Thursday, November 22, 2012
Thy Womb holds Philippine Premiere at SM Lanang, Friday
By DABAWENYA
DAVAO LIFE dot com
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Source: http://www.davaolife.com/thy-womb-holds-philippine-premiere-at-sm-lanang-friday.html
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Multi-awarded Director Brillante Mendoza’s Thy Womb (Ang Sinapupunan) will have its Philippine Premiere at SM Lanang Cinema 3 on November 23, 7PM.
The critically acclaimed film earned the Italian Critic’s Choice from the recently concluded Venice Film festival. It is also is currently competing in other international film festivals like Dubai, Brisbane and Busan.
The film top bills Nora Aunor and tackles the story of a Badjao childless couple set in Tawi-tawi. The beautiful sceneries and the poignant story of the couple, played by Aunor and Bembol Roco, breathe life to the characters which represents the peace loving people of Tawi-tawi.
“Thy Womb” was given an R13 rating of the MTRCB and is noted as a good vehicle for communicating interfaith and ecumenical spirit of understanding and respect for other people’s beliefs.
It is also one of the official entries in the Metro Manila Film fest this year and will be exhibited in cinemas nationwide on Dec. 25, 2012.
SM Lanang Premiere also hosts the Sineng Pambansa: Ang Ikalawang Yugto from November 22 to November 24 at its Cinema, and the International Film Expo at SMX on November 23-24.
Nora Aunor mania rages this December with ‘Himala’ in HD, 2 MMFF entries
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| Nora Aunor in 'Thy Womb' |
By ARNEL RAMOS
InterAksayon.com
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Source: http://www.interaksyon.com/entertainment/nora-aunor-mania-rages-this-december-with-himala-in-hd-2-mmff-entries/
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Noramania rages this December with four Nora Aunor-centric events that will send the whole town talking.
In celebration of Ishmael Bernal’s hypnotic 1982 classic “Himala”
turning 30 this year, a restored version of the film that starred Nora
Aunor in her most iconic role will be exhibited at the Cinema One
Originals film festival in early December.
Jointly restored by the ABS-CBN Film Archive and Central Digital Lab.
Inc., this “Himala” in HD (high definition) premiered at the 69th Venice International Film Festival last September.
“Himala” features one of the superstar’s most iconic roles, that of
the bogus visionary Elsa. It was on the set of “Himala” in Ilocos that
its screenwriter Ricky Lee met the legendary actress for the first time.
“I was already a fan back then,” Lee told InterAksyon via email,
“kasi superstar na siya noon, samantalang ako kabago-bago ko lang sa
movies. Since I was the one who chose her to be Elsa in ‘Himala,’
siyempre I was praying that she would say ‘yes’ to the project so when
she said ‘yes,’ that was heaven-sent.”
Aunor and Lee would become lifelong friends but not right there on the set of “Himala”.
“I would often go to the set in Ilocos and I would see her,” recalls
the screenwriter. “Mahiyain siya at tahimik, nakaupo lang sa isang tabi,
walang kaarte-arte, parang hindi superstar. Eh ako mahiyain din, kaya
halos ‘di kami nagkakausap. It was only later when we did ‘Andrea’ (in
1990) together that we became good friends at mabilis kaming
nagkasundo.”
Coinciding with “Himala” in HD’s Venice premiere was the inclusion of
“Thy Womb,” Nora’s first film with internationally acclaimed Pinoy
filmmaker Dante Mendoza, in the main competition category in the
prestigious fesatival.
After being shut out of the eight official entries in the annual
Metro Manila Film Festival, “Thy Womb” ended up joining the festival
anyway. It took over the slot vacated by “Kwento ni Lola Basyang” which
backed out from the race.
This means that Aunor has two MMFF entries this year. She also
appears in a guest role as the second wife of Emilio Aguinaldo in the
biopic “El Presidente.”
On television, Nora just won a Best TV Drama Actress award from the
Philippine Movie Press Club for “Sa Ngalan Ng Ina,” her first project
with her new home network TV5 and also her last collaboration with the
late esteemed director, Mario O’Hara.
Nora likewise shines in a small yet integral part as a fairy queen in TV5’s well-received fantasy series “Enchanted Garden.”
She may have had ups and downs in her lengthy and checkered career as
a movie queen but Nora continues to be relevant and timeless. She has,
in fact, ceased to be merely iconic. Nora Aunor has become immortal.
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| Nora Aunor in 'Himala' |
Ricky Lee tries to explain his dear friend’s enduring appeal.
“She will always be a beautiful enigma to all of us. Sometimes the
audience and her fans feel that they already know her very well, but the
next instance she proves to be as mysterious as ever. She has retained
that mystique that keeps you asking for more from her, that keeps you
wanting to know her more and more.
“She makes you feel like she is just like your ordinary neighbor, na
kapantay mo lang siya, pero at the same time you also feel that she is
above there, brilliant and unreachable. She combines the uncombinable.
