MULA KOMEDI HANGGANG DRAMA: ANG PAMAMAYAGPAG NI NIDA
Ni ROLANDO B. TOLENTINO
ilala na siya bilang tomboy na siga, suwabeng partner sa sayaw, pilyang komedyante at marubdob na ina sa drama. Halos limang dekada na niyang pinagbubuti ang kanyang propesyon. Labing-siyam na award sa pelikula ang kanyang natamo, at anim para sa telebisyon. Isang daan at animnapu't tatlo nang pelikula ang kanyang nagawa. Patuloy pa rin ang pinagniningning ni Nida Blanca sa kanyang pagtatanghal bilang isa sa, kung Hindi man ang, pangunahing senior na aktres sa bansa, na siyang matingkad na sumisilay sa komunidad ng pelikula at ng manonood ng ilang henerasyon.
Naalala natin si Nida sa mga eksena ng romantikong komedi na kasamang nagsasayaw si Nestor de Villa. O ang makabagbag-damdaming pagsasara ng bintana bilang ina ng karakter ni Dina Bonnevie habang binigkas ang titulo ng pelikula sa Magdusa Ka (1986), at ang pagkumpronta sa anak na naglihim sa kanyang kaalaman hinggil sa ama't ang babae nito sa Sana Pag-ibigNa (1998). Ang kanyang akting sa unang pagtatagpo ng lumaking anak sa Miguelito, Ang Batang Rebelde (1985) ay isa sa ginintuang sandali sa pelikulang Filipino.Read more
MONA LISA: An Actress' Pain and Triumph
By AGUSTIN SOTTO
A COLLEAGUE once told Mona Lisa that an actor must go through hardships in order to emote properly. Mona Lisa must have smiled at that remark; for since childhood she has known only pain. Her life bears the scars of a traumatic upbringing, a stressful episode of near-starvation as a child laborer, and a turbulent career as an exploited screen actress. A less hardy individual would not have survived the crushing blows inflicted on her.
Born Gloria Yatco on June 22,1922, Mona Lisa was exposed early to the reversals of fortune. Her father was a scion of a wealthy family, with relations to Jose Rizal, whose patriarch, however, spent the family fortune in shuttling between Manila and Paris and in courting Parisian women. Reduced to penury, her father, Manuel Yatco was forced to do menial tasks; he was mortally embarrassed to be seen by acquaintances doing janitorial work. Compounding his situation was a marriage considered beneath his station - - to a movie ticket seller, Melecia Lerma.Read more
DOLPHY: Henyo at Hari ng Komedyang Filipino
Ni MARIO A. HERNANDO
PINARARANGALAN ng Manunuri ng Pelikulang Filipino ang hinahangaan at kinagigiliwang superstar ng pelikulang Filipino sa mahigit na tatlong dekada, ang tinitingalang King of Comedy na walang kapantay, walang kupas - - si Dolphy. Bihira sa mga artista ang tumatagal nang mahigit sa apat na dekada; ganyan katagal na sa showbusiness si Dolphy.
Si Dolphy ay hindi lamang isang idolo; siya ay isa ring artist na sa mga nilikhang karakter ay mababanaag ang bugso ng iba't ibang emosyon, ang malawak na pananaw, ang kaluluwa ng Filipino. Kadalasang papel niya'y pangkaraniwang mamamayan - - maralita at api-apihan pero parating masaya, may pangarap, at di nagpapatalo sa bawat paghamon ng buhay; sa bandang huli'y nalalampasan ang sunud-sunod na krisis. Mala-henyo niyang tinatalakay ang bawat pagsubok ng tadhana, at sa nakatatawang paraan at paggamit ng perfect timing, pinapakita ang bawat damdamin ng isang nilalang: saya, lungkot, sigla, panlulumo, kapilyuhan, takot, tapang, kabiguan, tagumpay. Damang-dama ng mga manonood ang pakikipagsapalaran ng bawat karakter ni Dolphy; kitang-kita nila ang mga sarili sa pagkatao nito.Read more
FELIPE SACDALAN: Unflagging Proponent of the Invisible Camera
By AGUSTIN SOTTO
"The camera should be invisible!" : this is a dictum Felipe Sacdalan,swears by. "If the cinematography gets noticed, if the audience leaves the moviehouse swooning over the shots -or if they said bad things about it -- then the cinematographer has not done his job."
For thirty four years, from 1946 to 1979, "Ka Ipe", his nickname in the industry, has been pushing the storytelling function of the camera. Because he doesn't believe in flashy, attention-calling cinematography, Ka Ipe works on images that contribute to the overall film design. Compared to those of other cameramen, his work is subtle, never intrusive, and hence, even more powerful because it is wholly integrated with the story.
