February 26, 2008 | 12:00am
On National Arts Month this February, I would like to feature the beginnings of filmmaking in the Philippines. Bienvenido Lumbera’s “Essays on Philippine Arts” narrates that Filipino artists started to make movies as early as 1919. But before this, enterprising foreigners introduced film shows in Manila as early as 1897, showing documentary film clips on the then recent events and natural calamities in Europe. This was during the time that the Filipinos were waging a revolutionary war against the colonial rule of Spain. It can be recalled that the following year, in 1898, the Treaty of Paris was signed and American governor-generals replaced the Spanish royal representatives in ruling our country. At about this time, two American businessmen created a sensation in Manila. Their earliest production was the story of Jose Rizal’s execution shown on film in 1912.
Jose Nepomuceno was one of the first Filipinos to make local movies. He sold his profitable photography studio and used the money to go into filmmaking. Historians of the Filipino film industry called him the “Father of Philippine Movies”. His first film was based on a highly acclaimed musical play of the day, Dalagang Bukid (Country Maiden) by Hermogenes Hagan and Leon Ignacio. Lumbera’s essays further narrates that since sound had not yet been incorporated into motion pictures in 1919, even in America, Nepomuceno had to resort to what must have been quite a novelty at that time. During screenings of the movie, the singer-actress Atang de la Rama stood behind the screen to sing the theme song Nabasag ang Banga (The Clay Pot Broke) to the accompaniment of a three-man band consisting of a violinist, a trumpet player and a pianist.
My father’s first entrepreneurial venture was the Cine Ideal, a movie theater. He started the business with some friends, erecting the edifice within the family-owned Santa Cruz property. He mortgaged the property to get the needed capital and inaugurated this in 1910, with his two brothers and sisters, along with the prominent Tuazon and Legarda families, who also became part of the corporation. Cine Ideal fronted Plaza Goiti enclosed by the Hotel de Francia, with another entrance at Calle Dulungbayan (meaning edge of town, or figuratively “edge of civilization” because this was in the outskirts of the city of Manila). But soon after the street was widened and the following year, Dulungbayan was renamed Rizal Avenue (but everyone would call it Avenida Rizal). Thus was Cine Ideal assured of a strategic location. The title of the first of a selection of European movies shown at Cine Ideal was Amor Sublime. The proceeds from the opening night were for the benefit of two charitable institutions — the Gota de Leche and the Mary Johnston Hospital. The movies were at first “silent”, but our movie house provided appropriate music accompaniment and sound effects for each film. Later, in 1927, the movie theater obtained exclusive rights to show MGM pictures, like Gone With the Wind and Queen Christina. My eldest brother, Liling, was the general manager, while another brother, Pipo was assistant floor manager. They did an excellent job of maintaining the theater in good and orderly condition. (“Looking for Liling”, by Alfredo Roces, 2000). I would say that Cine Ideal contributed to the acceptance and popularity of foreign movies among Filipinos as the making of movies evolved locally.
It was during the 1950s when the First Golden Age in Philippine Cinema occurred, largely credited to the works of master directors like Eddie Romero, Cesar Gallardo, Lamberto Avellana and Cirio Santiago; and to film stars like Rogelio de la Rosa, Carmen Rosales, Manuel Conde, Gloria Romero, Nida Blanca and Nestor de Villa, to name only a few. The 1970s to the early 1980s was the Second Golden Age of Philippine Cinema. Film directors like Lino Brocka, Ishmael Bernal and Peque Gallaga made masterpieces that launched the likes of Nora Aunor, Vilma Santos and Christopher de Leon to stardom. However, Philippine Cinema seemed to have suffered a slump during the 1990s as bad film productions and film piracy largely affected the movie industry. Hopefully, during the commemoration of National Arts Month, Philippine movies will be one of the areas that will be given a renewed interest, with a realization that they should continue to reflect Philippine culture and history, while emphasizing timeliness and quality.
