Maaring ihanay ang Oro Plata, Mata (Experimental Cinema Of The Philippines, 1983) bilang isa sa mga pinakamahuhusay na Pelikulang Pilipino, isang mayabong na epikong maihahalintulad sa mga klasikong banyagang pelikula tulad ng Gone With The Wind (1939), ngunit may mga hantarang impluwensiya din ang Apocalypse Now (1979), The Wild Bunch (1969) , Deliverance (1972) at The Deer Hunter (1979). Kung susuriin ay lubhang napakayaman ng pelikula upang lubusang magagap ito sa isang panooran. Higit na mabibigyang-pansin ang kahusayan nito sa muling panonood ng Oro, Plata, Mata at tuluyang makakahulagpos sa kapuri-puring disenyo ng obra ni Peque Gallaga nang sa gayon ay mabigyang pansin ang mga diyalogo at muling masaksihan ang pagbalangkas ng mahahalagang tagpo sa pelikula. Tatlong eksena sa kabuuan ng pelikula ang tumatatak sa aking isipan. Una ay ang tagpo kung saan ang mga aristokrata ay lumisan sa kanilang mansiyon at makikita ang larawan ng nag-aapoy na plantasyon habang nakasakay ang mga ito sa kalabaw. Kinunan ang eksenang ito mula sa dalawang anggulo. Sa pamamagitan ng slow motion sa saliw ng Humming Chorus mula sa opera ni Puccini, ang Madame Butterfly. Maikukumpara ang tagpong ito sa Burning Of Atlanta, sa Gone With The Wind. Ang malaking kaibahan ay ipinakita sa pelikula ang hilera ng mga kalabaw laban sa nag-aapoy na lupain, isang eksenang tunay na Pilipino. Ang ikalawang pagkakataon ay ang di malilimutang pagpapahiwatig ng mahusay na iskrip at pagganap sa mga tagpong naglalaro ng mahjong at ang paggamit ng huntahan bilang punto de bista ng mga manlalaro. Halimbawa'y nang may itanong si Dra. Jo Russel (Maya Valdez) kay Tiya Viring (Lorli Villanueva) na mabilis namang sinagot nito sa paraang maaring makisangkot ang manonood sa kanilang usapan ay tunay na nakakaanyaya. Ang ikatlo ay ang eksena ng pakikipagtuos kung saan ipinadama ang desperasyon ni Miguelito (Joel Torre). Dito ipinakita ang buong bigat ng pasananing isinabalikat ni Miguelito. Isang uri ng pagganap na kumikilos, nag-iisip at malalim na umuunawa sa karanasan. Sa tagpong binaril niya ang huwad na diwata (Kuh Ledesma), kinakitaan si Joel Torre ng makabagbag-kaluluwang paglalantad ng saloobing naglahad ng isang kapani-paniwalang pagganap at pagtatapat. Ang labingwalong minutong eksenang ito ay maka
panindig-balahibo at kasunod ang tagpo ng pagpaslang sa pinagtataguan ng mga bandido. Masasabing may kahabaan ang naturang eksena ngunit pinagyabong ni Gallaga ang tagpo upang higit na maging epektibo.
Napapalooban ang Oro, Plata, Mata ng mga tagpong maalam at matatag. Nariyan ang eksenang tinatalupan ng katulong ang mga butong pakwan upang makain ng maramihan ng mga nagma-mahjong. Habang nakapaloob sa kulambo at umaatungal si Tiya Viring nang malamang nawawala ang kanyang mga alahas, si Inday Lorenzo (Fides Ciyugan-Asencio) na humihingi ng tawad sa mga santo dahil hindi niya madadala ang mga ito, nariyan din ang tagpo kung saan may isang gamu-gamong dumapo sa larawan ni Kristo bago tinangay ng mga bandido si Trining (Cherie Gil), habang nagbubukas ng de-latang adobo ang katulong upang iluto ito, si Hermes Mercutio (Ronnie Lazaro) nang sumugod sa ikalawang pagkakataon sa parehong silid upang muling barilin ang isang patay nang bandido at pansumandaling pagnilayan ang kanyang pagkakamali, ang mga ilaw ng malaking mansiyon sa hacienda habang isa-isa itong pinapatay bago nagsilisan ang mga naninirahan at ang dalawang ulit na pagbasak ng antigong orasan. Di rin matatawaran ang masusing paggamit ni Gallaga ng musikang pinagsama-sama ang mga katutubong tugtuging Bisaya, mga piling opera mula kina Puccini, Donizetti, Tosti Von Flotow at Saint-Saens. Ang Oro, Plata, Mata ay isang tunay na likha ng sining. Ipinamalas ng pelikula ang proseso ng kasaysayan bilang lakas na lumilikha sa sambayanan sa imahe ng mga pinagtutunggaliang identidad. Higit na mapaphalagahan ang pelikula dahil sa paglikha ng panananaw kung saan nagaganap ang kasaysayan hindi bilang engrandeng pangyayari kundi bilang pang-araw-araw na pakikibaka Sa pamamagitan ng pelikulang ito ay maihahanay si Peque Gallaga sa mga manilikhang tulad nina Brocka, Bernal, de Leon, Castillo at Romero bilang isang mahusay na direktor ng Pelikulang Pilipino.
