In a class of her own

There is no other actress in Philippine cinema quite like Rosanna Roces. In the beginning, when she was already exhibiting potential as an actress in spite of her sexy image, people were starting to liken her to her namesake in the movies: Rosanna Ortiz, who began as a bomba star, but was eventually hailed best supporting actress (for her performance in the original Patayin Mo sa Sindak si Barbara) in the 1974 Asian Film Festival.

Rosanna Roces, however, turned out to be a lot more accomplished as an artist than Rosanna Ortiz and, in fact, became a far bigger star – in a class all by her own.

Rosanna Roces was still Anna Maceda (her original screen name) when I first met her – in 1994 on the set of the now-defunct Showbiz Lingo. At first, I thought she looked a bit like Jessica Pica, a teen star with a sweet image in the early ‘70s who eventually succumbed to the call of bomba pictures. But I was wrong. Rosanna Roces is far more mestiza (of German extraction) than Jessica Pica who, I was told, defeated Hilda Koronel in the Miss Nightowl contest in 1970. Rosanna has finer features, too – with the loveliest hazel eyes I’ve ever seen in my whole life.

Even on our first meeting, Rosanna never hid the fact that she was married. In fact, she pointed out to Cristy Fermin as her ninang sa kasal – while proudly showing off her wedding band.

On our second meeting, Rosanna introduced me to her husband, Tito Molina, son of journalist-jazz artist Lito Molina and grandson of National Antonio Molina. A friend would later tell me that Tito held an important position at the Asian Development Bank and was once a PMAer.

Back then, I knew at once that Rosanna was of a different mold. In spite of the fact that she was associated with trashy sex films, people still took her seriously and sat up to listen to what she was going to say. That made her a favorite guest of many talk shows – particularly Showbiz Lingo. And now, she is an accomplished talk show host herself. Never mind the fact that she now has a libel suit filed against her – courtesy of Jojo Manlongat. Well, that’s part of the job.

In 1995 – in one of the production numbers during the third anniversary presentation of Showbiz Lingo – the public discovered another facet of Rosanna Roces: She can sing. Of course, she’ll never be a Streisand – no, not even in her wildest dreams. But I’ve been to some of her concerts and I discovered to my pleasant surprise that she could, indeed, carry a tune quite well. And how she filled the concert venues to the rafters – very much like the way she’d pack in audiences to her blockbuster movies.

As a performer for a big screen, Rosanna Roces manifested her talent for acting even in her early films. In Celso Ad. Castillo’s Comfort Women (where she was still billed as Anna Maceda), she easily stood out from the rest of the all-female cast despite the fact that she was clearly playing a supporting part.

Even in the exploitative film Basa sa Dagat, Rosanna managed to rise above the hopelessly sordid material by giving a very decent and respectable performance. Quite a feat, I have to say, especially since she’s half naked during most of the screen’s running time.

Then came her redemption in Ligaya and Itawag Mo sa Akin, which finally brought her critical acclaim as an actress. This was followed by Ang Lalaki sa Buhay ni Selya, which – like Ligaya – also achieved both critical and commercial success.

In 1998, she gave an even better performance (along with the other cast members) in Chito Roño’s Curacha: Ang Babaeng Walang Pahinga, which turned out to be an improvement over Roño’s directorial debut, Private Show, 13 years earlier.

Ang Babae sa Bintana proved to be a disappointment for her when it failed to bring her the Best Actress trophy in the 1998 Metro Manila Film Festival.

Katawan – shown in the early summer of 1999 – may not have contributed anything new to local cinema, but at least, it gave her the chance to do a horror film, which I think should be part of the filmography of any major actress.

Her 1999 sex comedy, the vulgar and coarse Tina Moran: Palaban however, is best not discussed anymore.

But her new movie, La Vida Rosa, will surely be the most discussed film of the season. I’ve already reviewed this movie in this column two weeks ago. But since ths is a major film, there is still a lot more to say about this latest Chito Roño opus – particularly the performance of Rosanna Roces.

Although all the members of the cast (and this is without exception) give exceptional performances, Rosanna is really the life – la vida, if you must insist – of this wonderful film called La Vida Rosa. And she’s great at it.

Movie audiences will surely be thrilled to see her playing the role of a wise-talking con artists who lives a life of crime for the sake of her family.

It is admittedly a very difficult part and can only be translated magnificently on the big screen for as long as the performer is talented, mature and a hundred per cent focused on the role. Good for Rosanna Roces, she happens to possess all three qualities.

As a result, she turns in a landmark performance that is not seen in every other local film.