Kung Mangarap Ka't Magising (1977, Mike de Leon)

I am a huge fan of films megged by Mike de Leon. I've yet to encounter a de Leon film that disappoints me. What makes it doubly amazing is the fact that, just like Stanley Kubrick, he dabbles into various film genres, turns them inside out, and still comes out with unique, masterful films such as the thriller Kisapmata, the horror pic Itim, the musical-comedy Kakabakaba Ka Ba?, the political film Sister Stella L., the short feature Aliwan Paradise, and the dreamy tale, Kung Mangarap Ka't Magising. The latter can shame most romance films churned out by Star Cinema and GMA Films.

I love Kung Mangarap Ka't Magising for a variety of reasons: the luminous presence of Hilda Koronel, the evolution of Joey's Theme, the romantic Baguio setting, the comedic touches, and the sure hand of de Leon's direction.

Hilda Koronel is one of local cinema's loveliest actresses. Boots Anson Roa, in her radio program, said that Koronel and Amalia Fuentes are the only ones that can be cited as picture perfect. Their heavenly faces register well in any camera angle. In this de Leon film, a student gives Ana (Koronel) a rating of 21 out of 21. Breakdown of the scoring is 10 for her beauty and an ace for her sexy body. Indeed, I've never seen Koronel this alluring before. Her initial appearance in the film has her in a bra-less dress. It is no wonder that all eyes are on her.

Ana is a young lady burnt out from an early marriage. She visits her cousin Cecile (Laurice Guillen) in Baguio to get away from her problems and also to finish her term paper. She meets Joey (Christopher de Leon), a direction-less UP Baguio student who is a prime candidate for magna and summa dishonors (ie. magna-nine years / summa-mpung taon sa kolehiyo).

Ana and Joey goes out on friendly dates in romantic Baguio. Cue in scenes showing them sharing an umbrella during a rainy day, having a picnic in mist-covered surroundings, and offering a shoulder to cry on. Add in laugh-out-loud scenes such as the South China Sea-viewing sidetrip and Cecile's putdowns of Joey. Sounds like a Star Cinema film? Well, not quite. The music scoring plays a key part. The evolving theme song is heard in varying degrees. It reflects the thoughts of the pensive Joey. Every good thing and bad thing that occur becomes fodder for song lyrics. A second viewing of the film will reveal the wonder of the song's creation. The beauty of using an original song is the audience doesn't have a clue on how the story ends. On the other hand, titles of Star Cinema movie themes are clear giveaways.

Mike de Leon is a scion of Narcisa 'Sisang' de Leon, head of the LVN film studio. Doña Sisang, along with producer Mother Lily Monteverde, was recently featured in a book of top women in Asian film cinema. Monteverde's Regal Films is responsible for the slew of commercial hits such as the Shake Rattle and Roll films and also critically acclaimed movies such as Manila by Night, Scorpio Nights, and Sister Stella L. On the other hand, Doña Sisang's LVN Pictures is a defunct movie studio known for award-winning films such as Biyaya ng Lupa and Anak Dalita. The company ceased producing film in 1980. The studio's penultimate offering, Kung Mangarap Ka't Magising, is a collaboration of Doña Sisang's son Manny de Leon and his child Mike de Leon.

In an informal survey conducted by the Philippine Daily Inquirer in 2009, Kung Mangarap Ka't Magising was chosen as the best Baguio film by most of the participating movie reviewers and film afficionados. The film's portrait of the city as clean, calm, cool, and romantic must be a big factor in its selection. A participant noted the film's ditching of the tendency to show tourist attractions.The other films mentioned include Bakit Yellow ang Gitna ng Bahaghari?, Dear Heart, and Baby Love. A strong contender but was not mentioned is Dinig Sana Kita. The latter and Baby Love dealt with love happening in the midst of camps in Baguio.

Baguio as a romance magnet? Hmmm, that's probably one of the reasons why P-Noy visited the city. Makapunta nga rin.