Direksiyon: Peque Gallaga
Dulang Pampelikula: Jose Javier Reyes
Sinematograpiya: Rody Lacap
Musika: Jose Gentica V
Editing: Jess Navarro
Disenyo: Don Escudero at Rodell Cruz
Produksiyon: Experimental Cinema Of The Philippines
17 (mga) puna:
I've watched this epic film more than 20x and still can't get tired of watching it. The grandeur, scope and atmosphere all jibe in to create one of the best visuals to appear in a local period film. Any new moviegoer will always ask the question based on my experiences......what's the true character of Kuh Ledesma? There will always be flaws like the disappearance of some characters like Tating, Viring & Jo Russell no longer around on the last party scene, but Gallaga always indulge us on those beautiful shots and images!
From its original title of THE JUNGLE STORY, Gallaga shows us both the positive and negative side of the war inflicted on the two aristocratic clans whose lifestyle can't be broken amidst the grim realities and horror of the war! I will always thank him for making this movie and also serve as my inspiration that we can do an outstanding film with limitless budget and excellent actors around. But I simply don't want to experience the Third World War.
Oro, Plata, Mata is one great epic. One gets to appreciate it even more after a second and even third viewing. I can see that Peque Gallaga was inspired by his role in Maro O'Haras Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos. The visuals are truly astounding! as a viewer it made you experience the horrors of war by sheer realism. I still cringe whenever I see the scene where Dra. Joe Russel was treating the wounded soldiers.
It's so good I came across your page.
I have this thing for Filipino movies.
With my thesis partner Yen, we finished "How the Filipino is portrayed in four award-winning films shown abroad (Magnifico, Naglalayag, Mga Munting Tinig, Crying Ladies)"... with a video supplement.
We rushed to Manila to interview the directors, and also had shots at the Mowelfund. Nick deOcampo never fails to support students.. :)
It was one hard work but everything paid off once we collated all the data. Phew.
It's crazy how most Pinoys, especially those "educated" ones, esily brush off Filipino films just because they're locally-produced. They get to be extra-critical in Filipino films, and yet ready to forgive some of those poor-quality films...just because they're "hollywood-branded."
The upper class never watched a Filipino film, that's my observation everytime a good Filipino film comes around, best example is MAGNIFICO which only last 3 days in theatres. People are so spoonfeed by Hollywood so much that's why our own films never make it at the box-office. Funny thing is the Ayala's were around during Oro's 20th anniversary at Greenbelt Cinema 3 years ago which was sponsored by Jessica Zafra's FLIP MOVIE CLUB.
hi Vera!
first i would like to congratulate you on your thesis, your hard worl was paid off. when i first saw Oro, Plata, Mata at the Manila Film Center during the opening night for the 1983 MIFF there were actually a lot of those so-called "educated ones' in the crowd and they were actually the first ones to applaud several key scenes in the movie. of course there are also the occassional "pa-impress type" but they were very few. i'm glad to learn that film students like yourself brushing up on the classics and thanks again for visiting the site!
hi Onat!
i remember you mentioning something about OPM's 20th anniversay screening. is this the one kung saan nasunog 'yung print?
