Best performances by actresses

(Third of a series)

This is my third installment of my list of seasoned actresses and their best performances:

Lorna Tolentino

Moral – The turning point of Lorna’s career – de-glamorized in her role as a free spirit and activist.

Hindi Nahahati ang Langit – It’s fun watching her and Christopher de Leon fight here like dogs and cats.

Maging Akin Ka Lamang – I can’t imagine anyone else doing this role, except LT.

Narito ang Puso Ko – Her most solid performance. You feel her hurt and anguish as a mother who loses her young son to a stray bullet fired irresponsibly at the height of a New Year’s Eve revelry. For her performance here, she earns a grand-slam win.

Bayarang Puso – Her dancing is just as good as her acting.

Pusong Mamon – As the girl who comes between two gay men, the drama queen proves that she, too, can excel in comedy.

Luksong Tinik – The fear in her eyes makes you want to save her and you feel how it is like to have your life in danger.

Magnifico – She has no acting highlights here, but still see what a good actress she is as she blends with the other characters in the movie.

Maricel Soriano

Kaya Kong Abutin ang Langit – She may play to the gallery here, but she delivers what the role requires of her effectively.

Inday Bote – This may not be a pang-award role, but she is at her funniest in this riotous comedy.

Teenage Marriage – The first indication that she is capable of being a serious actress.

Ikaw Pa Lang ang Minahal – Although the role was originally offered to Vilma Santos, Maricel does not disappoint viewers by dishing out an excellent performance as an awkward and spinsterish heiress.

Minsan Lamang Magmahal – The best performance of her career as far as I am concerned.

Mila – Playing an out-of-work teacher, she could have won a lot of awards for this film, except that it was a tough acting contest for women that year.

Filipinas – I saw it again on TV recently and I realized what a powerful performance she delivers in this film.

Charo Santos

Itim – She’s very raw here, but she fills in what is required by the role.

Kisap-mata – To this day, I don’t understand why her outstanding performance in this masterpiece was ignored by the critics.

Gumapang Ka sa Lusak – Her role as First Lady of some obscure town could have been a caricature under another less disciplined actress.

Jaclyn Jose

Chikas – I think I was the only one who appreciated this film when it was shown in 1985, but immediately I noticed Jaclyn Jose playing a mousy girl who has secret desires to go wild. It’s a totally different Jaclyn Jose that you see here and I hope I get a copy of this film to enjoy it again.

White Slavery – She becomes the new toast of the critics in this film – the new Gina Alajar of local cinema.

Takaw-Tukso — She finally gets official approval from critics who name her Best Actress of the Year (by the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino).

Itanong Mo sa Buwan – A role originally played by Snooky Serna on television, Jaclyn puts her own style into the character and wins the second of her four Urian trophies.

Macho Dancer – It’s a supporting role (that of a prostitute who falls in love with Allan Paule), but as always she leaves a marked performance in this film.

The Flor Contemplacion Story – She tries not to get eclipsed by the powerful performance of the lead star, Nora Aunor, succeeds and wins an Urian Best Supporting Actress award for it.

May Nagmamahal sa Iyo – In some of her scenes, you don’t even see her. She only narrates what happens to the kid she rescues from a child abuser – and yet it breaks your heart hearing her recall the incidents that happened to the poor child.

Mulanay – As a doctor to the barrio, she is very convincing – in spite of her very mestiza looks.

(To be concluded)