Huling Birhen: Heavenly miracles with plenty of sex

In a country that always buys stories about talking, crying and dancing St. Niños, films about the supposed miracles and apparitions of Christ and the Blessed Mother should easily sell here. Strangely enough, there aren’t that many local movies that tackle such themes. But that wasn’t always the case.

In the past, when scandals about the Roman Catholic Church were still hush-hush stuff, Filipino flicks about miracles were practically a dime a dozen.

During the pre-war days, Yolanda Marquez (Mary Prieto in society articles to Philippine STAR readers) did a movie called Milagro ng Nazareno.

After the war, there was Himala ng Birhen sa Antipolo, starring Rosa del Rosario and Rogelio de la Rosa.

Movies about the Blessed Mother’s apparitions actually peaked in the late ‘40s and this was at the height of the Lipa controversy - when the Virgin supposedly showed herself several times at the Carmel convent there to a postulant from Tanauan named Teresita Castillo. The supposed Lipa apparitions (with the accompanying shower of rose petals) were so popular and controversial that it was even turned into a film called Milagro ng Birhen sa Lupa.

Around this period, local producers also made a killing during the Lenten season by churning out religious movies that were geared for Holy Week audiences.

Movie stars were also launched back then as vestal virgins in movies about miracles attributed to the Blessed Mother. There was, for instance, I Believe which turned Mina Aragon into a full-fledged star.

Later Juvy, Cachola was also made to appear in a film that was based on Irving Rapper’s The Miracle where Carroll Baker is cast as a postulant who leaves her order to look for a soldier she’s in love with – and with the Blessed Mother taking her place at the convent.

In the late ‘70s, Mike de Leon was also supposed to make a movie about the reported apparitions in Cabra (in Mindoro) that took place earlier in that decade. Unfortunately, that film project was shelved for good. It was supposed to have starred Charo Santos.

Regal Films also cashed in on this genre when Lily Monteverde made a movie for Lotlot de Leon in 1988 (I’ve forgotten the title) about the Blessed Mother’s apparition. Shown during the Lenten season, this film made money in spite of the fact that it was completed on a shoestring budget and and filmed in a span of seven days.

Hailed as the best local film about miracles, of course, is Ishmael Bernal’s Himala. Starring Nora Aunor, it was chosen by the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino as one of the 10 Best Pictures of the 1980s and one of the finest in the last three decades.

One of the top contenders in the ongoing Manila Filmfest race is Ang Huling Birhen sa Lupa of Neo films.

Directed by Joel Lamangan, Ang Huling Birhen is set in a backward coastal village called Sto. Rosario. Devastated by the plague, the people in this place has lost faith in God – with its chapel left lying in ruins.

One day, a man in cassock (Jay Manalo) is washed ashore and when revived, introduces himself as a priest. Manalo, however, is bogus and later even concocts a fake miracle with the help of the village prostitute, Ara Mina. This fake miracle, of course, stirs up the place and brings in revenues from visitors who want to witness the divine works of the Infant Jesus.

Another miracle – an apparition of the Blessed Mother this time however, takes place involving Ara Mina’s younger sister, Maui Taylor, and things become really complicated for the key people in the story.

Ang Huling Birhen sa Lupa is different from the other local films about heavenly miracles in many, many ways. For one thing, it’s the only movie about divine intervention that has plenty of sex – oh, lots of it.

More importantly, however, the script of this movie (written by Raquel Villavicencio) is original and tries to be different from the others – and this is very good because it shows that there is still hope for our local scriptwriters.

Huling Birhen obviously veers away from issues that had already been tackled by Himala and this is difficult because the Bernal movie covered practically everything about miracles – whether fake or real.

But trust Joel Lamangan to come up with new ingredients to spice up Huling Birhen, which adds another twist or two to stories about miracles and the supposed apparitions of the Virgin Mother. Surely, this Lamangan film is no Himala copycat.

But I won’t say (at least, not yet) that it’s better than Himala because the Bernal masterpiece was really quite monumental. Ang Huling Birhen sa Lupa, however, is definitely one of the year’s best.

This Lamangan movie is above-average and almost excellent in all cinematic aspects: direction, script, cinematography, editing, music, production design, sound and performances.

Maui Taylor – with her singsong delivery of her dialogues – was quite annoying in the beginning. But in the latter part of the film, her performance will be better appreciated and even becomes one of the assets of the movie.

Fine performances are also turned in by newcomer Marky Lopez (as Maui‘s boyfriend), Elizabeth Oropesa (as the corrupt barangay capitana), Nanding Jose (as the village herbolario), Hazel Espinosa (as a self-appointed lay leader in love with Manalo), Tanya Gomez (as the religious fanatic mother of Ara and Maui) and Jim Pebanco as one of Oropesa’s henchmen.

Jay Manalo, as the bogus priest, lives up to his Urian Best Actor award by giving another above par performance here in Huling Birhen.

And Ara Mina? She should be a runaway winner for Best Actress in tonight’s Manila Filmfest Gabi ng Parangal.