She makes you feel that everything good is possible.”
Nora’s current manager, Noel Ferrer, offers: “She has defied the
conventions of a star and has given the term a new meaning and elevated
it to a level that no one in Philippine show business has ever
achieved.”
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
‘Thy Womb’: the return of Nora-Bembol teamup
by PABLO A. TARIMAN, VERA Files
THE INBOX
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Source: http://ph.news.yahoo.com/blogs/the-inbox/thy-womb-return-nora-bembol-teamup-141435826.html
The latest Dante Brillante Mendoza film,"Thy Womb," has reverberations of the 1957 Lamberto Avellana film "Badjao" and in another sense, Marilou Diaz-Abaya's "Sa Pusod Ng Dagat."
They all expound on love, life and lost traditions in the islands and with the unstable peace and order situation constantly threatening an otherwise idyllic life by the sea.
While the Avellana film zeroes on two warring tribes with their own versions of a "Romeo and Juliet" scenario and the Abaya film chronicling birth and death in the island, the latest Mendoza film unveils an uncanny kind of altruism between a childless Badjao couple.
The film captures the colorful life and tradition of the Badjaos as seen in courtship and wedding rituals and in the process showcase a rare unselfish kind of love between a Badjao comadrona and his husband. The irony of her life is that while she helps give birth to countless babies every week and keep count of them by keeping a part of their umbilical cord in her abode, she herself is childless. For love of her husband, she even helps find a suitable bride who can procreate.
It is in the role of Shaleha, the Badjao midwife, that Nora Aunor gives an incandescent performance. She has very little dialogue in this film but every time the camera focuses on her with her marital predicaments quietly etched on her face, she delivers a kind of acting that is natural and thus even more astounding.
Scriptwriter Henry Burgos has woven a tale of unselfish love that is unusually quiet and very cerebral. The breath-taking cinematography of Odyssey Flores captures the scenic way of life of the Badjaos. On his part, Brillante's direction unwittingly stayed away from unnecessary details that will detract from the simple life of this gentle Badjao couple. When the couple makes love for the last time before the takeover of the new bride played with sensitivity by Lovi Poe, you can see that the heroine in this film is made of sterner stuff.
For its portrayal of the way of life of the Badjaos, the Brillante Mendoza film is a refreshing entry in the 2012 Metro Manila Film Festival. It could educate a bulk of our young moviegoers who equate love with the usual "kilig" formula. It can further educate them on how our Muslim brothers live and how they cope with unstable peace and order in their territory.
Nora and Bembol in three films"Thy Womb" was an official entry in the 69th Venice Film Festival where it won three special prizes: the La Navicella Venezia Cinema Award, the P. Nazareno Taddei Award - Special Mention, and the Bisato d' Oro Award for Best Actress (for Nora Aunor).
On the side, one can cay that the Mendoza opus completes the trilogy of good films featuring Roco and Aunor. They were seen in "Merika" directed by Gil Portes and they were unforgettable in "Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos: by Mario O'Hara.
The late O'Hara was also the director when they did "Sa Ngalan Ng Ina" for a TV network
If Roco made a mark as a Badjao husband in "Thy Womb," "Sa Ngalan Ng Ina" saw him playing a smalltown politician felled by an assassin's grenade during a political rally. It was a role reminiscent of Ninoy Aquino's last few hours, it was a scene which easily recalled the Plaza Miranda bombing.
As in "Thy Womb," Roco and Aunor played husband and wife too in their last TV drama starrer.
Some chilling scene in that TV drama: before the rally, his wife (Aunor) prayed for guidance while he is seen as a people-loving man and a gentle and loving husband.
Throughout this brief but powerful exposure, Roco held his own and came out a natural performer. His instant death all the more magnified a noble life he led and these layers of character-build up Roco managed to project with unerring grace.
In both TV and film team-up, it was a winning role for Roco and it was all worth the investments he had made for the industry.
His first big break was the starring role in "Maynila Sa Kuko Ng Liwanag by Lino Brocka and looking back, that film actually changed his life completely. It opened new things to him that he did not think was just possible. "Here I realized that film had tremendous power comparable to big-time politics. It was after that film that I seriously thought of joining showbiz for good."
Close to three decades in film taught him a lot of things but it was Brocka who showed the way. "He explained to me that as an actor, I have responsibility to the public.. I didn't know what that meant. That my privacy would be invaded I felt right away. But I also knew that the reward was fulfilling as well. Anywhere you go, people know you and will take care of you. At that time, it didn't make sense to me that people would value privacy when they stand to gain more by having their share of modest fame and fortune."
(VERA Files is put out by veteran journalists taking a deeper look at current issues. Vera is Latin for "true.")
