Nora gives another memorable performance

Every local movie aficionado is aware of the fact that Nora Aunor rose to acting greatness by climbing up on a stack of scripts that called for her to be api-apihan on the big screen.

In her latest film, Angora Films’ Naglalayag, she is still api. But this time, she is oppressed by social conventions.

Written by Irma Dimaranan and directed by Maryo J. de los Reyes, Naglalayag casts Nora as a widowed judge with a grown-up son studying in the US. One stormy evening when all of Manila is flooded, she is unable to take her car and is forced to take a cab. It is on this fateful night when her life changes. The cab driver she gets is oh-so different from other cab drivers in Metro Manila who overcharge and are picky with their passengers. And it is really her luck that she meets this taxi driver during the great flood. His name? Noah. But Noah (as played by Yul Servo) doesn’t bring him to his ark. Instead he brings her home because the taxi stalls and the streets are flooded.

In his humble Sampaloc home, he introduces him to his mother, Jaclyn Jose, and you immediately know that he is a good person. Nora and Yul pursue their friendship and this eventually leads to a May-December affair that ends up in her getting pregnant at age 49. They try to hide her condition but in time she still ends up fodder for gossip.

Naglalayag actually sets off to a bad start with some of the dialogues sounding artificial and a lot of scenes being rushed. Maybe the creative team behind the film felt that they had a lot to say and wanted to save on time by getting on immediately with the expositions.

But the film doesn’t really tackle any other issue but the May-December affair between Nora and Yul and some related social conditions and this is really just fine with me because Naglalayag doesn’t bite more than it can chew.

In fact, I began to appreciate the film better when it decides to just zero in on the Nora-Yul romance because the pacing starts to relax. The movie at this point also becomes very engaging because of the wonderful chemistry between Nora and Yul.

Nora Aunor – at this point of her career – has nothing else to prove in the acting department and she merely breezes through the part. Although it’s not a very difficult role (nothing that requires heavy acting like Bulaklak sa City Jail or The Flor Contemplacion Story), it is nevertheless a delicate one. An actress not of the same caliber would look very awkward in this part – especially in the portion where the character becomes pregnant. But Nora being Nora, she succeeds and delivers another one of her marvelous performances.

Looking back, another actress who portrays a woman who becomes pregnant late in life is Lolita Rodriguez who is brilliant in Ina Ka ng Anak Mo, another one of Nora’s landmark films. The Naglalayag role of Nora, however, is a lot more challenging because she really has to romance a younger man. (In Ina Ka ng Anak Mo, Lolita gets pregnant–by son-in-law Raul Aragon–only because they both become drunk one evening). But Nora has to go through the motions of falling in love and dating (very discreetly) a man half her age. Another actress perhaps would look ridiculous in that role. Well, Nora – the great actress that she is – fleshes out the part without leaving a bad taste in the mouth.

Yul Servo also gives a very good performance and looks very credible in his taxi driver role. Although his character is annoyingly talkative in the beginning, he more than makes up for it by delivering a sensitive portrayal of a young man who falls for a much older woman.

Chanda Romero also gives another one of her fine performances as Nora’s best friend here in Naglalayag. She is particularly good in the wake scene where she tries to be very supportive of Nora who is distraught and in a very delicate condition.

On the part of Jaclyn Jose, she honestly looks way too young to be the mother of Yul Servo. But the exceptional actress that she is, she still manages to look the part and – as always – gives an outstanding performance.

Young actress Aleck Bovick (as Yul’s girlfriend) is also impressive especially in the part where she has a heart-to-heart talk with Nora. No, she doesn’t look intimidated one bit by the superstar’s presence.

Even Celia Rodriguez – in a rather brief role as Nora’s mother-in-law – shines in Naglalayag. One of the more tender moments in the film, in fact, is when Celia – in her sickbed – gives her daughter-in-law the go-signal to be happy in life.

Naglalayag is not your usual run-of-the-mill melodrama. It is a well-made film that tries to capture the emotions and sentiments of ordinary people put in rather unusual situations that go against social conventions.

Graded B by the Cinema Evaluation Board, it is one of the more outstanding entries in the ongoing Manila Film Festival and should not be missed. It is a must-see if only for the fact that this is a Nora Aunor film – with the actress giving another one of her memorable performances.