Reviews: Best of the Fest

Worthy To Win

Romping off with the major awards--Best Picture (co-winner) as well as Best Director and Best Screenplay honors for Mes de Guzman--at the recent 1st CineFilipino Film Festival, Ang Kwento ni Mabuti should have also won the Best Actress award for Ms. Nora Aunor's simply sublime performance, according to the blogger of 'My Movie World.'

Verdict of 'My Movie World' blog

Winner--

BEST PICTURE
BEST ACTRESS, Nora Aunor 
BEST STORY, Mes de Guzman

Runner-up--
BEST DIRECTOR, Mes de Guzman
BEST SCREENPLAY, Mes de Guzman
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS, Josephine Estabillo & Mara Lopez 
BEST SOUND, Mes de Guzman
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN, Cesar Hernando 

Here's the review of BERNARD SANTOS from his blog 'My Movie World'

Nagustuhan ko ang pagiging raw and authentic ng pelikula. Dinala ako ng director sa Nueva Vizcaya at ipinakita ang buhay ng mga tao na naninirahan doon. Tumawid sa akin ang lugar at amoy na amoy ko ang kapaligiran na ginagalawan nila. Ipinakita ng pelikulang ito ang payak na pamumuhay at pang araw araw na suliranin ng isang pamilya sa probinsya.

Si Ms. Nora Aunor ay nagpakita ng totoo at natural na pag – arte sa kanyang tauhan na ginampanan. Nagawa niyang  iblend ang sarili niya bilang si Mabuti. Bumagay ang kanyang pagganap bilang isa sa mga Ilokano na naninirahan sa Nueva Vizcaya na animo’y parte talaga siya ng komunidad na iyon. Si Mabuti ang nakita ko sa pelikulang ito at hindi si Ms. Nora Aunor. Napakahusay din ng pagganap ni Mara Lopez, na muli na namang nagpamalas ng lalim sa kanyang pag-arte. Gusto ko rin purihin ang gumanap na nanay ni Nora sa pelikula na napakanatural ng pag arte at nagbigay ng kulay sa pelikulang ito.

May pagka subtle and silent treatment ang ginawa sa pelikulang ito na nakatulong upang mas maging natural at tumawid sa manonood ang  buhay ni Mabuti. Bumagay ang production desing at cinematography sa mood ng pelikula. Hindi naging pretentious ang pelikulang ito at naging totoo sa pagpapakita ng  buhay sa probinsya. Pagkatapos mong panoorin ang pelikulang ito ay iisipin mo na maari rin tayong mamuhay ng payak sa isang malayong komunidad sa probinsya.

Postscript: The More Deserving Best Actress

"I thought Teri Malvar was a very natural actress as Anita.  She was acting her age. She is very brave to tackle such a daring role.  That final heart-to-heart talk scene between Anita and her mother Lolita (played by Lui Manansala) was so good! The Best Actress award she won was very generous of the judges.  Not to say that young Teri not deserve it, but the performance of Nora Aunor in "Mabuti" is clearly superior and with more depth." -- from a review of 'Ang Huling Cha-cha ni Anita' in the blog Fred Said: MOVIES

::

"Nora Aunor on her part, who attended the 2013 CineFilipino awards night, showed no negative reaction toward Teri’s victory. We even saw her smiled and clapped when Teri’s name was called. 

Ms. Aunor’s readiness to accept defeat was again been observed by the showbiz reporters who covered the event, including this columnist. We even heard her speak “Walang dapat ipagdamdam. Naranasan ko nang magka-awards. Tama na ‘yun. Natutuwa nga ako’t isang baguhan pero magaling talaga ang nanalo. Ibig sabihin nu’n fair and square ang mga hurado sa katatapos na awards night ng CineFilipino Film Festival.”

Inquired what was the acting ingredient that she missed in portraying the character of Mabuti in Ang Kuwento ni Mabuti, she declared “Kasi ang (ikapapanalong best actress) ng isang artista naman ay nasa role na ginagampanan niya ‘yun.” -- BUTCH ROLDAN, Journal Online, Sept 26, 2013

The Tale Is No Tail-Ender, The Loser Is The True Winner
By ALVIN DELA CRUZ BERNARDINO, administrator 
of  “The Artistry of Nora Aunor” Facebook page 

Much has been said about the merits of Ang Kwento ni Mabuti; all of which asserting the old adage that indeed “simplicity is beauty.” After almost a week of very successful screenings at the 1st Cine Filipino Film Festival, the awards were revealed and the movie savored a solid major romp with the Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay honors… Well deserved… But how about the Best Lead Actress?

As I watched Ang Kwento ni Mabuti during its gala screening last weekend, I momentarily “detached” myself from the reality that I am a firm believer of the Nora Aunor brand of artistry. I viewed the entire film with sheer objectiveness and a huge expectation of a fresh approach in Filipino filmmaking. True enough, the film is a glittering gem -- a cinematic achievement that screams “brilliance” in all its simplicity and silence. The Filipino ideology is very much evident in the film’s narrative… The regional flavor provided by the poetic, sublime landscapes and rural charm of Sitio Kasinggan in Nueva Vizcaya is just breathtaking… The morality theme is appropriately emphasized without being preachy or self-righteous… The film succeeds in imparting a strong message by challenging the viewers’ minds in a subtle, intelligent manner… Most importantly, the film has universal appeal. A third world fare that does not blatantly present or condemn poverty but makes the world realize that in the midst of an impoverished life situation, hope, still, is what keeps us afloat. 

Mes De Guzman’s direction is deft, keen and straightforward. His style best suits cineastes who go for art films which ordinary moviegoers may find boring or dragging. Now I am adding Mes to my list of favorite local filmmakers. And I am looking forward to his next film project. His screenplay is absolutely effective, natural-flowing and devoid of any cinematic excesses that we often observe in local flicks. The Ilocano dialogue is sweet, charming and affecting. 

Best Picture – check! Best Director – check! Best Screenplay – check! Again, the question: “How about Best Lead Actress?”

Nora Aunor failed to bring home the prize--losing to a 13-year old acting novice who plays a young lesbian in the film Ang Huling Cha-Cha ni Anita. The role may be too offbeat and highly challenging for a child that jurors found impressive, amusing, interesting and award-worthy. But she was pitted against the veteran Aunor who, for the first time, played a cheerful, optimistic, Ilocano-speaking folk healer. The Mabuti portrayal may appear too “lightweight” compared to flashy, daring and over-the-top characters that other actors in the field fleshed out, but the real gauge of good acting is: 1) the consistency of a performance, 2) effective characterization and, 3) mastery of the art of being as against the tricks of mere acting. In this respect, Nora Aunor scored a solid triple punch-- and there is more.

