Kung Mangarap Ka't Magising (LVN Pictures, Inc., 1977) comes close to perfection. Inspired casting and performances, exquisite design and photography, a witty and well-crafted screenplay, empathic yet nuanced direction. The film never flags from the opening title sequence to the closing ballad Umaga Na Naman, the music in between, integrated into the narrative rather than imposed upon it, reflects the loving attention to detail that informs the movie throughout. Mike de Leon shows great affinity for the material, a director with a gift for making flawed characters likeable. Everyone in the film, no matter how brief his or her part, comes across fully formed and gets the little things right. Detail and clarity have benefited from the restoration with excellent stabilization improvements. There are minor contrast fluctuations and a few shaky transitions but this is the most stable and balanced presentation of the film that I have seen to date. The high-quality scanning has ensured that grain is evenly distributed throughout the entire film. Many of the outdoor sequences, for instance, look quite beautiful. Unfortunately, there are also traces of light filtering corrections. As a result, image depth isn't as impressive as it should have been. In select areas the filtering corrections have also affected the balance between blacks and grays. Natural fading also contributed in a couple of sequences, but the effect is very different. As a result, existing detail has been lost introducing some flatness to the image. Despite the sporadic unevenness it is difficult not to agree that this is the best Kung Mangarap Ka't Magising has ever looked. However, the film could have been absolutely magnificent on high-def.
Clarity and depth are good, although there are segments where it immediately becomes clear that time must have irreversibly impacted the native qualities of the surviving elements because some small fluctuations remain. These can range from sporadic thinning of the audio to weaker than usual high-frequencies. On the other hand, it is very possible that some additional work was done to further attenuate hiss and other noticeable age-related imperfections. This new restoration of Mike de Leon's Kung Mangarap Ka't Magising will certainly remain as the definitive presentation of this feel good romance. The technical work is magnificent and there are truly dramatic improvements with some digital adjustments that have been added after the scanning and the repair work, which I think are not entirely appropriate. Nevertheless, this release earns a glowingly high recommendation based on the strength of the film and its accompanying technical presentation.
Screenplay: Rey Santayana, Mike de Leon
Musical Director: Jun Latonio
Cinematography: Francis Escaler, Mike de Leon
Production Design: Mel Chionglo
Sound: Ramon Reyes, Luis Reyes
Editing: Ike Jarlego, Jr.
Direction: Mike de Leon
