Philippine Cinema's Greatest Performances
There are a lot of good actors in the firmament of the Philippine cinema, giving us unforgettable performances through the years. Performances that are already part of the annals of our local movie industry, Performances that became the barometer of the new generation of actors who are still trying to find their niche in this century old Philippine cinema. There are several actors who gave us outstanding performances but only few of them can be called great. I am an avid fan of Filipino classic movies and for me, here are the few actors whom I can say gave us the greatest performances in the Philippine cinema. The list is in random order. 1. Nora Aunor – Himala Who could ever argue the indelible performance of Nora Aunor on this film? She gave us arguably the greatest performance of a Filipino actor ever. The subtlety of her performance is one of the reasons why it is great. She doesn’t say much, but her soulful eyes delivered an outstanding performance that is now immortalized in Philippine cinema. 2. Dolphy – Ang Tatay kong Nanay The King of Comedy of Philippine cinema played a pitch perfect role of a gay man who is left with a baby by his former lover. He raised the baby but he has to live a double life, concealing his true identity so that the kid will live a normal life. Dolphy’s performance in this movie is unforgettable especially on the closing sequence wherein he answers the question in a local gay beauty pageant; it was so good that anybody who sees it would really feel for him. 3. Lolita Rodriguez - Tinimbang ka Ngunit Kulang Kuala, a village idiot was perfectly portrayed by Lolita Rodriguez. The performance was so good and was naturally acted is considered to be Lolita’s greatest achievement ever. 4. Vic Silayan – Kisapmata When I first saw this film, I was terrified with Dadong that I spent sleepless nights thinking about him and his murderous tendencies. Vic Silayan was so effective on his portrayal that people who has seen this film was either scared or hated him. Vic Silayan’s performance was so riveting that I considered it as the Philippine Cinemas greatest movie villain. 5. Joel Torre – On the Job Joel Torre gave us a knockout performance and even eclipsing his younger co-actors in this film. In one of the movie reviews, it was noted that it is in Torre’s crackerjack portrayal that the film finds its soul, he is ruthless one minute and vulnerable the next. He juggles those emotions with audacious believability. 6. Gina Pareno - Kubrador A bet collector in the slums of Manila, Pareno gave us the best performance of her career. It was said that the role was intended for Nora Aunor, but Gina was a worthy replacement. She was so brilliant as a woman in the Filipino filthy slums dreaming the ghost of a son she will never have again. Heartbreaking and powerful. 7. Eddie Garcia – Bwakaw Eddie Garcia played gay roles several times ( Tubog sa Ginto) but nothing can ever touch his performance as a late-blooming homosexual who experienced being in love for a younger man and grieved for losing his loved one. A performance that is so powerful that is achieved by decades of insightful experiences. 8. Nora Aunor – Thy Womb Nora Aunor’s filmography is full of worthy and unforgettable performances through the years, until she went into hiatus for 8 years, and when she came back, she gave us one of the greatest performances Philippine cinemas’ had ever seen. Collaborating with one of the greatest Filipino directors, Brillante Mendoza, Shaleha was perfectly portrayed by Nora. According to one of reviewers of the film, Nora succeeded as she gracefully disappeared into her character without much vocal calisthenics or excessive physical artifice. Now this is my list, how about yours? Tell me what you think, and who do you think gave their great performances and also deserves to be on the list too without being biased.