Aunor is at her most mature, most consistent and most sincere as a film performer in Ang Kwento ni Mabuti. The Mabuti role may be lacking the bravura, high-voltage acting moments that easily please viewers and critics but the challenging and tricky part in playing a simple character is how one sustains its natural development without losing grip of the viewers’ interest and attention. Nora excels in this aspect. Her quiet intensity gradually builds up, simmers and boils just at the desired temperature. A stroke of genius that is neither underdeveloped nor overdone. Nora as Mabuti is a display of sheer mastery in acting and being, oftentimes exhibited in muted magnificence. Hers is a layered performance that does not sag. Hers is an acting expertise that can only be achieved through years of constant adeptness in her craft. Add to this Nora’s highly intuitive nature which sets her apart from other performers. Not even any child performer who manages to shine in just a number of scenes can match the acting virtuosity of Nora Aunor. Maturity and sensitivity in acting are traits that are not acquired overnight. And maturity, depth and sensitivity become La Aunor in Ang Kwento ni Mabuti. 

In the words of ace filmmaker Mes De Guzman after his triumph at the 1st Cine Filipino Film Festival awards rites, “There is no Best Picture and Best Director without Nora Aunor.” That said it all.

Review: Three Thumbs-Up

Sold-out Flair, Strong Film
By PHILBERT ORTIZ DY, film reviewer of ClickTheCity.Com

For years now, Mes de Guzman has quietly been making these beautiful little films that have largely gone under the radar of the average Filipino film fan. He doesn’t really make what anybody would consider commercial cinema, his films often populated by non-actors, and defined by their smallness.


But it is his film in CineFilipino, Ang Kwento ni Mabuti, that is currently drawing the biggest audiences. Its first screening at Gateway was completely sold out, all the tickets bought out the night before. This is certainly because of its star, Nora Aunor, who still commands a loyal army of fans willing to do exactly this sort of thing. Aunor plays the main character, a woman named Mabuti who, while on her way home from a harrowing trip to the city, finds herself in possession of a large amount of money. The plot doesn’t really kick for a while, though. In the early going, the movie spends its time establishing the idyllic rhythms of Mabuti’s life. She tends to livestock, sets up irrigation, plays with her grandchildren, and occasionally treats dog bites. And she does it all with a kind smile and a general sense of contentment.

 De Guzman hasn’t really changed, despite having one of the biggest stars in the country at his disposal. It is still a very small story that thrives on details of provincial life, punctuated at times by a really unique sense of humor. Aunor fits the milieu pretty well. Though one might never forget who she is, her understated delivery sustains a strong level of immersion. It is a strong film, and I’m happy to see De Guzman get the kind of attendance he deserves.


Simply So Good
By FRED HAWSON, blogger of 'Fred Said: Movies' 

This is practically the only film in the ongoing CineFilipino Film Festival that has any advanced publicity.  This is also the only entry with a bonafide superstar headlining it, no less than Ms. Nora Aunor herself. Its first screening at the Gateway Mall was sold out, a testament to the drawing power for Ms. Nora.  I will not be surprised if this will be the top box office hit of this one-week festival.  The CineFilipino Film Fest only runs at Gateway, Lucky Chinatown, Resorts World and Shangri-la Mall cinemas.

Ang Kuwento ni Mabuti is a simple film about simple folk who live in a remote hilly area of Nueva Vizcaya. Mabuti is a folk healer known for her cheerfulness, friendliness and kindness.  She lives with her Mother and two adult children, Ompong and Lucia.  Ompong has one daughter, indulgently named Kate Winslet.  Lucia is very unlucky in her relationships, having three daughters (Lenlen, Angge and Mimay) with three different men.  

Mabuti needed to mortgage their land when Ompong was going abroad to work.  When they receive a letter for her to pay interest on their loan, she makes a difficult trip into the city to settle.  On her way back to their home, a stranger on the bus entrusts a bag to her and runs off. Will the contents of the bag change the life of good Mabuti?

This is again another triumph for Ms. Nora Aunor in subsuming herself into another character of the masses.  Though they are similarly poor provincial women, Nora's last role in Thy Womb is very distinct from this role as Mabuti.  I enjoyed that she was constantly smiling in this film.  We never really see Ms. Aunor often in a happy role.  Her eyes are really very eloquent in conveying her inner thoughts, as we know from all her classics in the past.  All those seemingly simple scenes set in the the military base, the public transportation, the realty office and the stone steps gain special poignancy because they had Nora Aunor in them.

Indie actors Arnold Reyes and Mara Lopez play Ompong and Lucia respectively, while Sue Prado plays a mysterious lady on the buys.  The rest of the other actors seem to be native Ilocano-speaking actors which lend additional realism to the scenes.  Josephina Estabillo, the actress who plays Mabuti's mother Apu Guyang, is very natural actress.  She has a heartwarming bond with Ms. Nora and the kids who play her great-grandchildren. There are also the side characters of the barangay captain and his aide Boying who provide welcome comic relief.

The dialogue of the film is entirely in Ilocano, with English subtitles.  Maybe they should also add subtitles in Filipino for the benefit of audiences who may not know how to read English.  Nora speaks it with the fluidity of a native Ilocano speaker (she is a Bicolana) like the other Ilocano supporting actors.  She really knows how to push and challenge herself with her every role.

Director Mes de Guzman (who just won Best Director at the Cinemalaya 2012 for Diablo) has succeeded to create a charming fairy tale with modern-day characters and situations. There is a whimsical element about the interplay of harsh realities of live with fate and destiny that will make the audience smile.  As for the moral lesson of the film, the film leaves the ending open for us to determine that life message for ourselves.

Immense Ability, Astonishingly Low-Key
By RENELSON ANTONIUS MORELOS, blogger of Re(e)l Thoughts

As the director is wont to do, the great Nora Aunor is only "one among the many" in this deceptively simple morality tale. Rarely do we see in this film all the acting mannerisms and methods that we have come to associate with Ate Guy through the years. She is just as ordinary and as down-to-earth as it can be. No Himala moments, so to speak. If this is another example of what you call "non-acting" in cinema, then we should be blessed. In place of Nora's "dramatic" moments (this is not to say though that she is not terrific in the film; on the contrary), what we have here is the film's moral dilemma, which makes up its core. And it is a real treat to the viewers to see how Nora's character ("Mabuti dela Cruz") confronts this dilemma with subtlety and grace, with all those conflicting emotions just being suggested through her eyes, with only the barest words possible.

