Vilmanians should consider this the season for the Star For All Seasons.
Restored versions of three classic movies of legendary actress and current Lipa City, Batangas Representative Vilma Santos are among of the highlights of this year’s Cinema One Originals film festival.
To be screened during the festival are three of Ate Vi’s most acclaimed films: “Tag-Ulan sa Tag-Araw,” “Langis at Tubig” and “Karma.”
Originally released in 1976 and written by Mauro Gia Samonte, “Tag-Ulan sa Tag-Araw” marked Vilma’s first collaboration with Celso Ad. Castillo. Castillo would later direct her in the award-winning films “Burlesk Queen” and “Pagputi ng Uwak…Pag-Itim ng Tagak.”
“Tag-Ulan sa Tag-Araw,” which was one of the first Filipino films to tackle the sensitive issues of incest and abortion, also marked the first team-up of Vilma and Christopher de Leon, who portrayed first cousins that became madly in love with each other.
At the time, Christopher was married to Vilma’s onscreen rival, Nora Aunor. But the palpable chemistry between the two actors led to them being cast as leads in more acclaimed films including Ishmael Bernal’s “Relasyon” and “Broken Marriage.”
The digitally restored and remastered film premiered on Tuesday at Glorietta and was screened again Wednesday at Gateway Cinemas.
“Langis at Tubig,” directed by Danny Zialcita from a screenplay by Baby Nebrida and Zialcita himself, was released in 1980 and dealt with another social issue: bigamy. The late Dindo Fernando won the FAMAS and Metro Manila Film Festival Best Actor award the following year for his memorable portrayal of a mining executive who was sued by his wife (Amy Austria) based in Legaspi City after she discovered that he was already married to another woman (Vilma) in Manila.
The film premiered on Tuesday at Glorietta but is scheduled to screen again on Thursday at Gateway and again on Saturday, also at Gateway.
Another Danny Zialcita film, 1981’s “Karma,” already premiered last month at QCinema International Film Festival but will have two screenings at Cinema One Originals first on November 20 and again on November 24, both at Glorietta.
Zialcita’s fascinating film which he also wrote takes on the theme of reincarnation as Vilma and leading man Ronaldo Valdez play a couple who were ill-fated lovers in the past. Vilma won the Metro Manila Film Festival Best Actress award for this film while co-stars Tommy Abuel and Chanda Romero won the FAMAS supporting acting awards.
The three films are part of Cinema One Originals’ Restored Classics section which also includes Marilou Diaz-Abaya’s “Moral” (set also to premiere this month) and “Karnal,” Celso Ad. Castillo’s “Asedillo,” and Steven Spielberg’s “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”
Previous films of Vilma that have been given a fresh coat of paint by the ABS-CBN Film Restoration Project include Butch Perez’s “Haplos” from 1982 and also starring Christopher de Leon as well as two films that co-stars her with Nora Aunor: Bernal’s “Ikaw ay Akin” also with Christopher de Leon from 1978 and Zialcita’s “T-Bird at Ako” from 1982. Her most recent film to be restored was Chito Roño’s “Dekada ’70” from 2002 where Christopher de Leon again played her leading man while Piolo Pascual played their eldest son.
ABS-CBN Film Restoration Project is a digital film restoration project in partnership with Central Digital Lab. Many of the restored titles, however, were restored in Bologna, Italy by L’Immagine Ritrovata. The restored picture and sound quality depend on the available source material but for the most part, the restoration and remastering of “Tag-Ulan sa Tag-Araw,” “Langis at Tubig” and “Karma” were quite remarkable.
For screening schedules, visit the Facebook pages of Cinema One Originals and ABS-CBN Film Restoration.
