“PHILIPPINE Cinema is dead!” said Filipinos who are fanatics of foreign films over local movies. Well, I can’t blame them. Admittedly, there are many Filipino films that have nonsensical plots, actors without stagecraft, and cinematography that lacks direction and intention. Despite these failures in technicalities, a reeking and unpleasant smell seems to be lurking, waiting to get loose. Truth be told, I am no expert, but as an enthusiast of classic and a wide variety of genres, I might have learned a thing or two. 

At first, my love for watching movies started in the horror genre, until I was able to learn many branches of horror. It was so disconcerting to know how it can tickle you in many ways and play with your brain in every unimaginable possibility. It really is art! I could say. 

Curiosity wakes the path

While my habit of watching horror films continues, my curiosity killed me. I was intrigued enough to watch classic foreign films, such as The Godfather (1972), Schindler’s List (1993), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), The Shining (1980), and the likes — now, what makes a movie classic is another story to tell. As classic as these films may appear to be, my patriotism was nudging me, thus pushing me to watch classic Filipino films. 

There is no reason to deny that current Filipino films are not what they usually were. Truly, this is something that our nation is trying to resolve or revive, per se. But, then again, my patriotism nudged me harder — I started watching old Filipino movies.

Enduring and struggling

The first classic Filipino movie I watched was, as common as it was, Himala (1982). The movie starts in a poor rural community where everyone thought the world was about to end, leaving them no choice but to have blind faith and fanaticism in Elsa, who claimed to have an apparition of the Virgin Mary. “Mahirap lang tayo. Kung ‘di tayo maniniwala, anong matitira sa atin?” one character said from the film, emphasizing that it is only faith that one can cling to during these times of inequalities and harsh reality. 

Another movie I watched was Oro, Plata, Mata or Gold, Silver, Death (1982). This phrase is known as a Filipino superstitious belief relating to staircases, with the goal to have Oro as a final step to bring good fortune. But the movie’s setting was during World War II, where elite, classist, and exploitative families are forced to get out of their prosperity and face the reality of war and violence, simply implying that wealth does not shield anyone from Mata or death. 

For Maynila: Sa Mga Kuko Ng Liwanag (1975), it is a film that confronts Julio, who grew up in the province, as he navigates his life in Manila while looking for his gone-astrayed significant other. Julio experiences how hard it was to survive as he sleeps with an empty stomach while a job that may devour his dignity lingers around him. 

There are many other films to tackle but most of them are harder to watch because of it being too vintage and blurry enough not to understand anything at all. This pushed me to watch current films with no certainty of it being good. 

Pamilya Ordinaryo (2016) is a movie that lured me into watching more Filipino films. It showcases a teenage family that lives on the streets of Manila wherein, when their baby was kidnapped, they were forced to face the reality of sexual abuse, deception, and violence as they try to ask help from people. It intends to let the viewers enter into a loop of hope, only to be left frustrated and disheartened. 

Other movies like Kung Paano Hinihintay ang Dapithapon (2018) and Mahal Kita, Beksman (2022) are Filipino movies that did not bring me to tears but provided me numerous perspectives in different circumstances. In Kung Paano Hinihintay ang Dapithapon (2018), it made me realize that love is a feeling that you have to work on with your loved ones each and every day. Mahal Kita, Beksman (2022) depicts a feminine man who is claimed as gay by his family but he takes on the challenge to prove that he is straight by doing activities that a man usually does — as society claims. But later comes with the realization that he should not be defined by what society declares it to be. 

Never did I regretted

Now, I may have made my point that there are Filipino films still worth watching afterall. But looking at these from a broader perspective, Filipino films, whether old or new, are trying to tell us something. A message that it has been trying to convey to us since the 90s.

If books try to tell us something, movies also have a message that it would like to convey to the audience. Throughout these walkthroughs of Filipino movies, there is one repeating theme that was always present: poverty, corruption, and violence. Just how Jose Rizal used storytelling to reveal the oppression of Spaniards, cinematography is used to help us Filipinos face the harsh realities we, until now, refuse to confront. 

The themes that these movies tried to partake in were no imagination but based on a reality we endlessly endure. It has been decades since Himala was released, yet it remains relevant, why? — because just like that community, many still practice blind faith just so they can falsify the challenges they experience as a mere test. Was Pamilya Ordinaryo an exaggerated film? No. Their chances of receiving help were as small as a needle’s eye since the start of the movie, and simply because of their status, they are taken advantage of. That just shows how impoverished some people are, not only in life but also in hope.

Was the circumstances in Kung Paano Hinihintay ang Dapithapon only happen in movies? No. There’s no magic or luck for one to have a long-term marriage, rather it lasts long due to the hard work these partners put into to keep their love lasting. The rise of failed Filipino marriages is not rare, despite the absence of a divorce law. In Mahal Kita, Beksman, men are portrayed to do and enjoy grunt work, but genders should not be defined based on one’s clothing or convention. Our society is now ignorant enough to not know how to distinguish one's gender.

Now, is Philippine Cinema dead? We may have different answers to that, but there is one thing I’m sure of: something is rotting.