Forum on Mike de Leon's Sister Stella L

Cine Adarna, UP Diliman, Quezon City (March 20, 2009) – Award-winning actress Vilma Santos and showbiz colleagues shared their stories at a forum dealing with Mike de Leon's Sister Stella L. The reunion was part of the 25th anniversary celebration of the film.

The seven panelists were Vilma, actress Laurice Guillen, scriptwriter Pete Lacaba, production designer Cesar Hernando, producer Mother Lily Monteverde, film critic Mario Hernando, and film academician Roland Tolentino.

Mother Lily and Vilma narrated that they cried during the first showing day of the film in 1984. The film suffered a severe box-office beating by Sharon Cuneta's movie Bukas Luluhod ang mga Tala. The film of the Star for All Seasons was groveling in the dust.

But 25 years later, Vilma's film is still the talk of the town and is rightly recognized as one of the best Filipino films of the 20th century. Roland Tolentino enumerated the three major reasons why the film is a gem of Philippine cinema. He noted the excellent acting by Vilma and the rest of the cast. Laurice Guillen remarked that she had to let go of her stage mannerisms in order to properly portray a nun. It remains a milestone in her acting career. A somewhat embarrassed Vilma admitted that she was clueless on the film’s message during the course of the shooting.

Tolentino also highlighted the social realism of the film. Labor problems, persecution of media, and harassment of nuns were effectively portrayed in the film. A forum listener, Sister Rosario Battung, confirmed that her colleagues were stalked by military men during the Marcos regime. They were being harassed by the police and soldiers. A Kilusang Mayo Uno member said the film was always one of the films viewed at picket lines. Pete Lacaba butted in to say that hopefully the DVD copy was an original one. He also noted that media persecution got worse during the administration of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Radio commentators and print journalists were being killed.

The last one mentioned by Tolentino was the Brechtian ending. Sister Stella L was directly speaking to the audience. She was exhorting the people to take a stand against human rights abuses. Cesar Hernando confirmed that there was a different ending shown at the Venice Film Festival. The festival version showed the monologue by Sister Stella L. It was then followed by a shot of multitudes attending a huge anti-Marcos rally. The courageous film was instructing people to join anti-Marcos rallies!

Mario Hernando said the likes of Sister Stella L may never be produced again. It was made during a time of intense patriotism among the Filipinos. Nowadays, love for country among Filipinos ranks way below love for family, love for career, and love for box-office money. Mother Lily shrugged off from doing more relevant films due to the film’s poor showing at the box office. It was a surprise then to hear Mother Lily saying that she plans to do another Sister Stella L during the forum. I had a blast seeing the eyes of the usually stoic Tolentino nearly pop out.

Lacaba touched on the genesis of the script. Mon Isberto wrote a script on nuns involved in agrarian reform. The script metamorphosed into a Lacaba story dealing with an activist nun in the city. During pre-production, Lacaba begged off from editing the script. He was then working on what would be Bayan Ko: Kapit sa Patalim. De Leon and Jose Almojuela were the ones who pruned Lacaba's script. Ellen Ongkeko added some dialogues.

De Leon and his crew had an easy time shooting the film. Cesar Hernando said it was one of the easiest shoots of a de Leon film. The real reason may have been the professionalism and efficiency of the film crew. Vilma shared the story of how the crew worked into the night preparing for the next day’s shooting. She loves to work with de Leon again. She hopes de Leon will make more films. That is also the fervent wish of countless local film buffs.

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Film trivia:

Sangandaan - Film producer Marichu Vera Perez found the original title of the film to be too serious and suggested Sister Stella L as title

Sister Stella L - During research, Pete Lacaba interviewed several Stella Maris nuns. He decided to use Stella as the activist nuns' first name. The shortened surname was cribbed from Sophia Loren's film Lady L

Republic Oil Factory - the setting for the fictional factory is a true factory owned by producer Mother Lily Monteverde

Kung hindi tayo kikilos, sino ang kikilos? Kung hindi ngayon, kailan pa? - The immortal lines were coined by Ditto Sarmiento, editor-in-chief of The Collegian