Moral then and now according to direk Marilou Diaz-Abaya

"In Fukuoka, more than anywhere else in Japan or in the world where I have been in the company of Sato-sensei for the last two decades, I have learned my most important lessons as a filmmaker. The first is to work on each film as if it were my last. The second, to be unafraid of failure. The third, and above everything else, is to detach from both pain and glory." – Excerpt from a book in progress called MOONlit SEAsons by Marilou Diaz-Abaya

In her latest film, Marilou Diaz-Abaya comes up with a heart-tugging portrait of friendship among four women after two decades.

From the first Moral to this masterpiece of a sequel aptly titled Pagsasamang Kay Ganda… Noon at Ngayon, Joey (Dina Bonnevie) has come to terms with her mother (still played by Laurice Guillen), Sylvia (played by Cherry Pie Picache) has become a perplexed mother of three (played by Paolo Contis, Jericho Rosales and Jodi Sta. Maria) and Marites (played by Eula Valdez) metamorphosed into a domineering mother of an unreasonably obedient son (played by Marvin Agustin). There is still a trace of a struggling singer in Kathy (now played by Jean Garcia) and her lifestyle is inherited by her daughter (played superbly by Aiza Marquez).

This is a film that is likely to appeal to both the young and old and while most sequences are likely to elicit both laughter and tears, there is something about this movie that transcends basic emotion. For once, it shows how vastly different this generation is from the earlier generation and from both sides, the film shows the way to sublime acceptance. You will walk away from this film doubly content with your humanity and generously rewarded by excellent performances from the cast. Cherry Pie Picache as the confused mother of three – one is gay (Paolo Contis), another is an unmarried mother (Jodi Sta. Maria) and the last is an aspiring artist (Jericho Rosales) who fell in love with, surprise, Joey (Dina Bonnevie) – comes up with a winning performance.

"Ano na ang itatawag mo sa akin ngayon, Mommy?" Cherry Pie hollers at Dina Bonnevie in this funny confrontation scene when she finds out her son had fallen in love with her best friend.

The comic parts of the film could send moviegoers rolling on the floor but the poignant moments are equally superb. Like the death scene of Laurice Guillen, a past revealed between Dina and her young lover and scenes of acceptance and forgiveness between Dina and Laurice.

Picache is a contender for Best Actress in this film and so does the rest of the superb cast led by Laurice Guillen, Jean Garcia, Eula Valdez and Dina. But Paolo Contis may just get a grand slam for Best Supporting Actor as the gay son of Cherry Pie.

In sum, Marilou Diaz-Abaya has come up with yet another well-made film that can stand on its own beside Jose Rizal, Muro-Ami, Bagong Buwan and Sa Pusod Ng Dagat.

She is not inclined to compare the cast of the first Moral to this well-made sequel. The first cast (Gina Alajar, Lorna Tolentino, Anna Marin and Sandy Andolong) according to the filmmaker was good for the first and the sequel cast is just perfect for a second version.

Indeed, the first Moral need not be compared to the present version for some reasons. Abaya says that she and script writer Ricky Lee have taken the film elsewhere so that there is no need to recall or to be reminded about the characters and the events of Moral 1.

Explains Abaya: "The film actually departs from the political and feminist realm of the first Moral and journeys into the personal, social and spiritual realm. So the two films belong to vastly different milieu. Noon at Ngayon can be appreciated strictly on its own terms. But I suppose in the context of my body of films, you will find the connection not only between the two Morals but between the first stage of my career and my first trilogy: the feminist Brutal, Moral and Karnal and later trilogy, the very masculine Jose Rizal, Muro-Ami and Bagong Buwan. On the whole, Noon at Ngayon is also consistent with my own development not only as a filmmaker but also as a person. In a sense, I am just coming full cycle to what concerns me as a person. It necessarily departs from my concerns as a very impatient, angry woman during the Martial Law regime and the Ninoy Aquino assassination and goes back to my concerns as a woman in search of peace not only in Mindanao but peace of mind and heart. That is the journey that Noon at Ngayon takes up."

