SUPERSTARSTRUCK! Superstar Super Scenes Part Two

Here's the second part to my ongoing appreciation of Nora Aunor's thespic abilities. Who can forget Milagros Cruz? A nurse working in the US for hopes of a better future but has an aching desire to continue with her life back home. In Gil Portes' 'Merika (Adrian Films, 1984), the opening scene tells it all. From waking up early in the morning in the dead of winter, Mila goes through her daily routine before going to work. She gets out of bed, shivers a bit and stares at a blank space in her apartment. A perfect beginning to an otherwise affecting little film.

Next is the Manila Zoo childbirth scene in Mario O'Hara's critically acclaimed Bulaklak Sa City Jail (Cherubim Films, 1984). It may be a bit too stagy at times but who would not feel for Angela Aguilar's plight in fighting the right to keep her child? She was repeatedly begging for compassion... that face, those eyes, they truly say a thousand words!

Then there's Ruth, a woman trapped in an unhappy marriage living with her domineering adoptive mother in Maryo J. de los Reyes' underrated film Minsan, May Isang Ina (Regal Films, 1983). After an accidental meeting with her estranged boyfriend (Herbert Corpuz) and discovering his almost perfect married life, Ruth rushes home, deeply affected by it all goes to her room and unleashes all of her pent up emotions leading to a devastating breakdown. The hurt, the palpable anguish, it's all in that face... brilliant... just brilliant!