SARI-SARING SINENG PINOY

Batingaw

Batingaw (Roda Films) is a resounding piece of social drama. The film is unprecedented in its attempt to dramatize a nagging social dilemma, that of uncontrolled population growth in commercially acceptable forms and norms. It is aimed at redirecting our sense of identity and reality, educating the populace on the fringe benefits offered by family planning. Its appeal comes from straightforward familiarity with the problem and the people's idiom. The plot concerns not just a church bell but more significantly, the church bell as a symbol to the people, home, community and the inter-relationships at work in a small fishing village used as microcosm of Philippine rural community. On a sociological level, Batingaw is the story of a Filipino family whose archetypes are faithfully delineated through their economic, social and political positions. The town of San Jose is a place of large families. The fathers are fishermen, the mothers, plagued by a teeming brood are harassed by economic insecurity while the children are neglected by their elders. It is a community where the men make procreation a pastime with wives who are wittingly or unwittingly exploited, who at childbirth curse their husbands who keep themselves busy by drinking.

It is the children, whom parents think are investments for old age and reduced to being household props, cause the hostilities but finally bridges the gap between their class differences. The affluent fishing magnate Mr. Franco (Nello Nayo) and the lowly driver Mang Indo (Van de Leon) represent the feuding families. Mr. Franco's son Rudy (Zaldy Zshornack), a vacationing medical intern and daughter Baby (Djhoanna Garcia) are determined to make it out with Mang Indo's children, Lydia (Boots Anson-Roa) and Eddie (Walter Navarro) respectively, in spite of their father's protestations and attitude. One of the most powerful scenes in the movie is Padre Castro's (Vic Silayan) call for responsible parenthood in his Sunday homily where he criticizes the town's mothers and fathers for their lack of moral responsibility. Lack of logical continuity from scene to scene is evident, the cinematography, hazy at times and the direction tends to be too stationary. What makes up for these impurities is the dialogue. The lines never fail to elicit favorable reaction. The performances are also commendable, especially those of Van de Leon and Boots Anson-Roa for they provide a dramatic tour de force and a sense of tragedy to the film. The pacing is just right, the locales, well photographed and the idiosyncrasies of rural life interpreted vividly by a company of people who take Filipino cinema seriously. The meticulous research and the filmmakers' good intentions is enough to make the bells toll loud and long for these people's courage to turn the tide.

Directed By: Pablo Santiago
Screenplay: Ding M. de Jesus And Tommy C. David
Director Of Photography: Jose Batac, Jr.
Music: Restie Umali
Film Editor: Augusto Salvador
Production Design: Buboy Bautista
Produced By: Roda Films
Release Date: March 8, 1974