Perhaps, it's only a matter of one's taste as to how one will gauge Mes' manner of playing out the balancing act of "to be or not to be". I was thinking if it actually served the story well to have the moral question presented - and "resolved" - in such an ambiguous and, on one or two occasions, even in a surreal manner. The ethical dilemma was essayed in such a low-key manner that it might have been more fitting if the viewers were able to somehow have a clear grasp of what Mabuti "did" to the large amount of money suddenly "entrusted" to her. Sure, all the emotions that register through Mabuti's eyes and her oblique references subtly point to what may have transpired in the end. But giving a clear picture of the consequence of the "act" wouldn't be a bad artistic choice either. The final image in Ang Mundo sa Panahon ng Bakal is made more poignant and ambiguous by our clear awareness of the tragedy that happened beforehand. The one in Ang Kwento ni Mabuti achieves a lesser effect because we are somewhat left out in the cold as to the penultimate act that really drove to that instance. Still, the film is worth-watching because of one great actress' immense ability to work out a moral conflict in an astonishingly low-key manner. 

Review: A Simple Tale That Goes Beyond the Surface

By MARI-AN SANTOS, Philippine Entertainment Portal(PEP)

From the rural landscapes to the computer generated images to the very treatment of the story, Ang Kwento Ni Mabuti reminds me of Zhang Yimou’s films. Not the big, action flicks that like Hero or House of Flying Daggers, but the more quiet, thoughtful ones like Not One Less and The Road Home.

Set in a rural, mountain village in Nueva Vizcaya, the film directed by Mes de Guzman is entirely in Ilocano. Nora Aunor plays the title character who is a farmer, a mother, and a grandmother. She lives with her ailing mother as well as her four granddaughters, while her children are away, working in other parts of the country. Theirs is a very feminist household. In their village hut, everything is right in the world, despite conditions being far from the norm.

The film opens with what seems like a painting of a rural landscape. But it is a scene of daily life with neighbors passing each other on the mountain pass as they go about their business. They exchange greetings, then go on their own. Yet, there is something brewing that keeps us wondering until we go back to the same scene later.

Despite the seemingly romantic countryside, cracks on the surface are slowly revealed as, not surprisingly, there are many financial problems that Mabuti tries to keep to herself and manage on her own. Not only is she a pillar for her family but also the village. A local hilot (village healer), various men and women come to her to ease afflictions. She helps without asking for payment in return. Overall, she is a person who lives up to her name, seemingly beyond reproach.

Yet, de Guzman’s film does not subjugate rural life to city life. In fact, the cinematography highlights the lush beauty of the mountainside as opposed to the dirty streets of the city; the serenity of the village vis-à-vis the confusion of the provincial capital. When Mabuti ventures to Bambang to find redress, she instead brings back with her conflict. The film also touches on rebellion and crime that shatters their very delicate existence.

Mabuti suffers a crisis of conscience after she comes upon a bag of money—millions of pesos, at that. She is torn between surrendering it to the authorities and using it to solve the problems that her family faces. Every painful step, the audience takes with her.

The setting and elements of nature are also characters in the movie. It may be a revelation to audiences in the city about just how difficult daily commute can be for people who live in the villages: from long, precarious paths to jeepneys and buses breaking down. Mabuti is the Everyman, making ends meet and subsisting in a world that is ever-changing and somehow, she cannot keep up.

The character of the village captain exudes a caring, benevolent persona. However, behind closed doors, we find out that he runs the local illegal gambling operation. Also behind closed doors, the elderly women, Mabuti and her mother, hide their discussions about what to do with the money.

Nora Aunor is flawless as the lead character. It is in the quiet moments without dialogue that her face reflects, at different times: joy, anguish, masked frustration, and utter pain on her face. She has truly mastered the art of acting, not only with her eyes or facial expressions but even with her gestures and gait.

Arnold Reyes, as Mabuti’s wayward son, admirably avoids playing a stereotype. Mara Lopez shows a depth beyond her youth as a single mother who yearns for love. Sue Prado as the desperate mother Nelia is haunting. So much so that despite her limited time onscreen, she leaves an indelible mark until the end. Ronald Caranza, as the source of comic relief, displays excellent comic timing. Ama Quaimbao’s single scene will live in memory as her last film, and she is resplendent in her cameo.

The revelations in Ang Kwento ni Mabuti are so low-key that if you blink, you might miss them. The characters are well-rounded, despite not delving on each one’s history, we understand their motivations and their actions. We empathize with their plight because they are common people.

Belief in fate and signs, more prevalent as they are in the countryside, also figure in the film. From mist to rain, swarms of insects, sunshine, and other natural occurrences that some may say are coincidences, but to which ancient wisdom will give more credence. 
By the end of the story, it is indeed difficult not to believe in fate, as it certainly directs the lives of Mabuti and her family.

Review: Ode to the Grandeur of Ms. Nora Aunor

by WILFREDO PASCUAL, prize-winning essayist

Ang Kuwento ni Mabuti's trailer opens with geography, a mountain range shrouded in mist, those spiritual peaks that lock the rarely seen heart of Luzon. Nueva Vizcaya is a landscape somewhat different from the southern origins of its lead actress Nora Aunor who was born in volcanic Iriga surrounded by lakes. What does Aunor make of filmmaker Mes de Guzman's part of the world?

Playing the role of a poor, good-natured Ilocano folk healer, one of Aunor's tasks is simple and telling. Her portly figure treads through dry shrubs and cuts through tangles of vine. She stops where the water trickles, blows one end of a long rubber tube and places it under a shallow stream. In a province threatened by the unrelenting onslaught of armed conflict, illegal logging, mining and dam projects, will water run upstream and reach home?

These mountains contain and define Mabuti's world and we are almost certain that she will breath her last here, even as her children opt to do business in town or leave for Dubai in desperation. When she leaves the trail and makes a trip to town, her world is jolted. The killing of a rebel in a military checkpoint thrusts a bag of cash into her hands. What would she do with all that money? Who should have it? We can all diverge on what we would do if fate finds us in a similar situation, but what haunts Mabuti? And how is she haunted? The last questions are important because it unveils the seat of a hinterland's conscience, etched in Aunor's performance, an artist's marvelous and earnest response to the abode of the spirits, the dry wind and the dark clouds. Beyond the question of what is right and what is wrong is a hidden worldview that is less understood and yet speaks to our modern times.

Ilocano folk healers are specialists. There are those who specialize in gynecological folk treatment, sprains and dislocations, and then there are the privileged few with supernatural powers who cure snake and dog bites. Called "mannuma," they channel the spirits through a stone, accurately depicted in the film, which tells how far the venom has traveled in the bloodstream. Mabuti's sanctuary after all is not completely verdant; the hills are mostly denuded and the people not all that free from toxicity. For one, we are suspicious of the village captain and all that maddening coin-counting in his office. Civilians are caught between an armed conflict. There is indolence. And dogbites. And then there is death. And more dogbites. Mabuti, like all mannumas, can never charge payment and can only accept tokens and gifts. And so what to do with this bag of cash? In a nation rocked by war and corruption, what money does to Mabuti and what she does with it can provide a critical if not interesting parable to our times.

