Reflections

Film

Aside from mathematics, my excitement bursts every time the subject is arts because at the first
place subjects related to it were my favourite. Well for me art is something unfathomable, free, and
endless masterpiece. First, it hides thousands of deep meanings as what the artist wants to convey. It
can be his expression on a certain thing and he wants to tell the viewer about the theme of his works.
We all have different interpretations towards everything. We are unique chef-d'oeuvre of God with
personal skills and talents. Another, art has no limitation. What we see in our environment is also an art
that’s why it’s endless.

I am grateful because I thought that there were no subject like this on our SHS but fortunately
we have. Our subject “Contemporary Arts from the Philippines and Regions” is enjoyable because it is all
about arts in this modern time. Sir Homer asked us why is that we need to study that subject, there’s
one thing on my mind and that’s “To continue living”. It is simply, without art life is nothing, without art
life would be boring, without art is like a life that is black and white. Art have greatly influenced me
because I’m able to express my thoughts and feelings on my own little ways. I also realized that Filipinos
are creative in terms of this kind of discourse. Most prominent artists came from the Philippines, one of
this is Jose Rizal that is recognized nationally and internationally. He is an ophthalmologist, Filipino
writer, polyglot, Philippine Hero who fight against the Spanish colonizer through his controversial novels
which is the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo.

Actually I’ve gained a lot of knowledge this past semester about an art, purposes of art, the art
forms, art movements, artists and many more. I feel so delighted because learning something new is
quite worthy yet wondering what other great things I can accumulate inside my mind.
 Learning in school is an opportunity not just to grow academically in nature but it is really about
how you would apply what you learned on existent life. As a student my duty is to study hard and
spread the knowledge I have. Last time, I have learned about the National Artists of The Philippines. I
thought that it’s only a title in general given for those outstanding Filipino artists. I don’t know that
there are seven categories: Music, Dance, Architecture, Theatre, Visual Arts, Literature and Cinema/
Film. Let’s first define what a national artist is, a national artist is the artists who had made significant
contributions to the development of Philippine arts and have received the NATIONAL ARTIST AWARDS. I
also learned that it takes process to be one of them.

There are seven national artists under the category of film. The three of these are Lino Brocka,
Ishmael Bernal and Lamberto Vera Avellana.

Lino Brocka born with the name of Catalino Ortiz Brocka also known as the pambansang alagad ng
pilipinas. He was awarded posthumously in 1997 as the National Artist for Music. He is one of the most
influential Filipino filmmamkers in the history of the Philippine cinema. He have directed over 40 (forty)
films. His famous films that are produced were Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang on 1974, Maynila sa mga
Kuko ng Liwanag (1975) and Bayan Ko: Kapit sa Patalim (1984). Also, Orapronobis (1989), Gumapang Ka
sa Lusak (1990), Jaguar (1979) and Insiang 1976) are also his renowned films. His works depicts about
the societal issues in the Philippines, our motherland. He gathered so many awards because of
outstanding films he made.

For me, Lino Brocka is the best national artist for films. He made such interesting films showing what the
Philippines is in the past that will capture the minds of the youth. Brocka’s films are personal, his
filmography depicts the dilemmas and suffering of the Filipino People. Among his films, the one which
hooked my attention was “TINIMBANG KA NGUNIT KULANG 1972”. The title was catchy that the
audience will think what’s behind that story. I am not fan of watching Filipino movies because I prefer
international movies but this film is one of the Filipino drama movies that really entertained me.

Tinimbang ka Ngunit Kulang is a film directed by Lino Brocka and starred by Hilda Koronel, Bembol
Rocco, Christopher De Leon, Laurice Guilllen and many other promising actors and actresses of their
time.

The highlight of the plot is in the part of a woman named Kuala who have a psychiatric disorder because
of the loss of her baby through abortion. But little by little, her mental condition becomes okay with the
help of the leper man Mang Berto who take good care of her.

Kudos to our National Artist Lino Brocka and to the cast and production crews who well portrayed the
characters.

I am also familiar to his film “Bayan Ko (My Country)”. If I am not mistaken, it was the film I’ve watched
two or three years ago in GMA NEWS TV every afternoon whose main character is Rocco Nacino. It was
also a good film. I love to watch films about patriotism, nationalism and current issues in the society.

_____________________

Ishmael Bernal who was noted for his melodramas particularly with feminist and moral issues. He was a
Filipino film, stage and television director, actor and screenwriter. He was declared a National Artist of
the Philippines in 2001 after Lino Brocka. He also directed so many landmark Filipino films such as
Himala, Relasyon (1982), Hinugot sa Langit, Nunal sa Tubig and City after Dark.

Bernal is the daring artist that was enlightening and iridescent. His masterpieces teaches the viewers to
be open-minded about the happenings in the society. It is very informative because it is based on real
life of a Filipino.

Religion of any sort has long been regarded as our moral authority. Some today will think
it is outdated, others still necessary. In this generation, only few people believes in God
and I’m one of it. Maybe because as the years passes by they can’t attain their desires and
aspirations in life. Yes, there is God but it doesn’t mean that He is the only one who will
make your wants possible. We have to put in our mind that for a man to become
successful, the answer is in his hand.

