Philippine cinema’s ‘golden ages’ debated anew

WE THOUGHT THAT the issue had already been settled years ago, but at a recent media forum, an argument flared up yet again over the “golden ages” the Filipino movie industry has had over the decades.

A resource person opined that there have been two golden ages or particularly productive periods in terms of quality movies. He cited the 1950s, which saw the production of award-winning films by Gerry de Leon and Lamberto Avellana, who were later hailed as our first two National Artists for Film. And the 1970s, paced by the prodigious output of two more future National Artists, Lino Brocka and Ishmael Bernal.

However, an interpellator begged to disagree: In his opinion, golden ages in the film world come every 20 years, so a third unusually productive period was chalked up in the 1990s and into the new millennium.

That’s an interesting proposition, especially in the light of the “new millennium” angle, because the start of an epoch is supposed to usher in a period of significant achievement.

But, not so fast: The ’90s were a generally “commercial” filmmaking period—and also the start of the long slump that the movie industry is experiencing up to this day. So, a cinematic golden age, that period definitely wasn’t.

A stronger case can be made for the new millennium as the start of an indie golden age, what with the Cinemalaya film grants and the resulting spike in the production of quality movies.

Trouble is, many indie movies are seen by only a relatively few viewers, and only a handful have done well on the commercial theater circuit. So, the indie wave, while presaging a brave new world of filmmaking, hasn’t significantly impacted on the general movie-going population.

So, we must regretfully conclude that the new golden film age, which should have come 20 years after the ’70s, has been long overdue. What has caused the long delay? The unexpected deaths of Brocka and Bernal are a major factor, along with the creeping “commercialization” of the mainstream movie industry.

This has been exacerbated by the low quality of films shown in the Metro Manila Film Festival, which used (in the ’70s) to be an annual source of exceptional productions like “Ganito Kami Noon.”

In fact, a stronger case can be made for the designation of an earlier golden age for Filipino movies—in the 1930s. De Leon, Eddie Romero, Avellana, Gregorio Fernandez and other outstanding filmmakers, like Manuel Silas and Tor Villanos, were active during that period, and their cumulative output was remarkable.

The problem is, only a couple of ’30s productions have survived, so most people no longer remember or haven’t seen those early classics of the Filipino movie industry, thus the lack of enthusiasm in hailing that early period as the country’s first golden film age. But, that’s our lapse, so credit must be given where it’s due.