De Guzman's tale, like Diablo and Of Skies and Earth, is once again grounded in masterful folk telling and local knowledge. It is charged with mystery and yet carefully paced. What I love about Mes de Guzman's body of work, all set in Nueva Vizcaya, is how, in exploring moral questions, he combines the timeless to the temporal, the sacred to the secular, the heavenly to the mundane (Mabuti's grand-daughter is named Kate Winslett). It is a perfect material for world-class actress Nora Aunor whose flowing career has taken the qualities of a river. From the sand dunes of Ilocos to the water-borne Badjaos of Tawi-Tawi, she is the complete vessel that transports us through our diverse landscapes and languages, the unseen realms of marginalized voices. In Mabuti, the actress does not hide the real scars on her throat that has silenced her singing voice. And it is with this shared silence that she gathers us all to experience a quiet understanding of ourselves. You touch the river of her body of work and you touch the mystery of distance and source. From waters to spiritual peaks, what more can you ask from a people's artist?

Review: Spirituality and Zen Sensibility

Simply Supernatural
by MYKE U. OBENIETA, the film's Facebook page administrator

It takes a miracle to make things appear utterly simple. Even mountains can move, no sweat, as if such spectacle were as unobtrusive as Basho's frog splashing into a pond. If only prayers for our individual or social ills could ripple with such ease, imperturbable and impervious from the complications of faith and hope. Recall the rumpus of worship and wishful thinking at the end of Ishmael Bernal's classic Himala---the crowd still dragging themselves on bended knees hard on the heels of a riot, returning to the hill where deception and its deadly consequence only raised the needy's stakes for redemption.

Deliverance is the driving force that propels the dramatic tension in Mes de Guzman's Ang Kwento ni Mabuti. Obviously allegorical, its titular protagonist lives up to the lightness of being good-natured, bearing with equanimity everything gone bad in her family and around her community in the boondocks. Never mind if her luckless children have left her with four granddaughters to feed on top of her sickly mother even as they are threatened with eviction from their land. Where she's famous for her kindness and her folksy remedies, her generosity and gladness are not always full of grace. This paradox--jam-packed in a country so blessed with natural bounty and inner resources of cheer but accursed with wasted opportunities and desperate need--epitomizes Mabuti's epic struggle as well. No less Sisyphean, indeed, is Mabuti's unassuming stance of standing true to Pollyanna's optimism. That goodness will prevail is another story, however, especially as long as the rock and roll of a self-centered culture persists along with the narrative of inequity, inescapable like the maddening cult of greed in our midst.

In medias res, Mabuti's tale begins. She is trudging uphill, out to untangle herself from a burden--a bagful of cash that fate may as well have plunked on her lap as good as a cosmic prank. Along the way she meets the village chieftain's minion who seemed weighed down by the windfall from his lord's unholy sidelines, always stumped in his menial task of counting money (from illegal gambling, probably). He and Mabuti may as well be two sides of the same coin, tossed where evil is rooted deep under a climate of corruption. Looks like it's going to rain, he told her. The rest is her story. The push of self-interest and the pull of conscience. The blurring of distances between right and wrong, unsettling her sense of direction. Where the uncertain weather stews the days and shifts to a night's shower of hail, the roads are also treacherous either in the wake of landslides or in the throes of insurgency and criminality that dispel the dreamy notion of an idyllic countryside. Beware of being lost, or sidetracked.

Finding a way out whether to let go of the bag or to hold on, Mabuti always ends up taking a detour until the very end, steered by circumstances beyond her will and always providential in its unexpected intervention--a downpour on the road, a military operation, a death in the family. The drift of her judgment and decision can only be a mere wave or raindrop in the oceanic scheme of things. In the mist-steeped mountains of Aritao that appear true to the Japanese mystics' mindset of "ukiyo" or floating world, everything looks impermanent. Or, unreal as the fog-filled landscape, it whittles down to the size and substance of a dewdrop not only Mabuti's ordinary life and the social realities around her but also our notions of morality.

Ethics, indeed, becomes riveting when we reckon at its ironies. Like hell, the road to disorientation and disappointment is paved with good intention. Self-proclaimed public servants, like the film's small-town politician, are fond of talking about taking their constituents to a higher ground until plunder (such as the pork barrel controversy, for instance) bogs the whole country down. So it comes to pass that incongruity of underdevelopment in the midst of plenty hounds the body politic, threatening collective infection.

Healing is hardly complicated. Handy does it in the case of the false visionary in Bernal's masterpiece (1982) and de Guzman's honest-to-goodness heroine (2013). Both film's healers portrayed by Nora Aunor, one only had to shut her eyes with a Marian devotee's silent invocation and the other merely chattered away with an unblinking animistic belief in the power of a white stone (after all, every object has a soul). Whether in the desert plains of Ilocos or in the denuded hinterlands of Nueva Vizcaya--both milieus serving as a stark metaphor for the nation's festering maladies of marginalization--Aunor reaffirms her artistry that is nothing short of supernatural. In both films, reminiscent of the rigor with which she fleshed out her finest collaboration with Lino Brocka and Mario O'Hara as well as Gil Portes' Merika and Brillante Mendoza's Thy Womb, Aunor becomes a purifying force, forging a performance that is almost surgical in its precision to purge itself from artifice. Thus she embodies authenticity as a source of comfort, stirring into clarity the context of her characterization as she blends like second skin into the familiar particulars of place and its people. She may as well be a non-actor, a detail in a documentary, or an echo from the stillness of a haiku.

Less is more. This Zen sensibility certainly reflects the aesthetics of de Guzman whose previous works, prickly with portents of conflict, are at once serene in its unhurried fluidity and studded with hints of revelations in spite of its spare visuals. Indeed, de Guzman's grasp of his material provides an antidote to the pompous contrivance of image and message that is the bane of most filmmakers too reliant on technical flourishes. With a cinematic design devoid of clutter and organic in its immersion with nature, de Guzman's narrative does not impose moral judgments on its situations and its inhabitants, intuiting as he does a sage-like capacity for sympathy. In mapping Mabuti's journey, de Guzman renders her dilemma to its sociospatial dimension or the contextual interweave of the individual and the collective. Insinuating "mono no aware" or the pathos of things even in the upbeat prospect of becoming an instant millionaire, Mabuti unmasks de Guzman's grin in bearing the sadness inherent in the world owing to its impermanence.

To the extent that de Guzman has written the most down-to-earth character in Aunor's fertile filmography so far, his lightness of touch has also suffused her creation with a sense of levity, an effervescence that assumes an air of levitation. No less magical is his evocation of a mini-Greek chorus for Mabuti with the contrapuntal voices of her cranky mother and her chirpy granddaughters, providing a tonal tapestry through her gaiety, grief, and grit en route to a state of grace. Such notes of uplift, though abundant in its instances, are handled with such intricacy as to be almost inconspicuous. These moments of rapture, for those keeping the faith for a cinema of meditation enshrined by the likes of de Guzman, are enough tell-tale signs of a true miracle.