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
'Thy Womb' Premiers in Brisbane with High Commendation
by ERWIN CABUCOS
Filipino Radio Brisbane
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Source: http://www.filipinobrisbane.com/2012/11/thy-womb-premiers-in-brisbane-with.html
'Thy Womb' premiered at the Brisbane International Film Festival on Monday 19 November 2012 with strong commendation and applause from critics and general audience alike.
"What a brilliant film! It is very specific, authentic yet very universal," remarked Hong Kong film critic and curator Sam Ho at a post-screening interview in an audience pact room on Monday night at the Palace Barracks Cinema, Brisbane.
"The film is like a discovery for me which the rest of the world should also know about - the minorities in the Philippines' south," said Mendoza, who acknowledged the initiating call from the Film Development Council of the Philippines to make the movie in 2011.
It formed into a film that combined the outstanding talents of a multi-awarded female actor Nora Aunor and internationally acclaimed director himself Mr Brillante Ma. Mendoza.
'Thy Womb's narrative centres on the life of the Tausug Tribe in Southern Philippines, particularly in the province of Tawi-Tawi. The tribe's community, built on houses of stilts in the sea, is set on tranquil and beautiful seascape. The colourful tapestries and industry products of the people are juxtaposed with the disruptive acts of the militants and the internal conflict of the characters.
Protagonist Shaleha (Nora Aunor) is the hardworking midwife of the village who, after many years of trying to have her own child and considering adoption as an option, eventually decides to allow her husband Bangas-an (Bembol Rocco) marry another woman and have a baby that way.
What comes out of that mutual understanding between the loving couple is the journey of pain, patience, resilience and letting go which the film vicariously shares with the audience. The viewers gasped as the final shot faded out. This might have meant strong expectation from an unresolved ending.
"There were many suggestions from the critics and my crew for the ending but I had to decide for one that I personally think would fit best in the plot," justified Mendoza.
The film depicts strong references to Islam. As the villager's religion, Islamic prayers, rituals and way of life are given emphasis. A Catholic chapel that sits next to a mosque appears delapidated, unattended and neglected. The Muslim wedding is glamorously celebrated with colourful tapestry, mats and artefacts.
Film critic Ho commented on the preoccupation of the movie that contrasts with the ideology of the media with regards to the representation of Muslims. In the world of Hollywood films images of Muslims are polarised with good and evil, but in the films of Mendoza, Muslims are people with their own culture, rituals and drama in life.
"In your films, you destroy the myth about Muslims that we are so used to," said Ho.
"Everybody is a victim; we are not here to judge everybody's religion or culture. We have our own issues and problems but we are not here to judge everyone else's," said Mendoza who grew-up in a strong Catholic family and attended Catholic high school and university in the Philippines.
Mendoza hoped that by featuring the culture of people from southen Philippines society will start to dispel negative perception about Mindanao and the media's pervasive negative representation of the island.
Earlier on at a symposium at the State Library of Queensland, Mendoza told audience about his film-making career that only began at a later part of his life. "I am a late bloomer in the industry who had only started making films at the age of 45," said the now 52 year-old director.
When asked of his comment about being considered a national treasure, he expressed his kind reluctance to such a praise, making references to a number of other good film-makers in the Philippines worthy of similar accolades.
"I am simply happy to reflect and present facts to my audience and it is up to them to make judgment for the many world issues and my country's issues that come out of my films," said Mendoza.
"What I love about this film is the great balance between the big picture and the minute details about life, human being and human interaction. The way the whole community is introduced and their way of life is very universal," commented Ho.
"I think the film found a very powerful and profound metaphor. We see the characters are working on it. We see the way of life. We see the characters are doing something, thinking about something, while their hands are busy doing something else. Then at the end, there is this beautiful mat, weaved together. Then they made love on it. So full of meaning," expounded Ho.
"It's like a tapestry that starts with a single material yet ends with a beautiful mat. You discover the people and their story along the way," said Mendoza.
An audience commented that the colours in the film are astonishing to which Mendoza explained that the use of colours are his interest and design as well. This in turn spoke of his background.
Mendoza revealed that he used to be a production designer for other films in the Philippines apart from working in the advertising industry 15 years prior to making his own films.
He expressed his interest in capturing and accentuating the colours from the tapestry and the community's production of mats and shawls through the use of dyes.
"The colours in themselves are a story. You see the beautiful and vibrant colours in the film amidst the lonely struggles of the characters. It is an irony that I try to put together," said Mendoza.
Mendoza's film 'Thy Womb' contends for this year's Asia Pacific Screen Awards for achievements in directing and acting by a female actor. Brisbane-based APSA gives the most prestigious accolades for films from the 70-member nations in the region.
Previous interview of Filipino Radio Sabado with APSA Artistic Director Maxine Williamson cited critics' and film enthusiasts' strong anticipation of Mendoza's films as it had gained prior awards in Venice and Toronto Film Festivals. winning awards from critics for the success of Mendoza's directing talent in the film.
