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[av_heading heading=’‘Himala’ for the first time’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY ROMA GONZALES
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Thursday, April 27, 2017
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“HAVE you already seen Himala?”
Hasn’t it been restored a few years back? I delayed my answer and thought about the days when they would show the grainy black-and-white movie for more than a dozen Lenten seasons when wifi escape was an urban legend and children had to put up with whatever was shown on television because cartoons were too happy, too colorful. I remembered a teenage Nora Aunor. I remembered yawning.
“Not yet,” I said. The next day, I scored a free ticket to see the new version.
The iconic 1982 film’s return to the theaters is part of Cine Lokal, a partnership of the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) and SM Lifestyle Entertainment Inc. For three years, eight SM cinemas will serve as homes to FDCP-curated, award-winning independent films. Fortunately for Ilonggos, SM City Cinema 7 will be a temple to enshrine these works of art.
Until this Friday, Himala will be shown on the big screen where modern audiences can cinematically experience what was once a top-grossing film in the ‘80s, and widely considered as one of the greatest Filipino films of all time.
I am proud to say I have indeed matured since I last saw it as a child. Instead of yawning and quitting it altogether, I managed to get engaged even if I dozed off a few times.
I didn’t know exactly which part I began to worry for Elsa (Aunor), the lead character who claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary and acquire healing powers, or felt the desire myself to leave the arid and desolate barrio of Cupang.
Himala unfolded to me like a novel. Teeming with ironies and parallelisms, one felt the desire to go back and reread the previous paragraphs.
There were a bit too many characters for a movie that tackles heavy themes (faith, religion, morality), but they all seemed necessary to sustain the atmosphere and message it was trying to get across. For instance, the oracle was the blind man. Nimia, the prostitute, was a stark contrast to the miraculous Elsa. The former was portrayed as kindly, even comforting Elsa when the village scorned her, and was at least honest in her lewdness unlike the latter who deceived for gain. In the daylight, people flocked to Elsa’s shrine to get healed. At night, men headed to Nimia’s cabaret where “virgins” and “heaven” are spoken about just as much.
And that famous “Walang himala!” line? It’s profound and powerful; every word deserves the stress. I am sorry for thinking all this time that it was nothing but comedic. Through career stumps, “humoral imbalances”, strained relationships and menstrual cramps, I will try to remember that, “There are no miracles. We make these miracles. We make these curses. Curses, miracles, God. We make them.” Kidding aside, yes, I will.
As Elsa passionately repeats this line before a throng of blind followers, Elsa gets shot to the heart. Bleeding to death, she is raised by the crowd in a crucified position. Despite Elsa’s final plead, one of the women leads the people back to the hill, telling them that Elsa is now a martyr and they should carry on the faith. And despite the slaughter of the stampede, people follow her like meek sheep.
It is never revealed who killed Elsa or why. However, it’s easy to understand how her message can disconcert so many people. It’s always easier to blame fate or God or misfortune with whatever happens in our lives. The idea that we are responsible for our own destinies is scary and daunting. If we can acquire wealth or any desire through prayer, why work for it? If the world is already in so much suffering with different organized religions and gods, how much more in a godless one? And so this is why the films still gets shown internationally and gets dissected in classrooms over and over.
It feels good to bask in this relatively novel experience that was initiated by the recent MMFF. People are used to seeing fast-paced, explosive and colorful films in the theaters, but it’s exciting to think that the indie ones – old or new – will be now projected at a larger screen and to a literally and metaphorically wider audience.
I walked away from cinema 7 with downcast eyes and furrowed brows, still walking through the dusty roads of Barangay Cupang.
I didn’t lie. I haven’t really seen Himala until the other day. (rr_gonzales316@yahoo.com/PN)
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