Review: With a Renewed Faith in Humanity

by JOJO DEVERA, Sari-Saring Sineng Pinoy

On the surface, Ang Kwento Ni Mabuti (CineFilipino, Studio 5, PLDT Smart Foundation, Inc., Unitel Entertainment, Cinelarga Productions, Sampaybakod Productions And Colorista Digital) may seem uneventful. Mabuti de la Cruz (Nora Aunor) goes about her routine on a typical morning with the banal bustle that attends the ritual, except that her family, with her mother and four granddaughters is quite exceptional. The event therefore, ceases to be a mere element of the plot. It is an event that takes in a sense of the total, the totality of society inscribed in a fairly straightforward sequence of incidents that seem to happen in a singular stroke. I say this because such an everyday circumstance translates into a consequence of historical forces congealing to produce precisely an event of this nature with contradictions playing out to generate exemplary pathos and profound perturbation. This operates not merely in terms of discourse but aesthetically as well.

The ethnographic approach of filmmaker Mes de Guzman intimates a stalking effect that threads us through the social thickness of what may appear to be everyday routine. Mabuti's studied visuality enabled by the reliable cinematography of Albert Banzon, mines cinema's ability to evoke a deep sense of space and place. The film's narrative on the other hand is propelled by a sense or vision of transcendence. 

Marked by spare dialogue and frequent silences, Ang Kwento Ni Mabuti is well-served by strong sequences that are vivid and picturesque without lapsing into gratuitous prettiness. Many scenes reveal the distance that Mabuti, covers as she moves into, out of, or across the frame, whether several steps or a few kilometers underscoring the amount of effort involved in changing position, in following a path, in initiating action. For all their flaws, there’s not one unfavorable character here. The grandchildren are good kids and the neighbors are friendly. But a good cry is in store which I can’t divulge without giving away the ending. However, it will leave the viewer with renewed faith in humanity and even in the present state of Philippine cinema.

Nora Aunor delivers her most auspicious performance here since Merika in 1984. Granted that some of her gains were better ones in the barren landscape of the period, it must be said that Aunor could not speak of a single creditable venture in the ’90s worth her legend, notwithstanding the unexpected moments in Bakit May Kahapon Pa? The acting prowess of the country’s acknowledged Superstar would sign off during the decade, replaced by tired responses and mannerisms best suited to impersonation. It is here in Ang Kwento Ni Mabuti that the actress redeems her stature and the command of her vast talent. The performance is shorn of affectation and is nearly flawless, from the subtle movement of neck and eye to wailing by her mother's death bed. At this point, melodrama flirts with melancholy, tragedy with the realism of soap opera, an uncanny liaison that takes us to the most fraught of ties, the most alienating of emotions, and an emergent tone and terrain of affection. 

Mabuti succeeds at opening up spaces to ponder the fraught issues of faith and responsibility well-served by the restrained performances of its supporting cast. Where a more conventional work might fall back on the familiar notion of the presumably redemptive power of a difficult journey, particularly one undertaken for the purpose of discharging a moral duty, the film equivocates, resisting facile sentimentality and choosing to intimate rather than to impose meaning, a strategy fully realized in the character of Mabuti, who is at once resolute with regard to her being. Ultimately, her search has less to do with the fulfillment of an obligation than a confrontation with her inner self, which is both adhesive and solvent in the process of cultivating and constructing a confrontation, Ang Kwento Ni Mabuti suggests what is necessarily arduous and ardently necessary.

Meeting Challenges, Celebrating Memories

Superstar Simplicity in Modern Parable

Internationally acclaimed filmmaker Mes de Guzman is known for films that are poetic in their simplicity—from 2005’s Ang Daan Patungong Kalimugtong to his latest works, the Earth trilogy.

De Guzman’s most ambitious undertaking yet is his latest movie, Ang Kwento ni Mabuti, one of eight entries in the ongoing CineFilipino Film Festival. “The biggest challenge was having the Superstar in the lead role,” he admits. Nora Aunor plays the titular character, Mabuti, a native healer forced to make a moral decision, in this modern-day parable filmed entirely in De Guzman’s home province of Nueva Vizcaya.

Bigger crew

“I shot Mabuti with a bigger crew and a much bigger production budget compared to my previous indie films,” he relates. “But I did it the indie way still, bearing in mind that it is just like my past movies. That was how I survived the shoot.”

For Mabuti, De Guzman cast indie favorites Sue Prado, Arnold Reyes, Mara Lopez and the late Ama Quiambao as Aunor’s costars. It was certainly his first time to deal with fans who trooped to the set no matter how remote or inaccessible.

Lopez reports that a mob of Noranians descended on a shoot in an ukay-ukay market. “Entire families, some lugging infants, would hike across mountains to catch a glimpse of Nora,” De Guzman recounts, likening the shoot to a picnic. “We had fun, laughing and chatting between takes.”

Beautiful location

Aunor learned to speak Ilocano for the role, though De Guzman didn’t require it. “She said she had always wanted to act and speak in another dialect,” the director says. A Bicolana, Aunor reportedly wanted to stay in Nueva Vizcaya, awed by the back-to-basics lifestyle led by De Guzman and his family. The filmmaker relocated there in 2009 and has since been documenting the unique landscape.

The Superstar with direk Mes de Guzman
 and production designer Cesar Hernando 

“We discovered a beautiful location in Aritao, a place literally surrounded by mountains,” he says. “Then, I found a lake on top of a mountain and instantly knew we had found the location for Mabuti.”

He first thought of this story seven years ago. “I once called Mabuti a narrative in no hurry to be filmed,” he says. Writing non-stop—“a three-day marathon writing session”—he completed the script in time to beat the CineFilipino deadline. “I work well under pressure—stress makes me think faster. Then again, I knew the characters, the setting and the structure by heart.” De Guzman is quick to point out that his film is not based on Genoveva Edroza-Matute’s short story of the same title. “I merely wanted to tell a story about honesty and righteousness,” he explains.

In the original concept paper, Mabuti was a man who travels to the city to seek a solution for his father’s illness. “Along the way, he meets different people—a politician, government employees, military men. For CineFilipino, I thought Mabuti should be a woman,” he says.

Real meaning

When Aunor signed up, De Guzman revised the script yet again three days before the shoot started. “Maybe the story inspired me to search for the real meaning of being a good person. Goodness is innate in Mabuti. She’s always on the side of what is right, in spite of the conflicts and challenges that she encounters on her journey.”

