A tough act to follow

I was in my early teens when I thought I could be a film critic. I don’t have any qualms seeing any kind of films but hysterics and body language acting don’t sit well with me.

The introduction of National Artists Lino Brocka and Ishmael Bernal’s films, which are treasured as golden harvests in Philippine cinema was a major cause for celebration then. It paved the way for a new standard in the acting department.

The critics’ consistent reviews and recognition of Nora Aunor’s quiet intensity and depth on screen has institutionalized what is all about.

In fact, this standard of acting was substantiated by another National Artist Lamberto Avellana, the most respected director and a film professor in UP during those years, when he said, “Nora Aunor is a perfect film actress. Perfect because in a film, since cameras can do extreme close-ups, the littlest of nuances count a lot. And Nora can do just that. She can show pain, sorrow, ecstasy, fun with just the eyes.”

Armed with this school of thought in acting embodied by the Lolita Rodriguez-Nora Aunor tandem, I saw the duo’s first and only film titled Ina Ka ng Anak Mo. It was directed by one of the greatest Filipino filmmakers, Lino Brocka.

I thought I would merely focus on Stanislavsky’s method of acting of the two drama greats only to find myself engrossed with the film’s controversial plot too. Imagine the mother (played by Lolita) who gave birth to a baby sired by the husband (Raul Aragon) of her social-worker daughter (essayed by Nora)! The prude in me found it quite irreverent at first but a realist philosophy proved it exists in a matriarchal society.

Brocka left no stone unturned to squeeze the pure, the best and the uncorrupted acting moments from the drama queen Lolita and her younger heir to the throne, Nora. The unveiling of truth, the battle in the court, the death scene in the hospital and the rich visuals of silence are the film’s crowning glories. But let me give you a little flashback.

The social worker-daughter, petite but dignified in her stance, alights from a tricycle and asks something from an old woman in front of a rustic house in the countryside in Cebu. She is directed upstairs and and trudges onto a bedroom. By the door, the daughter sees a middle-aged woman who has just given birth to a baby sired by the former’s husband. She is introduced to the half-asleep mother whose figure and voice she knows so well. That woman is her mother!

Stunned by the realization of deceit, the daughter moves back in hushed disbelief while the mother fumbles for repentance. The daughter steps back little by little against the wall as she whimpers in stupor, “Hayup! Hayup! Hayup!”, while the movie camera pans up-close, capturing the depth and breadth of pain, humiliation, shock, and quiet rage all over her face.

Everyone inside the jampacked Gotesco cinema is electrified. Yes, it  the electrifying gamut of emotion on screen brings complete silence in the theater. Everybody seems to have stopped breathing.

That scene has left an indelible mark in my memory as the greatest acting highlight I have seen on the wide screen. I still have to see an actress who can pull a scene so moving a way,  yet blend  dignity and tenderness in that silent rage of hers.

Even Boy Abunda says that “to my mind, it (the scene from Ina Ka ng Anak Mo) remains the most brilliant acting moment in Philippine cinema,”

Later on, Manunuri member Agustin Soto and a host of other critics wrote lyrical paeans to Nora’s great acting, especially in the  death scene of Lolita when Nora shed tears through her left eye only upon the dictates of director Lino. Gee whiz! How did she do that? And guess what her prize for that acting coup was? As documented in movie reports, direk Lino tightly embraced Nora after that take and whispered expletive remarks padded with admiration and awe, “P…I.., napakagaling ng babaeng ito!” (no pun intended).

By the way, Nora adopted her baby brother, the son of her husband at the end of the story. And so she became the mother of her brother…so forgiving…so very Filipino.

For this film, Nora won the Best Actress award at the Manila Film Festival which she shared with Lolita. Nora won  the FAMAS trophy all by herself.

Another Manunuri critic, Isagani Cruz, wrote in the Jan. 26, 1980 issue of TV Times: “Before Ina Ka ng Anak Mo, only Charito Solis could stand up to Lolita Rodriguez. Now, Nora Aunor is on par with both veteran actresses. In fact, Aunor deserves the Best Actress award more than Rodriguez.”

From then on, I watched Nora’s award-winning films which all speak highly of her greatness as an actress.

I saw Himala, Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos, Atsay, Bilangin ang Bituin sa Langit, Naglalayag, Minsa’y May Isang Gamu-gamu, Bona, Bakit May Kahapon Pa, Flor Contemplacion, Andrea, Ang Totoong Buhay ni Pacita M., Bulaklak sa City Jail, Bakit Bughaw ang Langit, Merika, Tinik sa Dibdib, Muling Umawit ang Puso, Sidhi, Igrata, etc.

But for me, Ina Ka ng Anak Mo is by far, my favorite movie of all time featuring the greatest restrained acting ever to hit the silver screen. It’s a tough act to follow.