History of Philippine Cinema 3

1960s

Characterized by the so-called bomba pictures, James Bond and western spin-offs. It was also the era of musical films starred by mostly Sampaguita Pictures discoveries.

The studio systems came under siege from the growing labor movement, which resulted in labor-management conflicts. The first studio to close was Lebran followed by Premiere Productions. Next came Sampaguita and LVN. The "Big Four" studios were replaced by new and independent producers like Regal Films, which was established by Lily Monteverde in 1962.

The decade also saw the emergence of the youth revolution best represented by the Beatles and the rock and roll. As a result of this, certain movie genres were made to cater to this "revolt". Fan movies and teen love team-ups emerged, showing Nora Aunor and Vilma Santos, along with Tirso Cruz III and Edgar Mortiz as their respective screen sweethearts. In addition, movie genres showing disaffection to the status quo during the era were also popular. Action movies with Pinoy cowboys and secret agents as the movers of the plots depicted a "society ravaged by criminality and corruption".^[3] Another kind of youth revolt, implying rejection of adult corruption, came in the form of movies featuring child stars. At the end of this decade, another movie genre that embodied a different form of revolt took centerstage. Soft porn movies, more popularly known as bomba films, increasingly became popular, and these films were described as a direct challenge to the conventions, norms and conduct of the society.

Even in the period of decline, several Philippine films that stood out. These include the following films by Gerardo de Leon:

• Noli Me Tangere (Touch me Not) in 1961;
• El Filibusterismo (Subversion) in 1962;
• Huwag mo Akong Limutin (Never Forget Me) in 1960; and,
• Kadenang Putik (Chain of Mud) in 1960.

During this period, Filipino filmmakers became successful in presenting some full length pictures in living Eastmancolor, one of which was Ito ang Pilipino by J.E. Production. This movie was produced and starred by Joseph Estrada himself.^[6]

1970s to early 1980s

Touted as the second golden age of Philippine cinema, this was the period of the avant-garde filmmakers. At the turn of the 70s, local producers and filmmakers ceased to produce pictures in black and white.^[3][6]

The promotional poster of the movie, Kapantay Ay Langit, which won three awards in the 1971 Manila Film Festival, including Best Movie Theme Song for George Canseco's originalcomposition of the same title.

In 1972, the Philippines was placed under the martial rule, and films were used as propagandastic vehicles. Marcos and his technocrats sought to regulate filmmaking through the creation of the Board of Censors for Motion Pictures (BCMP). Prior to the start of filming, a finished script was required to be submitted to the Board and incorporate the "ideology" of the New Society such as, a new sense of discipline, uprightness and love of country. Annual festivals was revived during this period, and bomba films as well as political movies critical of the Marcos administration were banned.^[3]

In spite of the censorship, the exploitation of sex and violence onscreen continued to assert itself. Under martial law, action films usually append to the ending an epilogue claiming that the social realities depicted had been wiped out with the establishment of the New Society. The notorious genre of sex or bomba films that appeared in the preceding decade was still around although it merely showed female stars swimming in their underwear, taking a bath in their chemise, or being chased and raped in a river, sea, or under a waterfall. Such movies were called the "wet look." One such movie was the talked-about Ang Pinakamagandang Hayop sa Balat ng Lupa (The Most Beautiful Animal on the Face of the Earth) in 1974 starring former Miss Universe Gloria Diaz.^[3]

In spite of the presence of censorship, this period paved way to the ascendancy of a new breed of directors. Some of the notable films during this era are as follows:

• Lino Brocka
  • Stardoom (1971)
  • Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang (1974)
  • Maynila: Sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag (1975)
  • Insiang (1976)
• Ishmael Bernal
  • Pagdating sa Dulo (1971)
  • Himala (1981)
• Gerardo de Leon
  • Banaue (1975)
• Mike de Leon
  • Itim (1976)
  • Batch '81 (1982)
• Peque Gallaga
  • Oro, Plata, Mata (1982)

In 1977, an unknown Filipino filmmaker going by the name of Kidlat Tahimik made a film entitled Mababangong Bangungot (Perfumed Nightmare), which won the International Critic’s Prize in the Berlin Film Festival that same year. Out of short film festivals sponsored by the University of the Philippines Film Center and by the Experimental Cinema of the Philippines, young filmmakers joined Kidlat Tahimik by distancing themselves from the traditions of mainstream cinema. Nick De ocampo’s Oliver (1983) and Raymond Red’s Ang Magpakailanman (The Eternal, 1983) have received attention in festivals abroad.

In 1981, as mandated by Executive Order No. 640-A, the Film Academy of the Philippines was enacted, serving as the umbrella organization that oversees the welfare of various guilds of the movie industry and gives recognition of the artistic and technical excellence of the performances of its workers and artists.^[8] Also, that same year, Viva Films began producing movies.

During the closing years of martial rule, a number of films defiant of the Marcos dictatorship were made. Films such as Marilou Diaz-Abaya’s Karnal depicted this defiance in an implicit way in the film’s plot, wherein patricide ends a tyrannical father’s domination. In the same year, Mike de Leon’s Sister Stella L. was shown on the bigscreen, and it was about oppression and tyranny. In 1985, Lino Brocka’s Bayan Ko: Kapit sa Patalim (My Country: Gripping the Knife’s Edge) depicted images of torture, incarceration, struggle and oppression.^[3] During this times, the Philippines ranked among the top 10 film-producing countries in the world, with an annual output of more than 300 movies.^[9]