-- BAYANI SAN DIEGO, JR., Philippine Daily Inquirer

Upbeat Updates From the Set

Nora Aunor Studied Ilocano For Her Role...

Personal na dumalo si Direk Mes De Guzman sa Nora at 60Birthday Tribute ng TV5 at mga Noranians noong May 21 para batiin sa kanyang kaarawan ang Superstar na si Nora Aunor. Si Direk Mes ang direktor ni Nora Aunor sa bago niyang indie film na Ang Kwento Ni Mabuti ng Cine Larga at Sampay Bakod Productions.  

Sa birthday tribute ni Ate Guy (Nora's monicker) unang ipinalabas ang ilang importanteng eksena ng indie film na kalahok sa gaganaping 1st CineFilipino Film Festival... Sabay na in-interview sina Ate Guy at ang kanyang direktor tungkol sa nasabing obra. Kasama ni Direk Mes sa pagtitipon ang kanyang wife, Ms.Rhea De Guzman, siya ring line producer ng Ang Kwento Ni Mabuti; at si Edelyn Laguit, ang dialogue coach ni Ate Guy.

Nabanggit ni Nora na ang isa sa pinaka-naiiba sa bago niyang pelikula ay ang pagsasalita ng Ilocano throughout the film. "Mahirap bigkasin ang salitang Ilocano dahil matigas ang mga salita," aniya.

All-praises naman si Direk Mes sa kanyang lead actress. "Mahusay si Ate Guy, hindi lang sa pag-arte, kundi sa pagsasalita ng Ilocano, considering na bago ito sa kanya at first time nga lang niyang ginawa."

Banggit naman ni Ms. Edelyn, bilang dialogue coach ni Nora:  "Mabilis siyang mag-memorya at pumik-ap ng dialogue, kaya bilib sa kanya ang lahat sa set." Kasa-kasama ni Nora si Edelyn, bago umpisahan ang halos lahat ng mga eksenang kinunan. Dagdag pa ni Edelyn, na isa ring indie actress:  "Napakalaking bagay ang maka-trabaho si Ate Guy; isa siyang mabuti at mabait na artista.  Hindi ka maiilang, kasi siya mismo yung lalapit sa iyo. Approachable siya... siya yung artista na ang bilis maka-pick up [ng salitang Ilocano]; puro impromptu 'pag nag-Ilocano siya.  Hindi ako nahirapang turuan siya."

Bilang line producer, excited naman si Rhea De Guzman sa upcoming film ng kanyang director-husband, who also helmed the much-awarded, Diablo (2012), at last year's Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Filmfest.

"About 80 percent of the film, na-edit na ni Direk Mes... pero ayaw muna niyang ipasilip. Surprise daw!" natutuwa niyang banggit. "Confident siya, at ang lahat naman, na meron tayong magandang pelikula, dahil napakahusay ng ating bida na si Ms. Nora Aunor!"

REAL STORIES.  Nakausap ng PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) sina Mes De Guzman at Ms. Rhea sa birthday party ni Ate Guy at sa ilang pagkakataon habang nagsu-shooting si Nora Aunor sa Nueva Vizcaya.

Sa pagkakaroon niya ngayon ng pelikulang bida si Nora Aunor ay masayang-masaya si Direk Mes: "Ako naman, hindi ko naman inambisyon [na isang Nora Aunor ang magbida sa pelikula ko]... so, isang pangarap ito na natupad."

Sa Ang Kwento Ni Mabuti ay ginagampanan ni Nora Aunor ang papel ng isang manghihilot (folk healer), si Mabuti, o si "Nanang" Mabuti.  

Isa siyang maralitang probinsiyana; nagsasaka ng maliit na lupain sa liblib na baranggay sa norte (sa Bgy. Darapidap, Aritao, Nueva Vizcaya kinunan ang kabuuan ng obra).  Kuntento siya, hikahos man 'ika nga, kasama ang kanyang balong ina ('Apong' Guyang) at apat na apo, mula sa mga anak na may sari-sarili nang buhay.  

Ang katahimikan ng buhay ni Mabuti ay biglang magkakaroon ng kumplikasyon sa pagkakatuklas niya ng isang bag na naglalaman ng kung ilang milyong piso.  

As previously mentioned, Ang Kwento Ni Mabuti, is a morality tale that speaks of time-honored values. "A test of character, or a person's honesty and true worth," banggit din ni Direk Mes sa isa niyang panayam.  "Kung makakita ka ng ganu'ng kalaking pera, ano ang iyong gagawin?"

Playing major support to Nora Aunor si award-winning character actress Sue Prado as Nelia; gayundin si Ms. Ama Quiambao, in a special cameo appearance, bilang si "Nanang" Ising. Matapos ang tatlong dekada mula nang magsama sila sa klasikong Himala (1982) nina Ricky Lee (writer) at National Artist Ishmael Bernal (director), nagka-eksenang muli sina Nora at Ama, na nagbida sa Diablo ni Direk Mes.

The screen reunion was, indeed, significant, at kapwa masaya sina Ama at Nora sa naulit na pagkakataon, albeit in a very short scene. Sa Ang Kwento Ni Mabuti, sila ay magkaibigan na laging may panahong tulungan ang isa't isa. Nang una silang magka-trabaho, gumanap si Nora bilang isang faith healer, si Elsa; at si Ms. Ama, ang kanyang tagasunod, si Sepa. This time, ayon kay Direk Mes:  "Nagsimula ang idea ng... Kuwento Ni Mabuti, noong 2005.  Base ito sa isang healer, yung tinatawag nating manggagamot ng mga nakakagat ng aso at  ahas.

"Actually, nakagat kasi ako ng tuta [puppy] ko.  Then, may nagsabing kapitbahay na magpunta raw ako sa isang liblib na baryo; duoon ko na-meet yung manggagamot—isang dalaga. Then, tiningnan niya yung sugat ko. Sinabon niya, may dasal-dasal pa siya; nilawayan niya.  At mayroon siyang batong puti. Na-intriga ako doon.  Habang ginagamot niya ako, nagkuwentuhan kami.

"Namana raw niya ang panggagamot, sa nanay  o lola niya.  One time, naglalakad siya sa gubat, may nasalubong siyang puting cobra.  Unusual yon dahil hindi puti ang cobra. Tapos, dun sa ibabaw [ng ulo nito], may batong puti. At yun ang kinuha ng nanay niya, para ipanggamot.  Ipinasa na lang sa kanya."

Mula sa germ o idea na 'yon ay nakabuo si Direk Mes ng kuwento tungkol sa isang manggagamot [herbalist] at hilot, at sa kaugnayan niya sa mga tao at lipunang kinabibilangan, among poverty-stricken rural folks.