"Mendoza is an amazing film-maker and a well-established director," added Williamson.
Awards will be announced on the evening of the 23rd November in Brisbane QPAC (Performing Arts Centre), Southbank.
'Thy Womb' is now screening in Brisbane's Palace Barracks Cinema until 26 November 2012. Tickets may be purchased throug http://biff.com.au/2012-box-office/how-to-buy-tickets.
For a chance to receive free tickets to 'Thy Womb', listen to Filipino Radio Live Show through 98.1FM or www.4eb.org.au on Wednesday 21 Nov, 10-11PM. There are 6 tickets to be given away!
Full interview with director Mendoza will be broadcast on Filipino Radio Sabado on Global Digital, the digital radio channel of 4EB FM on Saturday 24 November between 7 and 9AM. Global Digital can be accessed worldwide through the TuneIn App or through www.4eb.org.au.
In the interview, Mendoza discusses other elements in the making of 'Thy Womb', including the use of actress giving birth in real life as well as the act of butchering a cow for the banquet scenes.
The following link has the Venice review and trailer of Brillante Mendoza's 'Thy Womb':
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
WATCH OUT! THY WOMB
ni Bernie Placido
Ang pelikulang pinuri, pinalakpakan, pinarangalan at binigyan ng limang minutong standing ovation sa ibang bansa ay mapapanood na sa December 25, 2012 bilang kalahok sa Metro Manila Film Festival. Ang "Thy Womb" Starring Ms. Nora Aunor sa direksiyon ni Brillante Ma. Mendoza! Mula sa Film Development Council at Centerstage Productions.
Monday, October 29, 2012
NORA AUNOR FILM FEST
HIMALA
Restored HD Version
Showing on December 5, 2012
Premiere Nights: Decemeber 2 and 4
with Launching of
HIMALA COFFEE TABLE BOOK
by Ricky Lee
EL PRESIDENTE
Metro Manila Film Festival Entry
Showing on December 25, 2012
THY WOMB
Metro Manila Film Festival Entry
Showing on December 25, 2012
Premiere Night: November 23 - Davao
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
NORA AUNOR - STARRER 'THY WOMB' MAKES IT TO METRO MANILA FILM FESTIVAL
By JOSE CARLOS L. MANINGAT
Philippine Online Chronicles
October 19, 2012
Source: http://thepoc.net/breaking-news/entertainment/17220-nora-aunor-starrer-thy-womb-makes-it-to-mmff.html
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Brillante Mendoza’s internationally acclaimed film “Thy Womb,” which stars Nora Aunor, has earned a last-minute slot
as an official entry to the 38th Metro Manila Film Festival after “Mga
Kwento ni Lola Basyang” (which was to star Zsa Zsa Padilla) backed out
from the film fest.
“Thy Womb”, which reaped three awards at the 69th Venice International Film Festival last month, was earlier denied a slot in the local film fest.
"I'm happy and glad that we were given a chance to share our film
with the Filipino audience. It's a nice Christmas gift for all the cast
and crew to share a film that we are all proud of," Director Mendoza told Yahoo! Philippines in a text message.
The Brillante film, which is set on the islands of Tawi-Tawi in
Mindanao, tells the story of a Badjao midwife (Aunor) coping with her
own infertility.
It won
the P. Nazareno Taddei Award (Special Mention) for expressing authentic
human values during last month’s Venice film fest. Aunor meanwhile won
the Bisato d’ Oro Award for her portrayal in the film. Another award,
the La Navicella Venezia Cinema Award by the Journal of Cinema, was
conferred to Mendoza.
The film also stars local actresses Lovi Poe and Mercedes Cabral.
On Friday, the film outfit behind “Lola Basyang” confirmed that it is pulling out the film from the annual film fest, but declined to explain the decision.
Two other films ("Tuhog" starring Eugene Domingo and Enchong Dee; and
"My Prince Charming" starring Thai actor Mario Maurer) were optioned as
replacement entry based on the ranking of the scripts, according to an ABS-CBN News report.
But both projects were reportedly unable to wrap up the filming in time for the MMFF premiere of entries on Christmas Day.
ABS-CBN said “Thy Womb” will join the following MMFF entries: :
"Conyo Problems" from GMA Films; "El Presidente' from Scenema Concept
International, Inc.; "One More Try" from Star Cinema; "Shake, Rattle and
Roll 14" from Regal Entertainment, Inc.; "Si Agimat, si Enteng Kabisote
and Me" from Octoarts Films, M-Zet Productions, Imus Productions, APT
Entertainment and GMA Films; "Sisteraka" from Star Cinema and Viva
Films; and "The Strangers" from Quantum Films.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
FOREIGN CRITICS LAUD 'THY WOMB'
By KAYE VILLAGOMEZ
mb.com.ph
Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation
October 7, 2012
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MANILA, Philippines — The Nora Aunor film “Thy Womb” won the nod of international film critics in several published reviews.
