' sequence with a great intent to
expose the rawness and spontaneity of Filipino culture yet it's also his
powerful initial statement to the pseudo-romantic fable that is about to
unfold: The worship for something fantastically adamant and emotionally
inanimate to even feel it.
The waves of the mob
wants the mercy and guidance from the Black Nazarene, Bona wants love from
movie bit player Gardo. Religion and romance. Not your typical, close-necked
comparison, but I can see where director Lino Brocka is coming from. He wants
to show the blinding extent of devotion both from an immense display of it (the
feast), its miniature counterpart (Bona's enclosed self-depreciation in the
name of 'love'), and even more so, its occasional futility.
Nora Aunor is Bona in
one of her most mystifying and logically puzzling characters to date. The
narrative never even showed us how she has developed her bizarre infatuation
with movie extra Gardo (Phillip Salvador in a role that, as what my review of
"Jaguar" states, showcases his acting talent of differentiating transitionally
contrasting qualities of a character) and instead started somewhere in the
middle. We see Bona do meager things any die-hard fans would do for their idol.
She gives him food and drinks and even shelters him with her umbrella during a
rain. Her actions were understandable yet the man it was all done to is
questionable at best.
We may ask ourselves,
what did Bona saw in this man? Is it his stature as a showbiz figure? No, he's
merely an extra. Is it his looks? Maybe, but she sees him many times groping
with many women. Why bother? That's the ultimate question that came into my
mind. It may seem a mundane inquiry, but it is from this that comes the
profundity of Brocka's stirring commentary about who Bona may really be: An
epitome of a confused woman helplessly testing her ability to dare declare her
misguided independence and try her luck and flirt with her idea of loyal love.
Gardo, on the other
hand, takes advantage of her innocence and treats her almost as a maid and as
his mother's second coming. And finally, after living with each other for a
considerable time, Gardo executed his sexual advances, to which Bona welcomed
in confusion. The morning after, as she mends the chores, she also consciously
hopes to squeeze out love from whatever happened the night before.
This is the sequence
where Nora's mark was indelibly left with the power only SHE can muster. After
the night of their bodily contact, as Bona prepares Gardo's breakfast, Nora
expressed her character's longing, aspirations and expectations for a potential
development of a romance through her ever-impressive eyes. As Gardo eats, Bona
waits. She's hoping for him to return a bright gaze for her countless pleading
glances, but ultimately, there was none. The night was forgotten, after all.
Brocka handled it
(story written by Cenen Ramones) without highlighting the glances but instead
diluting it through Phillip Salvador's trivial dialogue. Brocka manipulated the
screen by letting not just Bona to taste the bitterness of romantic defeat, but
also us. We may never know of Bona's motivations to live with such an uncaring
man in exchange of her family, but her recurring dream of being entrapped by
flames and a moment in the wedding scene (of Bona's friend and former suitor,
Nilo, played by Nanding Josef) may have given an answer.
While drinking a beer,
as the other people shout "Sayaw, Bona! Sayaw!" ("Dance, Bona!
Dance!"), she obliged. As she is dancing in half-drunk ecstasy, a bonfire
blazes in her background. All her perceptions of happiness may have rooted out
from her innocence, but ultimately, her joy is to be always near the 'fire'.
Brocka in one of his finest, and so was Nora.
FINAL RATING: 5 STARS
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