Excerpt From KUNG AKO'Y IIWAN MO: The Film And The Controversy
By: Agustin "Hammy" Sotto As Pusblished In The Philippines Daily Express January 7, 1981 Pages 15-16
… Nora Aunor’s performance dazzles those knowledgeable in the craft, who would hail it along with her other performance in Bona and Nakaw na Pag-ibig as a landmark of sorts. 1980 is Nora Aunor’s year as she has delivered electrifying performances, rounded and lacking in mannerisms in a variety of roles. The stumbling block of Class A and B is now Philippines cinema’s most accomplished actress.
Nora Aunor’s performance has been criticized as "patingin-tingin lamang." This is precisely Ingmar Bergman’s contribution to world cinema—an understanding of how the face develops the plot and lights up inward emotions obscured by verbalization. The cult of the face is the very essence of close-up and the tradition dates back to Vivien Leigh’s "patingin-tingin" in Gone with the Wind, to Carl Dreyer’s The Passion of Jeanne D’Arc and to George Cukor’s films with Greta Garbo.
In Kung Ako’y Iiwan Mo, Nora moves away from the fortune teller in the reincarnation scene, stops, and the camera picks up her troubled expression. Despite the flat acting of the extras (Bibsy Carballo, Romy Vitug, Armida Siguion Reyna), the timing is perfect and the audience understands for the first time her despair. There are many other exemplary uses of the close-up: Nora singing her two songs, Nora saying goodbye to Rollie Quizon after she discovers him to be cavorting with two women. In these instances, "patingin-tingin" is the perfect antidote to verbosity….
With Special Thanks To Nestor De Guzman
3 comments:
Hi, Brod Jo!
Thanks for posting this piece and for giving me a copy of this exquisite film. Indeed, this is Ms. Nora at her most sophisticated characterization. I've been watching again and again her performance here, and always I'm struck awed. Sana, she can do soon a variation of Meryl Streep's role in "The Devil Wears Prada." I've actually been fantasizing about Ms. Nora playing Josie Natori, the famed Filipina haute couturist.
hello Myke!
i couldn't agree more. this is Nora Aunor at her sophisticated best! her performance in Kung Ako'y Iiwan Mo belongs to my top five most favorite Nora Aunor performances. i just absolutely love this film. as a matter of fact during the 1980 MMFF, i watched this first afterwhich i went and saw Bona.
hi pauljames!
the scene where she sang a jazzed up version of Saan Ako Nagkamali? is Nora at her best! it has never been duplicated in any of her films where she portrayed a singer. with Laurice Guillen's guiding hand, ths Superstar delivered the kind of performance unexpected of her which resulted in probably one of the most significant song numbers ever filmed!
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