With a current 100 percent “Fresh” rating from review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, “Thy Womb” recently competed for the Golden Lion at the 69th Venice International Film Festival. The Brillante Mendoza film went on to bring home three special prizes from the said festival: La Navicella Venezia Cinema Award, the P. Nazareno Taddei Award – Special Mention, and the Bisato d’ Oro Award for Best Actress, which went to Ms. Aunor.
One of Rotten Tomatoes’ top critics and Variety reviewer Guy Lodge said of the 2012 release: “Typically arresting direction and a stoically moving lead turn from local industry legend Nora Aunor.”
Lodge added, “Mendoza leaves these anarchic intrusions unsettlingly free of social context; perhaps the director is concerned about a more external focus crowding his affectingly intimate relationship study. He strenuously avoids judging Shaleha’s (Nora) simultaneously courageous and anti-feminist decision to act as her beloved husband’s marriage broker, though Aunor’s softly crinkled face beautifully registers the internal pain of her every decision in this curious process.”
The critic added how tempting it was to call “Thy Womb” Mendoza’s best opus. “As an open-hearted, even sentimental tale of a working-class woman making the most selfless of sacrifices to give her husband a child, it’s tempting to call ‘Thy Womb’ the gentlest film to date from hardworking Filipino provocateur Brillante Mendoza. Then one remembers that it opens with a live human birthing and, later, graphically depicts the beheading of a cow by machete.”
Meanwhile, The Hollywood Reporter’s (THR) Neil Young recognized the “alluring scenery and a sympathetic lead performance help elevate an otherwise tepid, underdeveloped slice of Philippine ethno-drama.”
The detailed THR account read: “A spectacularly big sky, big sea location just off the coast of Borneo, Tawi-Tawi is one of the country’s five mainly Muslim provinces, and Mendoza’s depiction of the religion’s exotic but mild local variant adds much flavor to proceedings, especially the dazzlingly opulent garments worn at festive and formal occasions.
An IMDB.com critique said of the film: “Quickly assuming the stature of one of the most important directors from the Philippines, Brillante Mendoza churns out another macabre narrative of the hard knock lives from his native land with the effective ‘Thy Womb.’ Working at break neck speed and putting out several shorts and a title or two a year, he’s earned a prolific reputation after a 2009 Cannes win for Best Director for the infamous ‘Kinatay,’ and then followed that up with a starring role for the one and only Isabelle Huppert. But he switches gears a bit for this latest story, leaving behind a violence that dictates the narrative arc to tell a meditatively tragic tale, one which simmers gracefully to its abrupt finale.”
Produced by Center Stage Productions, the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) and written by Henry Burgos, “Thy Womb” – local title “Sinapupunan” – also stars Lovi Poe, Bembol Roco and Mercedes Cabral.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
BRAVISSIMA, NORA
By Tito Genova
Valiente
WEDNESDAY, 12 SEPTEMBER 2012 / REELING
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THOSE who love Nora
Aunor’s art are speaking in tongues now. It is Babel in Nora fandom as fans
scramble to translate the words of European film critics from Italian, Spanish,
French, and German, all praising the actor’s performance and the film where
that magic occurred, Brillante Mendoza’s Thy Womb(Sinapupunan in
Pilipino).
Called the “wild
card,” the film has driven critics wild. Film readers talk of the sea, the
water as metaphor in a film that is about infertility and love. The vast
expanse of the sea in that part of Mindanao is glorified as a setting for a
tale that is a wondrously political commentary in the guise of a folk tale
about devotion and sacrifice. People in Europe are suddenly aware of
the southern Philippine territories. It is a gripping coincidence that
Mendoza’s other film, Captive, which is also about the South but this time
about kidnapping, is having commercial theatrical run. Venice talks of
Sitangkai and Tawi-tawi as geographical points validated by the romance of Mendoza’s
imagination.
It is perhaps odd
to call Nora Aunor the “wild card” of an actor but if we are going to reckon
the outpouring of grand reviews and tremblingly passionate and positive words
defining the greatness of the performance of Nora from the oldest film festival
in the world, then we might as well call Aunor the wild actor. Wild in the
sense of untamed, ferocious, fierce.
Revel in those
photographs: Nora standing under the glare of the Venetian sun, not shy but
commanding, her arms extended sometime away from her lithe body, as if about to
fly or to make a gesture. Study the series of photographs where she looks
around, poses alone, and then stretching her arms to pull in Mendoza. This is a
terrific study in presence, which is what Nora Aunor is all about.
Critics did not
miss this presence. You might as well call Nora a prescience, a foreboding. In
her performances, Nora always suggests that somewhere in the delivery, in the
movement, in the heaving of the chest, her character is going into a tremor, an
explosion, a breakdown. And yet, nothing uncontrollable takes place in any of
the characterization of Nora’s. No catharsis is rewarded to us. What we get is
a suspension not of disbelief but of belief. Are we going to take in what she
is offering, or are we ready to repudiate her.