She cannot help but recall the irony of doing the first Moral after her first blockbuster, Brutal, which beat an earlier edition of FPJ’s Panday series in the box office in the early ’80s. She wants to go on record that although Moral has gained quite a cult following and was cited one of the best films of the 1980s, it was panned by most critics except Bien Lumbera and Joel David. Two other persons liked it as well: filmmaker (and now National Artist for Film) Ishmael Bernal who had a nervous breakdown watching it and filmmaker (now also National Artist) Eddie Romero, who was totally charmed by it. Although the first Moral bombed at the box office, it was exhibited at the London International Film Fest and was chosen outstanding film of the year by the British Film Institute. Moral found its audience 10 years later after it opened when it was shown in the retrospective of Ricky Lee at the UP Film Center sometime in 1993.

Recalls Abaya, "It was an SRO audience and all the kids including adults were laughing and crying in all the correct places. They were supposed to 10 years earlier."

Shown every now and then on cable television, Moral was unearthed, gained a highly literate following and proved that in terms of daring and vision, some filmmakers are ahead of their audiences. She recalls that on the year Moral opened, audiences walked out the way they walked out on one of her films, Milagros.

Abaya points out, "Although they didn’t do well in the box office, Moral and Milagros remained for me and Ricky Lee one of our most sentimentally important films."

So how did Pagsasamang Kay Ganda come about?

After her trilogy (Rizal, Muro-Ami and Bagong Buwan), she figured out with Star Cinema what she would do next and she thought why not come full cycle and do something closer to her heart? She has tackled political and social issues in Muro-Ami and Bagong Buwan. And then an idea hit her: why doesn’t she pick up where she left off in Moral 1?

She, along with Ricky Lee, did. They started developing it and the character of Joey (formerly played by Lorna T. and now by Dina) who abandoned her country 20 years ago is compelled to return because her mother Maggie (Guillen) is terminally ill.

Explains Abaya: "Ricky and I have Joey come back and reconcile not just with her mother but with her country and her past. That was the premise."

They agreed to have four women again but in another perspective and decided they could be played by any cast good enough to play the parts. When Abaya presented the idea to Star Cinema, the final script was standing on solid ground. What it needed was not exactly the same cast but a good cast. After she chose Dina Bonnevie, she insisted that Laurice Guillen be retained in her original role because she was going to be the center of the new Moral. In the first Moral, she just played a satellite role as the mother of Joey. In Noon at Ngayon, she is the center and the centrifugal force, not only of the four women, but of their offspring.

Watching the raw rushes of the film, we confirmed what the director thinks about Guillen. "Laurice is outstanding. She has no peer as far as I am concerned. She is in a class of her own at this time in Philippine cinema."

How does she direct someone close to her?

Directing a soul mate, she uses fewer words and fewer explanations and far less effort on her part.

But then she qualifies, "I am not a show-it director. I don’t show my cast what to do. I am really interested in what they have individually and collectively in a psychic sort of way. That to me is the most important part of my directing – when I can identify what in their body and in their inner resources I can draw out to evoke their character and their feelings."

On the whole, she loves the present cast. "They are perfect for this new Moral in the same way that the cast for the first Moral was perfect for it. People are free to make comparisons," she adds.

What was rewarding about working with Ricky Lee in this project and with past films?

Thus far, it is a 20-year-old working relationship.

"I think we are intellectually, emotionally and psychically compatible, almost telepathetic. It has always been a tight collaboration. You find people like that you instantly get to treat as co-artist and with whom you work better than with others. We are basically interested in pursuing the same values, the same dreams and we love to analyze the same problems. So I think that really works well and also because I think that Ricky Lee is open-minded and generous and I’d like to think I am too."