Everyone should be able to believe want they want to, but there is no doubt that
when it comes to belief, there is nothing quite as dangerous as blind faith.
If there was ever a film about the evils of blind faith, it is Ishmael Bernal's
Filipino film HIMALA (meaning "miracle" in Tagalog). And among films
involving religion, it is unique in its brave stand against it, long before the last 25
years or so, where it has become fashionable enough to do so.

The film setting is in a provincial town, affected by poverty, disease, and harsh
climate. Elsa (Nora Aunor), one of its residents, claims to have seen the Blessed
Virgin Mary on the top of an unfertile hill at the town's borders. Soon she is
associated with healing the sick. Several visitors become dozens, dozens become
hundreds, and she becomes a news sensation.
Good publicity brings good business. Her fame even brings tourists. Orly (Spanky
Manikan), an out-of-town filmmaker, comes to film Elsa's exploits, more
skeptical than curious. Another significant arrival is Nimia (Gigi Dueñas), Elsa's
close childhood friend, who has returned from the big city (Manila) where she
escaped prostitution. With the number of people visiting the town, she puts up a
show, which surely serves more than song and dance.
 
The film likes to focus at the seemingly illogical decisions impoverished people
make for the sake of being devout. The town is almost desperately poor.
Makeshift hostels are put up to cater for foreigners and their indiscretions, but
personal fortunes are sacrificed to stay holy. Nimia gets criticized for putting up
what is essentially a strip joint, but in a desolate area where nothing seems to
grow, it puts food on the table for those who work there.
Though the film may seem against religion, it doesn't take pot shots at the
Church. Remarkably, one of the film's most sane characters is the town's priest
(Joel Lamangan who is today a successful Filipino director), who is also sceptical
of Elsa's gifts. Whatever his reasons are for doing so, the words he imparts to his
flock are restrained and thoughtful.
Through this film the lesson I have learned was about the practices and beliefs of most Filipinos,
common concerns, poverty, discrimination and etc. I guess I will not survive if I was born on Marcos Era.
I’m wondering how artists on that time struggle just to contribute in the Philippine arts but they did. I
am amazed by their characters, wits, skills and aspirations in life.

_________________________________

Lamberto Villa Avellana is a film director that was active 1939-1982. He made his film debut with Sakay
in 1939. He was also the one who first used the motion pictures as his medium for producing films.
Avellana directed more than seventy films in a career that spanned six decades. The Dalita and Badjao
were the most prominent works from his oeuvre. His film “Anak- Dalita” was named Best Film at the
1956 Asia Pacific Film Festival. The film was about a realistic portrayal of poor Filipinos having love
among Badjaos. Rolf Bayer was the screenwriter for both films.

Though Avellana is not that rich and lack a budget to produce high quality films, he still pursued to direct
films or that’s what we call “lowbudget film”. Despite it, he gathered awards for the best film among
other films. The best thing I admire from Avellana is that he didn’t stop working with his passion which
is making thought-provoking films instead his state became his motivation.

The “Badjao” was directed by the Pambansang Alagad ng Sining para

sa Teatro at Pelikula Lamberto Avellana in 1957 is a romanticized document
of two distinct cultures, the Badjao and Tausog tribes of Mindanao, Lamberto
Avellana's Badjao is simply remarkable.
The story, about Hassan (Tony Santos), a Badjao prince, who falls in love with
Bal-Amai (Rosa Rosal), niece of the Tausog datu (Joseph de Cordova), is set in an
age of the cultural inequality that has characterized the tensions that divide the
two tribes. The vast cultural conflicts would lead Hassan to choose between his
legacy and his heart. He chooses his heart and converts to Islam and cleansing
himself of his Badjao heritage, and deciding to live as a farmer with Bal-Amai
within the Tausog tribe. This decision leads to his banishment from the Badjao.

I get a sensation of their lifestyle through Avellana's curious and meticulous eye:
the sense of justice of the Muslim Tausogs. I see the film badjao to the tragic love
of “Romeo and Juliet” where the two lovers meet but cannot be together because of
their families' long argument. It’s like you love someone that must not going to love because
of your ancestor’s tradition or culture. But it teaches us that no matter what happens, love
wins. I also believe that when you love someone, you can do anything just for her even you
sacrifice your own life beyond all.
The film shows traditions of honor, justice and civility of the two tribes, with
sources of human imperfections like greed, prejudice and treachery.

The film's final scene, a revisit of the ritual in the beginning, we begin to
understand the rationale and humanity underneath the culture-specific ritual. I
become more open to the similarities that bind us as a single people despite the
diversity in religion, culture, and traditions.  Badjao is really a beautiful and
intense film, probably the best of Avellana’s film. I enjoyed the story and I really
love the concept that it effectively brings the emotional touches of simple living,
back when our small communities were ruled not by corruption but tradition.

The said three National Artists for Film are great and possesses unique identities. This was my first time
to know their story behind serving the Philippines and its people. Their milestones was not a joke, they
work hard before they have been declared as one of the national artist of the Philippines.