It is a brave actor
who opens the possibility for all interpretations. In Nora’s universe of characters,
we are always free to love her or leave her. We may share in her sufferings or
her joys but in the end, Nora allows us options of pains and privileges. That
moment in Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos, where she raises her child over a ravine,
will infinitely be arrested at that point between dementia and destiny, between
salvation and condemnation. Will the child be killed or saved? Well, that is
not the point of that scene. The events that happened after and before have
condemned this mother. Before we can even think of forgiving her, the women of
the town have bonded already as a conscience. But that does not banish the
feeling that we may understand and forgive this woman. Nora’s performance
creates all the gray areas. Onscreen, she is eternally possible and probable.
I always think a
good performance is when an actor finishes his or her walk from a starting
point to the area where the scene wraps up a tension or solves a problem. But I
think an excellent performance happens when the actor enables us to participate
in his or her ambivalence, not because he or she cannot decide, but because
films and the performances in them are not about decisions. You want decisions,
then do not look for them in the theater. Go to boring boardrooms where
decisions are a must.
Films and the great
actors that relate their narratives are about the splendor of human thoughts
and the mysterious beating of the heart that we assume will always be human. We
love it when actors act on events and crisis but, at home, we review the fast and
quick decisions and realize they are not real.
In Bona, relive
that scene where the camera looks at the face and then scans the boiling water.
The perfection of that scene is not in the water being poured over the hapless
bit player played Phillip Salvador but in the turbulence and dark happiness and
fear registering over that face of Nora now transformed into a map of
intentions where there are no obvious exits and entrances. We wish that she
takes longer to throw that hot liquid because we know the enchantment of anger
and reprisal is short. Bona in Nora Aunor’s tremendous genius is about women
and what they can do, and that status is eternally embedded in the woman. Nora
knows that and, like a maga, conjures magic after magic because to be too real
is to be downright dull. Again, if you want plain realism, then go and look for
it in basketball courts and even in supreme courts.
Again, I now see
one main reason Nora Aunor as an actor always moves me: All her
characters are imperfect and lovingly so. The characters she has played will
not be found in some gallery of heroes but in alleys and ordinary streets and
small homes where brothers who are killed by stray bullets will teach us about
nationalism but also about self-absorbing private interests. You want to learn
about yourself and good manners, do not consult the oracle of Nora Aunor. You
want to learn about the tension of your identities and the conflicts in your
motivations, then Nora’s filmic essays are veritable treasure chests of who we
are as faithless people and who we are as faithful lovers and what we are in
the webs of fate and faith.
In Himala, which
was screened also in Venice under Restored Classics (of course, for the fans,
they will now say “Classici’), Nora’s visionary is not a saint per se but she
could create a mob that will canonize her. In that naivete, in that innocence
and, once more, in the potentiality of ideological manipulation, are the
lessons about human frailties as well as strengths. Strangely, from a film that
denies apparitions comes ultimately the possibility of redemption. And yet it
is not an easy lesson. The culprit and the trickster is Nora Aunor, the
reluctant saint but also the person not ready to explore and exploit the
merchandize of religion. You are looking for a brave proposition? This is it,
the person of Elsa.
Back in Venice,
critics were not merely appraising Nora Aunor in Thy Womb; the critics were
always referring to her as the great actress with a long, sterling career back
in her country. I like this approach: Nora, for all her greatness, stands on
the shoulders of the greats who were there before her—in Venice, in Berlin, in
Cannes. In the same token, we should thank Mendoza and Aunor for when the next
entry from the Philippines appears once more in Venice, everyone will remember
that balmy day when this petite, unassuming actor from an island called the
Philippines asked the jury to look her way.
The critics looked.
One of the words that came out of one critic was “immensa,” which sent all her
fans scrambling for Italian-English dictionaries and surfing the Internet for
online translations. Nora Aunor is a great, an immensely powerful actor, the
critics said. The fans, of course, have known that all along.
****
Fresh from her
triumph in Venice, Nora Aunor appears in TV5’s Untold Stories, 8:30 pm, after
Artista Academy, co-starring Yul Servo in the episode titled Sr. Thelma Layug
Story. On Sunday she stars opposite Lorna Tolentino in an episode of TV5’s
Third Eye, airing at 9:30 pm, after Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
In Photo: European
critics have called Nora Aunor, in Venice for Thy Womb, an immensely powerful
actor. Her fans have known that all along. Here, Nora holds the Bisato d’Oro
honor she was bestowed by European film critics.
Nora Aunor and the Mater Dolorosa: Revisiting and Befriending Sorrow in Our Lives
By Fr. Roberto P.
