Iginuhit ng Tadhana

Directed by: Mar S. Torres, Jose De Villa, Conrado Conde

(1965)

The movie Iginuhit ng Tadhana, which could be translated in the English language as "Destined by Fate", is a political propaganda film of the late Ferdinand Marcos who is known to be one of the most controversial political leaders in our country. He declared Martial Law on September 1972 which lasted for 14 years. The Philippines experienced the worst during his dictatorship, which greatly influenced our current situation. Iginuhit ng Tadhana showcased Marcos' life story, from the day he was born up to his political reign. Marcos grew in a politically affiliated family, became a lawyer, had a seat in the House of Representatives and the Senate, married Imelda Romualdez, and became President of the Republic of the Philippines. 

The movie was made for one clear reason: to promote Marcos in his presidential campaign. Film is one easy way of getting the attention and sympathy of people and Marcos considered this as a way to promote himself as he ran in the presidential bid against President Diosdado Macapagal.


At first I found it hard to adjust to the quality of the film since it is produced way back in the 60s where films are still in black and white but as the movie went along, I became used to it already. The audio was not that clear as well and there are some parts in the movie where I really cannot understand what the characters are saying. Despite the quality of the film, I still had a grasp on the message that the movie wants to convey to its audience. There is no doubt that it really is a political propaganda movie for it only showed the "good" side of Marcos. For an instance, there are many scenes inside a court house where Marcos was defending himself, for he was accused of murdering Julio Nalundasan, Mariano Marcos' (Ferdinand's father) political rival in Ilocos Norte. In these scenes, Marcos' words were truly powerful and captivating and I think that every Filipino who have seen this film during his time would not think that his words are actually deceiving. They would probably believe everything that he said, thus, he had their sympathy. People say that "seeing is believing" and from what we watched, Marcos really did a great job of gaining followers through this movie. This movie showed only one side of Marcos, making people believe that he and his family have nothing to do with the murder of Nalundasan. Marcos was really close to his mom and she continued to be his source of inspiration until he met Imelda Romualdez. I was truly awed by Gloria Romero's beauty in the film. Like what I've said earlier, everything in this movie is in a positive scale and you cannot really find anything that would give the Marcoses a bad reputation. But the Marcoses will always be Marcoses. What they have done in the country and its people left a mark that cannot be removed even after a thousand years and it will remain to be a scar in the Philippine history. The death of Ferdinand Marcos' greatest rival, Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., triggered the Filipinos to fight for their democracy and it paved way to the strong unity and sense of nationalism among Filipinos. But history is repeating itself, with Marcos' and Aquino's sons elected in office during the present time, Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. who is a senator and Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III who is currently the President of the Republic of the Philippines. I wouldn't be surprised if Senator Bongbong would run for presidency; there was this one scene in the film wherein Bongbong tells his mom Imelda that he wants to venture in politics someday but Imelda tells him not to because politics is "dirty" yet now, Imelda represents the second district of Ilocos Norte in the House of Representatives while Bongbong's in senate. The Filipinos embraced so much lies that even now, some would still want to believe in. Now everyone's suffering the consequences of what happened during the Marcos regime and unfortunately, the succeeding generations will also have to suffer the consequences. The Philippines is left with great debt that not even all of Imelda's jewelries and shoes combined could repay.

RATING:

All The King's Men

Directed by: Robert Rossen
(1949)

I have one word for this film: REALITY. From the beginning up to the end of the movie, everything seemed to be related on what is really happening in our world. Even though this film did not invest more on audio and visual effects compared to Citizen Kane, its story was the cherry on top. It depicted the reality in politics, where corruption and greed are evident since the early times up to the present times. I was surprised to know that as early as those times, they already have problems like these and it has not been resolved throughout the years. This film left a really good impression to me and for the record, I think that I am starting to admire and like old films. What I love the most in this film is the message that it tried to convey to its audience. Just like in Citizen Kane, there may be good intentions at first but it started to change once you already have power and wealth. In the first part of the movie, I like how Stark's intentions were shared to the public but just like any other politicians, once they get elected, they would turn out to be the people that they are not expected to become. Stark took control of the radio and newspaper, thus, he had the authority to manipulate and influence the views of the people. There was this instance where his son got into an accident that led to the death of his girlfriend. The girl's father went to see Stark and told him that the police reports about the accident are not true but since Stark had the authority to do everything that he wants, he still prevailed. Stark may be able to get the sympathy and trust of the people since he created many projects and infrastructures for them, which by the way, are all named after him. He controlled everything and everyone. Until the end of the movie, while he was dying, he still thought of himself and continued to praise himself. People who served him remained to be loyal to him, despite knowing that they are being controlled and influenced by him already.

