Danny L. Zialcita's Si Malakas, Si Maganda at Si Mahinhin (Trigon Cinema Arts, 1980) tells the tale of two people, Billy (Dindo Fernando) and Jane (Elizabeth Oropesa), both practicing homosexuals who uncharacteristically meet, live together, marry for convenience, fall in love, propagate and come to terms with each other. Unemployed and firmly out of the closet, Billy doesn't mind going into Jane's to shape up her life. Shortly, Jane's sexual preferences are revealed with the arrival of her date, Candy (Alma Moreno). The scenes depicting all of this, as well as a deftly handled subplot, seem to drag, becoming self-indulgent and presumptuous only when dealing with the first months of marriage and expectant fatherhood. Here, the movie hits us over the head with the fact (dealt with up to this time in an appealing matter-of-fact way) that he's gay, she's gay and look! they can get married, have sex and isn't it great, they're normal? The screenplay and Fernando's performance in these scenes play up the misplaced awe and false airs that should not be there. The fact that Billy falls in love with a woman, stops sleeping with guys and is happy doesn't make him special. The movie seems to think so and attempts to prove this in several scenes. When Billy finds out he is going to be a father, he gets silly and acts like he's done something no one else has done before. Suddenly, he and Jane are perilously close to conventional domestic strife. Expectant fathers (and mothers) have a right to be proud and happy, but being fanatical about it just doesn't fit.
When the movie drops this unnecessary pomp of gay awareness and specialties, and gets back to realities, the story and performances shine. Oropesa is a born actress and talented performer. Her role as Jane is filled with a gamut of human emotions and she handles the role superbly; she is both believable and enigmatic. The role of Billy is a fine test of Fernando's talent, but he still falls into play-acting at times which jars his overall performance. He convincingly plays the role so that his personality traits need not change although his sexual preference does. When he shouts out his sexuality, his performance falters. And Moreno is terrific too. The subplot dealing with Jane's ex-lover, Julie (Suzanne Gonzales) and her reluctance to accept Jane as being suddenly straight and married, is a remarkably played asset to the story. And in thinking back, it needed one. Gonzales' performance is wondrous in that the fear, anxiety and hysteria over losing Jane are never overplayed or made to seem preposterous. Her scenes with Oropesa are among the best in the film. With so many right aspects blended together to create Si Malakas, Si Maganda at si Mahinhin, it is disappointing to have to realize the shortcomings. Perhaps because the theme, characters and plot are appreciably different from most movie fare and therefore difficult to capture onscreen, the failings stand out much more. Luckily, the overall quality, sincerity, fresh humor and truth smooth the rough spots making Si Malakas si Maganda at Si Mahinhin worth revisiting because it tries hard and (almost) makes it.
Directed By: Danny L. Zialcita
Screenplay By: Jojo M. Lapus
Cinematography By: Felizardo Bailen
Film Editor: Ike Jarlego, Sr.
Musical Director: Demet Velasquez
Sound Supervision: Rollie Ruta