Reyes
Philippine Online Chronicles
Wednesday, 19 September 2012 15:00 / FLOW, THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS ALONG THE WAY
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“And you own heart will be pierced by a sword.”
The prophet Simeon to Mary
Last Saturday, September 15, would have been my father Carlos’
89th birthday. It was also the feast of The Lady of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa)
which made me revisit sorrow in my life and that of those close to me. I
remember my late father Carlos who, perhaps of upbringing, hardly shed a tear,
except for two distinct occasions. When I was a little boy of about five , we
were at home when a close family friend arrived to inform my father of a
tragedy. His brother, my favorite uncle Alfonso, who had just passed the CPA
bexam two days earlier, went for a swim with his friends to celebrate. He
drowned. My father, unable to contain his shock and grief goes to the door and
bangs his head so hard that it felt like the whole house shook. The second was
almost eight years ago, around 10:00 p.m. o. November 30, 2004. I knew then
that my brother Vincent was dying. I told my mother and father to approach him
and say goodbye. My mother simply approached my brother and tells him, “Paalam
anak, I love you.” When it was my father’s turn, before he could utter any word
he already broke down and then still in pained disbelief tells my brother,
“Anak, God bless you. Goodbye anak.” The tone of his voice was an ambivalent
mix of protest and resignation. Sometime April that year, my father gripped by
quiet pain asked me, “Why does it happen that a son would go before his father?
“
A few days ago, I read a newspaper article entitled Nora Aunor,
“Big Time Comeback Queen.” (cf Philippine Daily Inquirer, September 13, 2012)
It was about Nora’s recent victories at the Venice Indie Film Festival where
she won the Bisato D’Oro award for her performance in Brillante Mendoza’s “Thy
Womb.” I was happy for Nora who aside from this latest victory, impressed me
with a recurrent theme of her life, pain. When asked about her reaction to the
theme of Thy Womb her answer was, “I have also given up my own happiness for
the person I love. That has happened at least thrice in my life.”
The article did not appear to me as just another curiosity among
many others for that day. Nora Aunor was no longer a stranger to me as
circumstances changed that last year after I criticized her appearance with a
cigarette stick between her fingers on the front page of a glossy magazine.
When my criticism came out in the papers, one of Nora’s assistants calls me and
informs me that Nora wanted to talk to me and personally give me her side. I
agreed and later that day, I met Nora at a restaurant in Tomas Morato.
Our meeting was short and most cordial. No wonder Nora has
endeared herself to the masses. In spite of her fame, there was no air about
her. She was simple and soft spoken. She was not defensive. In spite of the
barbs she received from the Philippine Medical Association, she was even open
to help them in their campaign against cigarettes.
After that meeting, I saw a different Nora. I saw a person in
search for something deeper, something more. The article’s title, “BiG Time
Comeback Queen” is rather deceiving. While Nora does need to improve many
things in her life, I don’t think she is only looking at her financial
situation. In the article, when advised by her friends to focus on her work
more than her heart, Nora’s response has been, “My life would have been more
peaceful had I not loved too much.” Looking at Mary at the foot of her son’s
cross, I wonder if she would have said something different from Nora. Would
Mary have chosen to love less in order to have more peace? Mary, Mater
Dolorosa, the mother martyr, witness to the suffering of her son chose to love
in a way that other mothers would have, totally and unconditionally. She would
have loved uncomplainingly in spite of the profound emotional and existential
crucifixion she endured by standing by (Stabat) the cross of her Son Jesus,
watching and experiencing in her heart her Son’s anguish and suffering. As she
stood and watched her crucified son, she too experienced crucifixion.
This is probably Nora’s gift both as an actress and person, the
cross and its many recurrence in her life up to now. In that short meeting, I
began to see the many setbacks that Nora experienced in a new and different
light. I began to understand and appreciate how Nora has become some kind of an
archetype of the typical Filipina woman for whom life is weighed down by
endless struggle finding comfort in a loving, yet rather unpredictable God. I
sense that Nora is not that moved by the title “Come Back Queen” for she knows
what it is to hit rock bottom. Now that she enjoys success, it is with a
seasoned joy, fuller, deeper and freer.
When asked to whom or what she attributes this recent victory,
her simple answer was, “Only the Man upstairs knows the answer.” That “Man
upstairs” has a mother who aside from standing at foot of the cross stands by
those who have also found their cross. Surely, with a little prodding, Nora
would have added, “That Brave and Extraordinary woman, who has always been an inspiration
to my own mother…that woman is not up there but here deep in my own heart.”
Monday, September 10, 2012
3 AWARDS FOR 'THY WOMB' IN VENICE FILM FEST
September 10,
2012
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Everywhere she went in Lido, Filipino actress Nora Aunor was
greeted by admirers—clapping, cheering and congratulating her for “Thy Womb”
(Sinapupunan), which won three honors at the 69th Venice International Film
Festival over the weekend.