Favorite lines:

"It is the right of the people that they shall not be deprived of hope."

- Willie Stark

• I have to agree with this since people have the right to live accordingly and to have access to basic needs and services.

"Pain is an evil. It is not evil. It is not evil in itself. Stark is evil."

- Adam Stanton

• It is not true that good comes out from evil. If you really have good intentions to serve the public and to give them what they want and what they need, there is no need for one to serve himself/herself first. In public service, the citizens are always first.

RATING:

Citizen Kane

Directed by: Orson Welles

(1941)

For a 40's film, Citizen Kane is way beyond exceptional. I am not really into old films since I easily get distracted and annoyed of the audio and visual effects because I was born in the early 90's and I got used to watching films with the 21st century technology. But upon watching Citizen Kane, I was surprised to see something that I did not expect to see. The scenes were clearly shot and shown throughout the movie. I would also like to commend the deep focus shots in the movie, where certain scenes showcased shots that were zoomed in clearly. I did not expect to see this kind of visual effect since in the 1940s, this is not evident, but apparently, even though the movie is in black and white, I was able to appreciate its beauty for its showed exemplary scenes that cannot be made by ordinary movie makers. What I do not like though is the fact that people are talking way too fast and I am really having a hard time understanding what the characters are saying. I had to watch it again for the second time to verify whether I was able to understood it correctly since subtitles are not available. But I guess it is just normal for people in those times to talk fast. 

Flashbacks were shown throughout the film, where various persons related to Charles Foster Kane were reiterating the happenings in his life, from the moment he was taken away from his parents until before he died alone, in the search for the meaning of "Rosebud", the last word that he said before he died. I got curious at this as well, which made me really watch the movie from the beginning until the end. Kane lives through the memories of the people telling his story. He has good intentions at first, but it got converted to greed and selfishness as he got popular and as he acquired wealth. He took control of the newspaper and everything written on it were in favor of him which reminds me of politics in the Philippines. Some publications are owned by wealthy and powerful politicians which publishes news that are completely one-sided and of course, in-favor of the politician's cabinet. If only all politicians have the REAL desire to uplift the lives of people in their country, we are not far behind from attaining progress in this country. Most [if not all] politicians are just good at first, which is common among Filipinos, the "Manana" habit or "maya na" habit. Kane had everything a man could ever wish for but as a saying goes, not all things could be bought. "Rosebud" was shown in the last part of the movie where it was written on his sled from his childhood, the only time that he experienced genuine happiness and it symbolized his loss of innocence. This whole "Rosebud" thing left me thinking on what is my own "Rosebud". Up until now, i'm having a hard time thinking since I really had a lot of childhood memories, some of which I have fully forgotten already (sorry, but I think I have a bad memory on recalling things). With all the exceptional audio and visual effects and a well-written story, Citizen Kane, for me, is one of the greatest films of all time.

Favorite scenes and shots:

(Click picture to see the .gif image)

These shots show Kane in two different perspectives, the first one in which he is much smaller than the gigantic windows and the second one in the windows seem to be in normal size. Kane would always be the same man to himself, but to others (audience) he is a completely different person.  

(Click picture to see the .gif image)

These shots show Kane's marriage and his relationship with his wife through time. From being newly-weds to being apart.

This scene really caught my attention for it depicts how Susan Alexander was controlled by Kane. She was always overshadowed by him and she is living the life that he wants her to have [and not what she wants her to have].

This scene was shown near the end of the film, where Kane's reflection was shown in the mirror. It shows how he reflects his life before he dies.

RATING:

Screen shots taken from:

http://movieimages.tripod.com/citizenkane/index.html

http://movieimages.tripod.com/citizenkane/part2.html

Curtains up

We were told to create a blog that would serve as a web diary of our thoughts, comments, and suggestions for the films that we would be watching in our Cinema and Politics (CINEPOL) class for this term. 

I would be posting my thoughts and comments on films in this blog and I will also include some screen shots of scenes that got stuck in my mind. All sources shall be included in the bottom part of my posts. Also, at the end of every posts, I will rate the films (based on my own perception) through a "thumbs up" thumbnail, with five thumbs up as the highest and one thumb up as the lowest.

Feel free to comment and suggest. :)




Thumbs up thumbnail taken from:

http://www.psdgraphics.com/icons/psd-thumbs-up-and-down-icons/