Cinemalaya and Fides Cuyugan

For two consecutive years, i watched two independent films in Cinemalaya that featured a  classical music legend , Fides Cuyugan-Asensio. If last year, she immortalized the  dreamish words "Gigising si Gaspar! Gigising si Gaspar!" in the Cinemalaya indie film “Nino” by Director Loy Arcenas, this year i will remember her for "Ipagdasal na lang natin. Lahat ng nangyayaring ito  ay may dahilan" for her portrayal as Mother Superior in the film "Aparisyon". 

Cinemalaya has always been my favorite venue for watching excellent acting, especially from veteran film and stage performers who effortlessly shine in their meticulous characterization of roles.

Aside from Fides Cuyogan-Asencio  also starring in “Aparisyon” are Jodi Sta. Maria and Mylene Dizon, , Racquel Villavicencio, and Rustica Carpio. The Vincent Sandoval entry explores, in a historical-fiction narrative, the Philippine religious women’s shifting perception of their societal roles during the volatile political climate of early 1970s Philippines. Here is the synopsis of the film:
Unsettled by the stirring of a political conciousness among the nuns in her monastery, a mother superior finds herself in a morally conflicted position after one of the young nuns falls victim to an act of violence.

This  film was shot in a monastery somewhere in Rizal for 8 days. This is a very interesting film specially for those who lived during the Martial Law era. “Aparisyon“ tells the story of contemplative nuns insulated from the ways of the world. Considering their vocation and the distance of their monastery from the city, their bout with brutality was a shocking improbability. The complexities in the life of Sister Remy (Mylene Dizon), an extern nun ­ one who is assigned to run errands outside the monastery for her superiors ­ brought on the tragic-dramatic turn of events in the story. Sister Remy and a newbie nun, Sister Lourdes (Jodi Sta. Maria), figure in a nightmarish scene where Remy manages to escape, but Lourdes unfortunately does not, wreaking havoc on the once-serene monastery life. From hereon, the plot thickens and the (dark) heart of this dramatic thriller unfolds.

In my blog last year for Nino, i wrote that I believe the role of Celia was tailor-made for Fides Cuyugan-Asensio, what with the character’s penchant for opera singing and the like. I also like the representation of the Sto. Nino in child performer Jhiz Deocareza while he is running around the old house with a wood sword and caped/crowned just like the Child Jesus. And in a family drama like this, you can’t help but be engrossed not only with the story, but with how differing personalities are fleshed out on the big screen. I like the scene of the gathering of old friends who sang to Gaspar serenading him as if it is a grand opera night before he died. 

I then noted that Music is also papa's world and passion. He will always sing to us old songs of his generations. He brags that he always won during competitions and his fond memories with his guitars and choirs. I vividly remember when i was a child is his penchant to singing of lullabyes for us to sleep. Then on weekends our house will be filled with reverberating music from his collection of long playing albums of old songs. 

After seeing the film last Sunday, I approached Fides Cuyugan and told her that i liked very much her role. I even mentioned to her that i had two brothers who are priests thus the religious life is not difficult for me to fathom. I oftenly have encounters with the priests, seminarians, and nuns as i am in essense one of their benefactors, a commitment which my parents did when they were still alive.

 I remember the story oftenly told by my father when he was alive, of how proud he was of us, his children. He often stressed that he had nothing to give to us but our future. We did not have money but we had the respect of people, especially the fact that two of his sons entered the priesthood, Fr. Philip and Fr. Stephen. I am still not used to calling them Father, i still prefer "Kuya Wel and Bengbeng In 1999 when i passed my bar exams, the same year . my elder brother, Kuya Welthy or now Fr. Philip, was ordained as priest. Fr.Stephen was ordained in 2008. At first Mama could not accept the fact that two sons chose to serve the lord but later realized, according to Papa, that they gave up two sons but regained the whole religious order as their new sons and daughters. Tuwang-tuwa sya pag tinatawag sila na Papa and Mama Gorecho.The story has it that if there is one priest in the family, the whole clan is blessed up to the third generation. In our case, we not only had one but two brothers into priesthood who belong to the same order, Oblates of Allaince of Twin Hearts (OATH), although they belong to the conservative group of the religious people.  

Fides Cuyugan is more known in the classical music world than in cinema. She  brought classical and Broadway music to Philippine television via her landmark shows “Sunday, Sweet, Sunday” (1969 to 1974) and “A Little Night of Music” (1989 to 2001). And that was really i fondly remembered her   since i normally saw posters of her classical music concerts during my college days in UP Diliman.   

Then she refreshed my memory  that she was in Oro Plata Mata,  a 1982 multi-awarded Filipino film directed by Peque Gallaga, and is considered his most significant contribution to Philippine cinema. It was shown several times during the early of the UP Filmcentre. Set in the Philippine province of Negros during World War II, it tells the story of how two haciendero families cope with the changes brought about by the war.In translation, the movie is also known either as "Gold, Silver, Bad Luck" or "Gold, Silver, Death."  In the film, Fides plays the role of Inday Lorenzo who along with girl friends Jo Russell (Maya Valdez),  Nena Ojeda (Liza Lorena), and  Dona Viring(Lorli Villanueva) try to deny the realities of war by preserving their pre-war lifestyle of playing mahjong and engaging in other activities enjoyed by women of their station. A scene to remember is Fides being raped by Melchor (Abbo de la Cruz), Inday's trusted foreman.  After being offended by a slap from Inday, he takes Inday to a room and repeatedly beats and rapes her, his noble-born former mistress.And she was suited for the role, perhaps in the same manner that her two roles in Nino and Aparisyon which she did  three decades later.     

"Magdasal na lang tayo!" reverberates Fides Cuyugan's lines. Faith is always the best weapon.