It took him about 8 years bago magkaroon ng katuparan ang proyekto, na una niyang nilayon bilang isang maliit na pelikulang katulad ng kanyang much-celebrated second film, Ang Daan Patungong Kalimugtong (2005). "Nang pumasok ang CineFilipino, sabi ko, 'Gusto kong sumali, gusto kong isali ito...'

"Simpleng kuwento, noong una, ang naisip kong bidang character, lalake.  Nang isinusulat ko na ang script [para sa CineFilipino] ginawa ko nang babae yung character.  At that time, nanay pa siya. "Actually, sinulat ko ito [script], one day lang, kasi buung-buo na sa akin yung character, yung mangyayari. Deadline na kinabukasan, at inspired ako kaya madali ko siyang natapos."

Dahil based na sa Nueva Vizcaya ang pamilya ni Direk Mes, ang script ng Ang Kuwento Ni Mabuti ay ipinadala niya sa opisina ng CineFililipino, sa pamamagitan ng LBC o Victory Liner.

"Sa kagandahang suwerte, napili siya.  Pero hindi ako masyadong kuntento sa script, kaya binago ko ang ilang detalye nito.  Ginawa kong lola yung character ni Mabuti; then, may mga apo siya, na apat na babae.

"May anak siyang babae at lalake na laging wala sa kanya.  Buo na sa isip ko na dapat wala lagi itong mga anak niya, kaya close siya sa mga apo niya.  At close din siya sa nanay niya, si Apong Guyang. Sina Arnold Reyes [Ompong] at Mara Lopez [Lucia] ang gumaganap bilang kanyang mga anak. Ordinaryo sa ganitong set-up, sa probinsiya, na magkakasama sila sa bahay," pagtukoy pa ni Direk Mes, na isa ring premyadong mandudulang-pampelikula.

HOW NORA AUNOR CAME TO BE 'MABUTI.'  Sa umpisa, mga local actors ang nakatakdang gumanap ng mga pangunahing papel sa Ang Kwento Ni Mabuti. Patuloy ni Direk Mes:  "Maliit na pelikula... kaya ang naisip ko [na gaganap], local actors...naniniwala kasi ako sa visuals.

"Puspusan ang ginawa naming auditions, mga workshops," sabi pa niya. "Pumupunta kami sa iba't ibang lugar talaga. Mahalaga sa akin yung 'look', e.  Siguro dahil may background din ako sa painting. Gusto ko, pag nakita mo, yun na yon.  Hindi na niya kailangang magsalita.  Makukuha mo na yung statement, o ang ibig sabihin [ng mga eksena]."

Sa audition na ito nadiskubre ng CineLarga Productions (pag-aari ng mag-asawang Mes at Rhea De Guzman) ang mga kabataang mag-aaral na gumaganap bilang mga apo ni Mabuti: sina Angela Ordinario, Kathleen Luares, Safron Ventura, at Trinity Aragon.

Meanwhile, ang gumanap na ina ni Mabuti ay isa ring local veteran actress, named Josephine Estabillo, a former baranggay chairman, bilang si "Apong Guyang."  Gumanap na siya sa isang naunang indie film ni Mes De Guzman.

Ang pagiging bahagi ni Nora Aunor, ng bago niyang obra, ay wala sa naunang plano ni Direk Mes. Banggit pa niya, "Nu'ng nanalo nga [ang script] sa CineFilipino, at pini-pitch ko, may nagbanggit na...napag-usapan daw sa committee na ang sabi, 'Ang magandang pumapel dito... na nababagay is Nora Aunor!'"

Natuwa si Direk Mes, although hindi agad siya naging ganu'ng kasigurado sa narinig. "E, siyempre, Nora Aunor yan!  Ako naman, hindi ko naman inambisyon... so,  isang pangarap ito na natupad!  Ito na...!" bulalas nga niya. "So, yun nga.  Sabi nila, 'Kunin natin si Ate Guy diyan!'  Sabi ko naman, 'Kung magagawa natin, di sige...' "Nagpapasalamat ako, naging smooth naman yung pagkuha, kasi ang bilis ng pangyayari, e.  Hindi naman ako nahirapan.

"Na nagustuhan [ng TV5] yung concept ng Mabuti, isa ako sa mapalad na gumawa ng pelikula para kay Ate Guy," masayang sambit pa ni Direk Mes.

ON WORKING WITH NORA AUNOR.  Sa isang malaking eksenang kinunan, sa itaas ng bundok na dinaraanan ng mga sasakyang lumuluwas sa bayan, sangkot dito ang maraming extra, bilang mga pasahero ng isang provincial mini-bus, na bumibiyaheng Kalimugtong (in reference to Mes De Guzman's award-winning film).

Hindi nahirapan ang production team nina Mes at Rhea De Guzman dahil, on hand para tumulong, ay ang hukbo ng mga Noranian (supporters, mula sa Noranians Worldwide/NOW at Nora's Friends Forever/NFF) na bumisita sa location, in far-off Aritao, Nueva Vizcaya. Involved sa eksena bilang co-passengers ang character na ginampanan nina Nora at Sue Prado, a mysterious acquaintance of Mabuti.

Matapos ang shoot ay nakapanayam sina Direk Mes at Ate Guy ng TV5-Interaksiyon Team at ng PEP. Naroon rin ang miyembro ng CineFilipino Filmfest Monitoring team, sa pangunguna ni Mr. Vincent "Ting" Nebrida, festival director.

"Ah, itong eksena na ito, actually, napakahirap, kaya hiningal ako," banggit ni Direk Mes. "First time kong gumawa ng eskena sa bus, na doon halos mabuo yung isang eksenang mabigat.  Kasi crucial itong eksena na ito sa pelikula.  Medyo na-drain ako, kahit papa'no.'

Pero, siyempre, nagbibigay-lakas sa akin yung character ni 'Mabuti' na ginampanan ng ating Superstar na si Nora Aunor. Na nakaka-amaze... ibang klase!" overwhelmed na pagtukoy ni Direk Mes. "Yung acting style ni Nora Aunor dito, instinctive, e," sabi pa niya.  "Konting instructions ko lang, kuha na niya kaagad. Nakakagulat!"

Kung may naging problema man, yun ay ang pagiging "star-struck" daw ng mga extras na mga Noranians. "Nai-starstruck sila pag umaarte si Ate Guy.  So, nadi-distract si Ate Guy, kasi lahat sila nakatingin [sa kanya]! "E, yung flow ng kuwento, dapat pasahero lang sila, di sila dapat nakatingin kay Ate Guy," sabi pa ng direktor. Gayunman, na-pull off nang maayos ang nasabing eksena hanggang sa mga sumunod pang crucial scenes, na hindi muna puwedeng idetalye ng writer-director.