Philippine Literature is the literature associated with the Philippines and includes the legends of
prehistory, and the colonial legacy of the Philippines. Studying Philippine
literature is important for the same reasons that studying any national literature is important.
By studying it preserves national opinion and thought within its text, and can transport the
Among these treasures
reader back in time and enable them to experience that world.
waiting to be appreciated are the works of our venerable National
Artists for Literature.
Virgilio Almario is an enlightening, inspiring, and motivating artist on Philippine history,
language and literature. He is a translator and editor probably on most Jose Rizals work. It’s
great to have a national artist to revise the original manuscript of the Noli me tangere and El
Filibusterismo novels since not all of people have high IQ just like Jose Rizal. The old books
contained old words that a typical millennial like I can’t understand it. I admit that I’m not that
good at Filipino Language because there’s so many complex words for me. All I know is the
simple words. Even though I speak in Filipino, it’s hard to construct a straight tagalog sentence
especially when I’m writing essays that the medium is Filipino language. Sometimes I speak in
Taglish because that’s the way I used to speak. I remember way back in Junior High School that
everytime our subject is Filipino, we are not allowed to speak or even say a single English word. I
think it slightly helped build my skills in the Filipino language.

Thanks to our National Artist Virgilio Almario for having significant to Philippine
literature. He who is looking to affirm the nationalistic values and beliefs.
It is of course also important to ‘cultural workers’: artists, writers,
journalists, researchers, and, perhaps most importantly, teachers and
students. Such a Filipino perspective has to be strongly rooted in
native values and in a Philippine literary history that is more
comprehensive than anything that has been published so far.

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Nick Joaquin who at the age of 17 had his first piece published, in the literary section of the pre-World
War II Tribune, where he worked as a proofreader. He is a Filipino writer, historian and journalist, best
known for his short stories and novels in the English language. He also wrote using the pen name
Quijano de Manila. He has been considered one of the most important Filipino writers in English, along
with José Rizal and Claro M. Recto.

Faith and trust, love and lust, greed and power, will these make a human being happy? What are the
things humans could do to achieve these? Well, I’m a type of a person who is contented of what I have.
A simple life can make me happy and satisfied. I defined happiness as being blessed--blessed to have
imperfect but good enough family, blessed to have plenty of friends, blessed to have a healthy body and
blessed to have a unique identity. These things are what happiness meant for me.

The work that I really like is the Cave and Shadows of Nick Joaquin. It showed the capabilities of human
beings enable to achieve pleasure. The novel clashed different institutions of the societies, together with
their beliefs and traditions. Here, ups and downs of males and females could be seen. No gender is
above the other. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. Maybe others are weak on something but
you are good at and vice versa. Although it is a fact that the main protagonist is male, it is also a fact that
his story revolved around the life (and death) of the female characters of the novel. Other male
characters too, though exerting authority in most aspects, are submissive to female characters in one
way or the other. But still, other women characters were shown to be directly obedient to men, in some
cases they were shown only as a tool for sex and lust, the notable scene for this would be the live show
in one of the bars in the novel.

In a way or another, Cave and Shadows unmasked the real face of the society, humanizing it, without
the traditions and beliefs that cover its being.

If I have to compare the novel Cave and Shadows to something, it is from people. Why? Because you
can’t see the real personality of a person by looking on them unless you know them very well or you’ve
studied every single detail of their life, soul and personality. They say that people who smiles a lot hides
more pain than the one who’s not. Thus, you will not know your real society if you will not embrace your
society first.

Carlos Peña Romulo was a Filipino diplomat, statesman, soldier, journalist and author. He was a reporter
at 16, a newspaper editor by the age of 20, and a publisher at 32. He was a co-founder of the Boy Scouts
of the Philippines, a general in the US Army and the Philippine Army, university president, President of
the UN General Assembly, was eventually named one of the Philippines' National Artists in Literature,
and was the recipient of many other honours and honorary degrees. Romulo had great life during her
younger years. I’m wishing that I can be like them but not as a national artist. I’m okay with serving my
country just by simply doing what’s morally right. I’m proud to become a Filipino because Filipinos are
known for being resourceful, friendly and happy people despite of the problems in their society.

In the writing of Carlos P. Romulo “I am a Filipino” I have learned some

distinct characteristics of being a Filipino and those are; a Filipino is really
brown-skinned creature, a Filipino is having the vision of democracy, a
Filipino is a child of East and West, a Filipino is a inheritor of the glorious
past, a Filipino is giving value to the memories of the past, a Filipino is born
of freedom, a Filipino is having the courage to face the new day, in Filipino’s
blood runs the immortal seed of heroes, and most importantly a Filipino has
the fear of the Lord.

I can apply the things I have learned by respecting not just a Filipino like me.
But also other, other’s cultures and traditions and people. It doesn’t matter
that a people with different race, age, state, color should not be respected. We
are all equal made by God. Another way is serving the country with your own
means. As a student, studying hard will do. To become a future liberal
Filipino citizen possesses veracity and moral uprightness is also the country’s
honor as yours.