The exploitation of religion in a poor village is the subject of Bernal’s best-known, and at times, shocking work, as word spreads about a woman who claims to have visions of the Virgin Mary.
Review #2,823
Dir. Ishmael Bernal
1982 | Philippines | Drama | 124 min | 1.33:1 | Tagalog & English
NC16 (passed clean) for some nudity
Cast: Nora Aunor, Spanky Manikan, Vangie Labalan
Plot: An orphaned villager seems to exhibit miraculous healing powers after her claim of a visitation from the Virgin Mary.
Awards: Nom. for Golden Bear (Berlinale)
Source: ABS-CBN Film Productions
Accessibility Index
Subject Matter: Slightly Mature – Religious Faith & Hypocrisy; Poverty & Exploitation; Prophecy
Narrative Style: Slightly Complex
Pace: Slightly Slow
Audience Type: Slightly Arthouse
Viewed: Oldham Theatre (as part of Asian Film Archive’s ‘Divine’ programme)
Spoilers: No
One of the most iconic films from The Philippines to enthral and shock audiences during that fertile period of filmmaking in the ‘70s and ‘80s, Himala is also arguably Ishmael Bernal’s best-known work.
Starring the effervescent Nora Aunor, proclaimed as the ‘People’s National Artist’, Himala centers on Elsa who in the opening scene has visions of the Virgin Mary during a rare eclipse.
As an adopted orphan, she cuts a quiet figure of rectitude. As word spreads in the village that she could work miracles (which informs the film’s title), she becomes a religious entity as many flock in hopes of getting cured of disabilities and diseases.
The real disease, however, is poverty and the poor folks have nothing but spiritual faith to guide them. Another social disease is Man’s age-old ability to exploit others. So, Elsa, like a charlatan, albeit a sincere and compassionate one, believes in her prophecy.
“We are poor. We have nothing but faith.”
While her guardians maximise profits by selling religious artefacts and holy water blessed by Elsa, a prostitute (incidentally a childhood friend of the protagonist) sets up a brothel nearby, disguised as a cabaret.
Bernal’s pointed filmmaking style draws these two ‘evils’ together—the sin of sex and sleaze, as well as the ‘prostitution’ of religion. Bodies are given up in search of pleasure and transcendence, yet Bernal would, in the final act, go into a more transgressive territory, the least said the better for shock value.
With fine acting all around, and some very impressive staging of scenes with extremely large crowds, Himala is bold and powerful—and most disquietingly, raw and gritty, as if it is documenting a real village ruined by superstition and blind faith.
It is just as well that Bernal inserts a somewhat self-reflexive filmmaker character, an inquisitive man who captures the divine at work, even if unsavoury aspects pollute his images for eternity.
Grade: A-
Trailer:
Eternality Tan 