The feeling is mutual when it comes to working with musical scorer Nonong Buencamino who scored most of her major films. She skips the topic of musicians in her first Moral and proceeded to how she got Nonong to find the music for Noon at Ngayon.

"I asked him to take a look and follow the character of Maggie played by Laurice and when we find how that sounds like, that is how the whole film should sound musically. So there is a lot of maturity, quiet and tenderness and also a lot of cheerfulness in the dying Maggie and a lot of ironies as well. I also asked Nonong to counterpoint the strength of the ensemble. The characters and the performers who play them are I think so powerful that they don’t need any reinforcement from the music. I also think they will be placed in a better relief if the music counterpoints it."

Abaya’s keyword is "chill." Nonong describes it as "unplugged."

She sums it all up: "Whatever it is, the music should soothe and reassure and accompany the major traumas and the roller coaster of emotion. It should lead to the development of emotion to accompany those feelings like a friend rather than another character. It should not impose but rather attend to those emotions as gently as possible."

What Abaya finds in working with Buencamino is exactly the same in what she finds working with Ricky Lee.

She points out, "We are comfortable in common intellectual, emotional and artistic zones. The relationship is also highly psychic and telephatetic. Both have focus and proceeds from knowledge and mastery of their respective crafts. I would say the same thing about the other two persons I love working with, cinematographers Totoy Jacinto and Rody Lacap. What you will find working with Ricky, Nonong, Totoy and Rody are not just compatibility but an integration of our impulses."

The preview reactions for Pagsasamang Ka Ganda are thus far highly positive and will likely bridge the link between critics and audiences. The film connects well and deeply at that but is also entertains.

How does she take the opening of her latest work? Does she worry like any other director expecting how audiences will react to the birth of another baby?

She speaks from experience and hints she had more practice than she can possibly harness.

Stoically, she says, "You know I am more used to rejection than acceptance. This is my 18th or 19th film out of which I only have a handful of box office hits – Brutal, Ipaglaban Mo The Movie, Jose Rizal, Muro-Ami and Bagong Buwan. Since I am more exposed to criticism rather than commercial success, I had a lot of practice keeping calm. Patience and calm are what you need and a lot of trying until you can find that common language with your audiences."

As a person and as an artist, Abaya finds herself loving her audiences more than the film industry itself. She finds this a major turnaround.

She reveals, "It has taken me decades to make friends with my audience. I realized the setback and handicap of a very Western education in which I systematically and methodically exerted to reverse. Because I could see the richness of our audiences from the very beginning even in my TV work. I could sense they have something more important than my Western education could not provide and they are very versatile. The people who loved Ai Ai de las Alas in Tanging Ina are certainly the same people who love and admire Randy David. They are certainly the same audiences who will be moved to tears by the performance of Cecile Licad. It is a very rich and versatile audience. They will avoid a movie if they cannot connect emotionally. It has nothing to do with intelligence."

Meanwhile, scenes from her Bagong Buwan still keep on recurring in Mindanao on a realistic basis. She again scoured the high and low life of Muslimland and documented the entire war zone in another attempt to find and preserve peace.

What did she learn living a dangerous life in the war zone?

"I learned how to suffer gracefully, how to face adversities with calm and dignity. I learned how to conserve what is good about our society. It is when these values are threatened by bullets and bombs that they are better conserved and appreciated. I have stopped comparing miseries. Now, I am truly comparing blessings and graces, specially the blessing of calm, faith and hope."

In conclusion, Abaya reiterates that doing her last four major films (Sa Pusod, Muro-Ami, Jose Rizal and Bagong Buwan) has actually led her to return full circle back to the basics of human emotions.

She concludes, "What profoundly affected me in the war zone was that at the end of the day, you don’t think about politics but go back to the fundamental values of human relationship. You seek your center and that anchor is actually based on how well you love and how well you receive the love of other people. This is what Pagsasamang Kay Ganda is all about.