A corollary dictum is his insistence on reading the script. “The cinematographer must know what is going on in order to make decisions on the shots. He must read the script beforehand." It is only after Ka Ipe has familiarized himself with the material that he starts working on the angles and selecting the filters and lenses that would effectively bring out the heart and soul of the film.Read more
Natatanging Gawad kay PANCHO MAGALONA
Mahusay na aktor si Pancho Magalona, na lumabas sa maraming klasiko at makabuluhang pelikula. Banayad at natural ang kaniyang estilo sa pagganap. Pinapurihan sa mga seryosong pelikula at kinagiliwan sa mga romansa't musical comedy kung saan siya nagpakita ng husay sa pagkanta't pagsayaw. Lumabas din siya sa telebisyon at sa maraming taon ay isang noontime TV host.
Una sa marami at malaman niyang pelikula ang Primo Donna (1947), sa pag-udyok ng dating Unang Ginang na si Aurora Aragon Quezon. Naging bida noong taong iyon sa Tatlong Bulaklak. Nagsimulang lumabas sa Sampaguita Pictures noong 1948 sa Bulaklak na Walang Pangalan at Dahil Sa lyo, kung saan kasama ang mapapangasawang si Tita Duran, dating child star. Lumabas din sa Sa Piling Mo (ni Eddie Romero) noong 1949.Read more
EDDIE ROMERO: A filmmaker of substance
By AGUSTIN SOTTO
Eddie Romero is that rare individual in Philippine Cinema: a man of erudition and consummate artistry working in conditions inhospitable to the tasks of general excellence. While the industrial mode of Philippine Cinema may be typified as crass commercialism and unmitigated sensationalism, Eddie Romero is counted among the very few artists who have managed to overcome the centrifugal mediocrity of popular concerns and produce works of great impact and astonishing originality. As one of Philippine Cinema's leading scriptwriters and directors, he has a few peers. He is also an indefatigable industry and cultural leader as well as a pioneer in the field of international co-productions. Read more
LEOPOLDO SALCEDO: Sixty carats of a marvelous career
By AUGUSTIN SOTTO
Octogenarian Leopoldo Salcedo now celebrates his sixtieth year in local movies with a colorful career that only a very few could rival and with laudable achievements that leave an indelible impression on much of local cinema history.
Dubbed “the great profile” by Joe Quirino (in imitation of John Barrymore’s monicker), “Pol” Salcedo was the first of the kayumanggi superstars, the antithesis of the local audiences’ mad deification of the meztizo, the anti-colonial against the smothering hold of the West. But more than just good looks, he was also radical with his characterizations, preferring to portray the politicized and the social outcast, the underdog and enraged sheep while his meztizo confreres chose the dusted tuxedos and the rank perfumes of the music halls.Read more
Natatanging Gawad Urian kay Levi Celerio
LEVI Celerio is a class all by himself. He has written well over 4,000 song lyrics in Tagalog, some of them adapted or translated from foreign songs, folk tunes or other vernacular songs, but most of them original works. For something like five decades now, many of these songs have been used in dozens and dozens of Filipino movies, enhancing the popularity of these movies, making the songs an integral part of the films and also adding life ana poetry to them as a whole. A few of these lyrics he has set to melodies which he himself composed. Sometimes, the tunes and the lyrics have become more memorable than the movies that have used them. Read more
MARY WALTER AND THE EARLY CINEMA
By AGUSTIN SOTTO
It was in 1926 that Philippine cinema was revived after a long hiatus since Jose Nepomuceno's last production Hoy o Nunca Besame in 1920. For five years there were no Filipino-produced films. It took Vicente Salumbides, newly arrived from the United States, to put feature filmmaking back on its feet. With the help of Nepomuceno, he directed Miracles of Love which has been described as employing cinematic techniques like closeups and dynamic editing in contrast to the rather static nature of Nepomuceno's early productions. Despite its being shown in a second-run movie theater, Miracles of Love was a miracle of a picture. It was a big box-office hit that opened the eyes of the public — and prospective producers — to the magic and power of the Filipino film. It provided the impetus towards the development of the local film industry. Read more
SUSANA C. DE GUZMAN, Recipient of 1991 Natatanging Gawad Urian
By AGUSTIN SOTTO
In Philippine cinema's long history, only a handful of directors are women. Starting with Brigida Perez Villanueva, the first woman director who also earned the distinction of directing the last silent film ("Pendulum of Fate"), women directors have not numbered more than seven. Read more