17. Deranged by love
Noel insisted that I watch Tag-Ulan Sa Tag-Araw, a Vilma Santos-Christopher de Leon movie from the 70s. Hadn’t realized it was written and directed by Celso Ad. Castillo, the demented genius of Philippine cinema. I used to see the movie on TV ages ago, and I’ve never forgotten the final scene in which Vilma’s parents are taking her away, Christopher is chasing the car on foot, and at every stoplight he hurls himself at the car, smashing the windows and bouncing off the hood. It was intense and oddly, not laughable.
In the movie Vilma is pretty and slightly plump,
and Christopher has the biggest hair of his career.
Nenet (Santos) and Rod (De Leon) are cousins who fall in love at first sight before they learn that they are first cousins. Rod has come to Manila to attend university; he lives in the house of Nenet’s parents. The parents are played by Eddie Garcia and Lorli Villanueva, and their hamminess fits the movie perfectly. They’re not the villains: there is no villain, the culprit is passion.
Rod does the decent thing: he avoids Nenet and tries to move out of the house. But this is first love of the hysterical kind, the passion that drives the young insane, and the actors are so committed to their roles that you believe every cheesy line they utter. Their love overrides all rational thought. In one scene Nenet confronts Rod on the bus—she always calls him “Kuya Rod”, reminding everyone of the incest—and in front of all the passengers, declares that she doesn’t care if they’re cousins, she loves him. Instead of eliciting giggles, the scene is genuinely disturbing. These young lovers are beyond silliness: they are in a delirium.
Celso Ad. Castillo is a master at creating and drawing out emotional tension—as Noel pointed out, it’s almost like watching a horror movie. The lovers can’t abide parental counsel; what they need is an exorcist because they are possessed. There’s even a balcony scene, a demented reference to Romeo and Juliet.
And that final chase: amaaazing.
The copy is gray and brown with age, unrestored, lacks opening and closing credits, and don’t even mention subtitles or special features. We’re just glad it still exists. Tag-Ulan Sa Tag-Araw is available at video stores; Raymond found his copy on sale for 100 pesos.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
January 28th, 2010 at 06:58
makes me want to go out and buy a copy. and i don’t go out. or watch movies.
January 28th, 2010 at 07:02
true, it’s a disturbing plot. in my hometown of iligan city, we had a real story like this several years back. the young “lovers”/cousins eventually committed suicide.
January 28th, 2010 at 09:41
We’re collecting Vilma and Nora movies. Where did you find this one?
We got a DVD of Mario O’Hara’s “Kastilyong Buhangin” from a DVD sale for P150. And we “procured” a copy of “T-Bird at Ako” – love them both there.
January 28th, 2010 at 18:10
I remember watching this movie a few years back, one late night on Cinema One. The ending was incredibly disturbing, and the more the chase went on, the more it was disturbing. It’s too intense for late night viewing.
January 29th, 2010 at 16:54
have you seen the 1983 “Saan Darating Ang Umaga”? It was on PBO last week. Hokey story, and Maricel Soriano does spoiled brat like nobody’s business, but get Nida Blanca and Maricel emoting together in a hospital and I was just. Floored.
January 29th, 2010 at 21:53
Mas okey kaya panoorin ang Pagputi ng Uwak, Pagitim ng Tagak pagkatapos nito. Angie Ferro was at her best in that movie which Ate Vi produced and Celso Ad Castillo directed.