Yep that's it, Jo! I must confess that I always watch OPM whenever a festival will include this film. During its screening Peque explained that Kuh's character was really longer in the 5 hour version that he made. I was actually rejected when it was first shown at Manila Film Center and I ended up with my yaya at Harrison Plaza instead.
if I were in Manila I'll probably do the same. Here in NY kahit ilang beses ko nang napanood ang movie I still attend screenings at various film festivals to show my support. I watched OPM during it's theatrical run as part of the MIFF and to my surprise they showed the same version that was screened sa MFC. Months later they showed the movie again this time nationwide pero ang daming cuts.
Can you imagine OPM, Liza Lorena taking over the role of Maya Valdez, Boots Anson Roa as Nena Ojeda and Albert Martinez as Miguel Lorenzo?
Ricky Lee was the first choice of Peque to write the script, but he rejected it, and I dunno how it got into Joey Reyes' hands?!
Liza Lorena may not be as brave as Maya Valdez but she sure could inject a little more sensitivity to Dra. Jo Russel. The role of Miguel Lorenzo was originally offered to Albert Martinez but he had some schedule conflict that's why he cannot shoot on location for months. Joel Torre's original role was that of Lucio. It would've been interesting to see how they woul've played the roles. As for Ricky Lee, he never mentioned that Peque wanted hin to write the script for OPM. As far as I know when Peque submitted the script it was already written by Joey Reyes who was one of the regular contributors for Champoy.
Joey Reyes used to write for Champoy? I think Viring's character was to balance and get the attention of the masa. Maya Valdez still regret the topless scene that she did in OPM. Weird, it was actually Ronnie Lazaro in the still pic of Oro in the falls in my Flip Mag, that scene was probably cut already in the movie.
oh yeah Joey used to write gags for Champoy... i wonder why Maya Valdez regretted doing that nude scene in OPM. it was surprising at first but were integral to her character's development. she's supposed to be a very sexual woman and she exemplified that to a T.
napakaganda ng pelikula. hinatak ako nito pabalik sa lagim ng digmaan. nakakapanood din ako ng pelikulang may sangkap na sekswal ngunit sa pelikulang ito, sa aking opinyon ay masyado akong nalunod sa dami ng mga eksenag seksuwal. medyo napaisip lang ako. kahit pala sa ligalig na sandali at sa panahon na ang buong sitwasyon ay balot ng sindak gaya ng digmaan, ay maari pa ring sumubo mula sa tao ang ganoong kainit na mga silakbo ng laman. malaya, kahit anong oras. Dahil kaya sa estado ng kanilang buhay bilang mga mayayaman at silang mga kabataan kung saan kulang ang kanilang pagkakayapak sa katotohanan ng sitwasyon? na sa halip na unahin ang lubos na kaligtasan ay mas maluwag at tila, mas prayoridad nilang naihahayag ang alab ng kanilang seksuwal na pangangailangan. naihambing ko tuloy ang pelikulang ito sa "tatlong taong walang diyos" na kaya ang sekswal na bahagi ng kuwento na dinaan sa dahas at hindi prayoridad ng mga nasa gitna ng digmaan ay dahil sila'y mahirap lamang...opinyon ko lang naman.
sa kabuuan, napakaganda ng pagkakadirihe. kalidad na pang Oscar ito. naisali ba ito for Oscar's best foreign film noong panahong iyon?
teka, parang may natatandaan din ako noon na nagkaroon ng kaunting kuwestiyon ang ilan tungkol sa titulo na di umano'y hindi angkop ang translation - "gold, silver, death".. di ako iyak dito.
The Mata section was the longest part in this epic, its original title was really THE JUNGLE STORY. Peque's original idea was to set up this civilized people and how they will cope up in terms of politics, sex and survival. I still wish the 5 hour cut exists. Saw it again last weekend, and I'm still gushing until now!
Hi Jojo,
It's an exercise of excess - which is both its strength and its weakness. It's a triumph of production design. I like it better now than when I saw it the first time.The overlong fight sequence in the end still bores me to death. Still it's an impressive piece of indulgent cinema, and I mean it in a good way.
Regards,
RSE
Oro is a difficult film to watch unlike his other movies although it doesn't diminish its greatness. I still think Oro, Plata, Mata still belongs to the pantheon of the best Filipino films ever made. I agree that the fight sequence towards the end could've used some editing to make it more tighter...
I agree, it's one of the greatest pinoy films but storytelling is not one of its greatest strengths. Also I find its sex & violence gratuitous, more for shock value than to further the narrative.
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