Aunor,
considered a superstar in the Philippines, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer
in Filipino: “The Italians kept saying: ‘Bellissima! Bravissima!’”
Her
latest starrer, Brillante Mendoza’s “Thy Womb” won three awards in Venice:
Bisato D’Oro, La Navicella or Venezia Cinema prize and the P. Nazareno Taddei
Award Special Mention.
Aunor
attended the Venice fest with Mendoza and costars Lovi Poe and Mercedes Cabral.
Producer
Larry Castillo said the critics adored Aunor who won the Bisato D’Oro prize for
her performance. Castillo told the Inquirer that Aunor’s award was given by
Premio della Critica Indipendiente, an independent critics’ group.
Previous
recipients of the award were directors and producers. Aunor is the first
actress and Filipino to win the prize.
Aunor
recalled that the Bisato D’Oro ceremony was held on Friday at Bar Maleti, a
restaurant near her hotel.
The
Philippine contingent stayed at the Hotel Excelsior Venezia in Lido, Venice.
“I
am happy that our film was invited to Venice. It’s a great honor just to be
included in this year’s lineup. To win an award is a wonderful bonus,” Aunor
said of her award.
She
said the critics were touched by the film. “They told me that they cried,
especially toward the ending. They said they were moved by the emotions I
showed in the movie.”
La
Navicella award
On
Saturday morning, Mendoza received La Navicella/Venezia Cinema prize—one of the
collateral awards handed out before the fest’s major honors.
According
to the Venice website, the award is given by critics and the Rivisita del
Cinematografo, an Italian publication. “La Navicella is awarded to the director
of a film considered particularly relevant for the affirmation of human
values,” an online report said.
A
previous winner of the La Navicella award was Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt
Locker,” which went on to win an Oscar in 2010. Other past winners of the prize
included such heavyweights in world cinema as Louis Malle, Zhang Yimou, Stephen
Frears and Abel Ferrara.
The
Navicella jury commended the Filipino film “for giving voice to the Badjao
community in a respectful and emotionally involved manner.”
In
the film, Aunor portrays a barren Badjao midwife searching for a suitable woman
(Poe) who can bear a child for her husband (Bembol Roco).
Taddei
award
In
the citation, the Navicella jury praised the film: “Although … ethnographic,
the film goes beyond naturalism and turns into poetry. Mendoza brings to the
screen an act of total love which stands out today as true scandal against
frivolous provocation.”
During
the closing ceremony on Saturday night, Mendoza won the P. Nazareno Taddei
Award Special Mention.
The
P. Nazareno Taddei Award went to Korean filmmaker Kim Ki-duk’s “Pieta,” which
won the Golden Lion as well.
Established
in 2007, the P. Nazareno Taddei Award was named after a Jesuit priest. It is
given to films that “express authentic human values.”
The
Hollywood Reporter critic Neil Young considered Aunor one of the front-runners
for the best actress award, which went to Israel’s Hadas Yaron of “Fill the
Void.”
Although
it failed to bring home major awards, “Thy Womb” received a rousing ovation
after its premiere on Thursday and was showered with glowing notices by
critics.
Mendoza,
who won best director in Cannes for the graphic crime drama “Kinatay” in 2009,
said his goal in making “Thy Womb” was to tell a story of “unconditional love
set in a beautiful but troubled place.”
Variety
review
Mainstream
publication Variety gave the film a positive review, praising the
cinematography (by Odyssey Flores), acting (by Aunor) and production design (by
Mendoza).
Variety’s
Guy Lodge said “Aunor’s softly crinkled face beautifully registers the internal
pain of her every decision in this curious process.” Lodge said the
cinematography “negotiates picture-postcard skies and grubby boltholes with
equal fluidity” and the production design “forges the unusual story with just
the right balance of the exotic and the authentic.”
Variety
described the film as “part marital tearjerker, part cultural comedy of manners
… open-hearted … sentimental.”
Variety
pointed out that “Thy Womb” had more in common with Mendoza’s Venice entry in
2009, “Lola,” than the “propulsive” “Captive,” which was the “hard-working
Filipino provocateur’s” entry at the Berlin fest earlier this year.
CineVue’s
Jo-Ann Titmarsh called the film “one of the most poignant and intimate films at
this year’s Venice fest … a moving and visually captivating movie with two
commanding yet understated central performances.”
“Thy
Womb” also has screenings in the Toronto International Film Festival this month
(on September 7, 9 and 16).
On
the fest’s website, Toronto programmer Steve Gravestock raved about Aunor’s
“moving portrayal of a woman determined to provide her husband with a child.”
He also pointed out that Roco was “equally good as her stoic husband.”
Gravestock
noted that Mendoza’s direction possessed an “unfailingly keen eye for detail
and attention to the rhythms of rural life.”
----------o0o----------
Contributor: Alvin
Umahon
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