Best performances by actresses

(First of a series)

When the (delayed) awards season begins late this month, a new set of winners will be crowned as the best of the year – from Best Picture all the way down to Best Sound. Of course, as usual, much of the interest would be focused on the acting winners – particularly in the actress category – and it’s them who get most photographed that evening.

Winning an award actually doesn’t only require talent. It also needs a lot of luck. In the acting department, you may have given an outstanding performance that is worth an acting trophy, but to your misfortune, somebody delivers an even better acting job and you lose by one point. Those things sadly happen, which is why I am starting today a series of articles on the best performances of some of our established actresses in local cinema – regardless of whether or not they won an acting award for it.

Gina Alajar

Brutal – Alajar was already recognized for her acting talent even when she was a child star. In the mid—’70s, Sampaguita Pictures tried to launch her as a teen star via a remake of Cofradia, but this film bombed at the box-office. In 1980, Regal took a chance on her by re-launching her in Diborsyada, a certified box-office hit. While she gave a decent performance here (she’s always good at anything she does on screen), the very exploitative material that capitalized on her even then shaky marriage didn’t sit well with the critics. Two months after the commercially successful exhibition of Diborsyada, however, Brutal was entered in the Metro Filmfest and she won Best Supporting Actress for playing the liberated friend of the heroine (Amy Austria). In the Gawad Urian, a few months later, she was adjudged Best Actress for the same film and she was on her way to becoming one of the finest actresses produced by the Philippine movie industry.

Salome – Prior to the 1981 Gawad Urian, Armida Siguion-Reyna, who produced Salome, was already predicting that Gina Alajar was going to be a runaway winner for Best Actress in this film. Armida didn’t have to be a psychic to know that because that was really an unbeatable performance that Ms. Alajar gave in this Laurice Guillen movie where she played a femme fatale. True enough, she was proclaimed Best Actress (the first to win two years in a row) by the Manunuri.

Kapit sa Patalim (Bayan Ko) – She may not have acting highlights here – which aren’t really necessary for as long as you are consistent – but she plays the part of a laborer’s wife with so much realism all throughout the movie. At the end of the film when her husband (Phillip Salvador) lies dying in her arms, she steals the entire scene without saying a word and uses only her eyes to convey grief and confusion over what is happening around her (media men – no different from vultures – crowd around them taking photos of her bloodied husband’s body). For this, she was rewarded with her third Urian Best Actress trophy.

Biktima – Ali Sotto could have won an acting award for playing the best friend of heroine Alice Dixson in My Other Woman, but Gina Alajar beat her by a few votes for her portrayal of a rape victim in Biktima.

Mulanay – It was a grand-slam win for Gina in the Best Supporting Actress category for playing a fisherman’s wife in this movie.

Nora Aunor

Fe, Esperanza, Caridad – The Superstar was fortunate to have been directed by the master himself (Gerry de Leon) in an episode of this trilogy (Caridad). That early in her career, Aunor already gives an impressive performance, except that the public and the critics didn’t take her that seriously yet as an actress.

Minsa’y Isang Gamu-gamo – Her "My brother is not a pig" dialogue (now a staple in many gay impersonators’ acts) may have been overly cinematic, but Aunor gives a consistently good performance in this daring film that exposes the abuses committed against Filipinos by the American bases in the country in those days.

Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos – This is what I call a truly sterling performance. A very difficult role – as a war victim who suffers in the hands of fellow Filipinos at the end of the Japanese interlude – Aunor gives justice to this very memorable screen character. She won an Urian and a FAMAs for this film – and was she truly deserving of those acting trophies.

Bona – As the loyal fan of a bit player (Phillip Salvador), Aunor’s performance here haunts the viewers even years after the exhibition of this film. She tied for Best Actress with Gina Alajar in the Gawad Urian the year (1980) Bona was released.

Himala – She could have won a grand-slam for playing the visionary Elsa in this Bernal masterpiece (she was voted Best Actress in the Metro Filmfest), but Vilma Santos edged her out as Best Actress of the Year for Relasyon.

Bulaklak sa City Jail – Although she is surrounded by other great talents in this film (Celia Rodriguez, Perla Bautista, Mitch Valdes, Maritess Gutierrez and the late Zeneida Amador), Aunor doesn’t allow herself to get eclipsed even for a minute.

Bilangin ang Bituin sa Langit – One of the most difficult roles given to a local actress – she ages from teener to that of an old lady and even plays another character in the same movie – Aunor is consistently focused on her characterization in this film and is rewarded with a whole slew of acting trophies for it.

Andrea, Paano Ba ang Maging Isang Ina? – It was a tough competition among actresses that year (1990), but the Superstar showed them who was best by winning in the Metro Filmfest and in the Gawad Urian.

The Flor Contemplacion Story – No matter how gay impersonators trivialize her "I did not kill anybody!" line, you cannot deny that Aunor is superb in this film that dramatizes the real-life story of a domestic helper accused of a crime and hanged in Singapore.

Bakit May Kahapon Pa? – A truly powerful performance that helps convey the strong socio-political statement of the film.

Sidhi — She doesn’t speak a word here, but you feel her presence all over the film. It’s a difficult role, but Aunor is excellent as always and utilizes her greatest acting weapon: her pair of soulful eyes. (To be continued)