HAPPY WORKING WITH DIREK MES AND STAFF/CREW AND VICE-VERSA.   When asked kung ano naman ang damdamin niya sa naging pakikipag-trabaho kina Mes De Guzman at sa buong production staff and crew ng Ang Kuwento Ni Mabuti, Nora Aunor stated: "Masaya ako, kasi lahat ng kasamahan namin dito, masaya.  Alam mo naman ako, pagka sinabi kong masaya at ganado ako, ibig sabihin, mula sa direktor namin hanggang sa pinaka-maliit na kasamahan namin dito, walang kaproble-problema. Puro tawanan kami dito, 'pagka wala pang shooting. Du'n kami nag-e-enjoy, kaya sinasabi ko, masaya.  At pagka masaya ako, kahit medyo pagod ako nang konti, dahil sa sobrang init, parang hindi rin ako napapagod."

May pressure ba sa part ni Mes De Guzman ang pag-handle ngayon kay Nora Aunor, matapos nitong gawin ang much-awarded indie film na Thy Womb?

"Uhm, paano ko ba sasabihin? Actually, nabanggit ko nga, ang plano ko lang, mga locals [Nueva Vizcaya-based actors] ang kunin.  Nung may magbanggit naman sa TV5, why not kunin si Ate Guy, kasi magpi-fit siya sa role, naisip ko din, 'Oo nga, ano?  Talagang bagay siya sa role! So, du'n... na-excite na ako du'n!  Parang hindi ko nararamdaman ang pressure, e... kung mayroon man. Kasi nu'ng dumating si Ate Guy, jive kaagad.  Ewan ko rin kung ano'ng meron. First day, second day [of shooting held on the third week of April],  based du'n sa kuwento niya [Nora], tawanan, masaya! Actually, parang isang malaking picnic lang itong ginagawa namin. I think, kahit kay Ate Guy, walang pressure, e.  Kasi magaan yung set."  

"Maski du'n sa previous films ko [Diliman, Ang Daan Patungong Kalimugtong, Balikbayan Box, Sa Kanto Ng Ulap At Lupa, Ang Mundo Sa Panahon ng Bato), ganu'n ang gusto kong atmosphere; ang gusto kong mood ng set-up, ng shoot. Kasi, mas makakagalaw; makakapag-isip ka ng kung anong atake ng eksena. I think, ganun din si Ate Guy.  So, ayun, mabuti... I think, magiging 'mabuti' itong pelikulang ito," biro pa ni Direk Mes.

POSITIVE CHARACTER.  Bilang isang tauhan ng dulang pam-pelikulang pinagalaw sa kontemporaryong panahon, si Mabuti, as portrayed by Nora Aunor ay isang napaka-positibong karakter.

Ani Nora tungkol sa kanyang karakter:  "Si Mabuti ay isang masayahing tao, mapagmahal na anak, at yung pamilya nila, kahit na mahirap, nasa isang lugar o bahay lang na maliit, makikitaan mo sila ng kasiyahan.

"Hindi sila naghahanap ng karangyaan.  Pero makikita mo yung pagmamahalan nila; pagtutulungan, katulad ng mga anak nila.  

"Sa trabaho, masaya ang grupo namin dito; nag-enjoy ako. Kaya nalungkot ako nang magtapos na ang shoot namin. Nagkahiwa-hiwalay na kami.  Ganu'n kasi kami kasaya...walang problema!

"At lahat ng salita ko dito, 100 percent in Ilocano.  Kakaiba ito, na naging challenge din sa akin ang paggawa ng pelikula, dahil ngayon lang ako nagkaroon ng pelikula na Ilocano ang salita, sa kabuuan.

"Magaling ang aming dialogue coach na si Ms. Edelyn [Laguit].  Bago mag-take, binubusisi niya ang aming mga dila sa pagsasanay ng mga salitang Ilocano.  Awa ng Diyos, nakukuha naman namin."

MAINSTREAM OR INDIE CINEMA?  Anong uri ng pelikula ang mas nakaka-excite at kinasisiyahan niyang gawin, sa puntong ito? "Ay, nag-e-enjoy ako sa indie!" sabi ni Nora.  "Ngayon, ha, nag-e-enjoy ako sa indie [independently-produced films]. "Para sa akin kasi, ang indie, nakikita mong maganda yung ginawa mo.  Hindi ko kasi puwedeng tawaging 'indie' yun, e. Parang puwede mong ilaban yun sa mainstream, yung ginagawa mong indie sa ngayon. Marami kang nakikita, direktor na kabataan na magagaling talagang magdirek.

Tulad ni Direk Mes... hindi porke katabi ko siya..." natutuwang sambit ni Ate Guy.   "Si Direk Mes, talagang cool na cool sa set.  Pero 'pagka pinanood mo ang kabuuan ng kanyang pelikula,  talagang masasabi mong maganda yung kanyang pelikula. At puwedeng ipanlaban kahit saan."

Bago mag-shoot ng Mabuti, pinanood nga ni Ate Guy ang huling obra ni Mes De Guzman, ang Diablo, at para sa kanya'y impresibo ang pelikula. Also, Nora Aunor takes pride in the fact na ang lahat ng mga major co-actors and staff na kasama niya sa Ang Kuwento ni Mabuti ay mga premyado. "Sina Sue Prado, Arnold Reyes, Mara Lopez... si Tita Ama [Quiambao], mga award-winning actors silang lahat. Pati ang mga nasa production, bukod kay Direk Mes [writer-director, editor, music scorer, production designer]; si Albert Banzon, ang cinematographer, at si Kuya Cesar Hernando, ang aming production designer...

"Natutuwa ako na magagaling ang lahat ng mga nakasama ko ngayon sa pelikula namin," sambit pa ni Ate Guy.

NORA AS A FOLK HEALER.  Para kay Direk Mes De Guzman, maraming kakaibang eksena na ginawa ang Superstar sa Ang Kwento Ni Mabuti.

At may patotoo tungkol dito si Direk Mes.  Aniya, "'Yun nga ang sinasabi ng mga fans, na first movie ito ni Ate Guy na may straight dialect siya.  So yun, nakaka-excite!

"May bago na ipapakita si Ate Guy, bukod dun sa kuwento ng pelikula, na set talaga sa location, sa Nueva Vizcaya.

"Napaka-challenging para kay Ate Guy nito; wala pa silang nakikita [sa ibang pelikula niya] na naglalakad nang mahaba at tumatawid ng mga bundok [si Ate Guy] na may hila-hila pa siyang baboy! O kaya'y nagta-trabaho sa gubat [working on the water pipes], tending the animals, tilling the soil, apart from her main occupation, as a folk healer.

"I think, mga bagong images ito, na hindi pa nakikita na ginawa ni Ate Guy. So, kung excited na ang mga fans, kami rin," masayang-masayang sambit pa ni Mes De Guzman.

-- WILLIAM REYES, Philippine Entertainment Portal (PEP)