A Brief History Of Philippine Cinema 5k4j61

Arlo Jayson C. Sabuito 06581

2012A Brief History of Philippine Cinema

“Walang himala! Ang himala ay nasa puso ng tao! Nasa puso nating lahat!” Who doesn’t know this line? This movie, no, this artifact was created, praised, treasured, remastered and honored. This is a tool served as a constant reminder to us that Filipino cinema isn’t all, contextually speaking, “bakya”. But first we must understand and know history for from the mistakes and the success of the past breeds anew. Philippine cinema started with scenes in daily lives in its first few years during the early 19th century but was ignited in as early as 1897 when foreign entrepreneurs introduce films about the western. The 1920’s gave birth to some well known names like Manuel Silos and Carlos Vander Tolosa. It was also the birth of Film sound and a dominating characteristic of our cinema until this very day and the years to come, the Star System. Corporations like Sampaguita produce a great number of films in 1930’s. World War II came and changed the course of films and a new genre emerged. During the war, stocks were used up and the Japanese introduced films made for propaganda. After that was the 1950’s when film became a factory and films that were came to be known as “bakya” rose but despite this, it was the golden age of cinema for names like Gerardo de Leon, Manuel Silos and the likes but it quickly went down in 1960’s because of labor problems and was known as the dark age. In 1972, Martial law was implemented and Marcos tried to control film making by censoring but at the same time, keeping it in good with the public. Films were propagandist in nature but there are also defiant especially after Ninoy Aquino’s assassination. From 1980 up to now, the film industry which was predicted to be dead by now continues to flourish in both the Indi and the mainstream fields. In 2005, dir. Auraeus Solito created the award winning film that got the title “Best Filipino Film of the Decade” Gawad Urian Award, Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros. When we here Indi film, we have this notion that it tackles sensitive issues or the harsh reality of life which is usually its nature since it embarked its existence in this way. At first thought, it will be easily misjudged to be a story entirely focused on the issues of homosexuality by the title but although it is present, it’s not the main factor. The film can be viewed as a the other side of the issue where homosexuality is accepted and valued but the rising conflict is about the boy’s innocence, twisted and attuned to the bitter way of living until his maturity or rather his affection opened his eyes. This theme is undoubtedly attributed to films that dates back in the tenth period of Filipino cinema when martial law was declared wherein films that emphasizes poverty are dominant due to the opposition against Marcos’ rule. Aesthetically,

the film was well made when it comes to capturing the real state of the walk of life it’s trying to portray and its ending was the best one I’ve seen so far but very abrupt at the same time, like just to push through a good ending. The script was good although some parts were not believable at some point like how the cop carried the protagonist all the way with the sole purpose of being friendly. Overall, I think it’s a great film but somehow lacking in some areas.