Nestor U. Torre, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 1997

VICTIMS AND VICTORS

After viewing "Magic Kingdom," we moved to another theater to watch "Babae." There weren't many people in the movie house, but the ones who were there were completely absorbed in Nora Aunor's performance in the movie.

And well they should have been. Nora is not only a fine, "thinking" actress, but her character is also the film's protagonist, a mature woman who finally realizes that the people who professes to love her have in fact been preventing her all these years from coming into her own person.

In the film, Nora starts out as a "mere" architect who suddenly experiences a moment of instructive self-realization when her design for a big building is chosen above many others, and she's appointed as the supervising architect of the entire project.

This boosts her self-esteem, but it also threatens her husband (Mark Gil), whose career is getting nowhere. Old resentments are raked over, and we learn that, not only is Mark an unsupportive husband, but he's also a wife-beater and even rapes Nora when she doesn't want to go to bed with him.

As if this weren't enough, Nora's daughter (Judy Ann Santos) gives her more unhappiness when she dallies with danger in her own way of becoming the girlfriend of a young man (Jao Mapa) who's also prone to violence.

Finally, Nora has to contend with the weepy insecurities of her mother (Nida Blanca), who's feeling lonely after the death of her husband, to whom she's given the best years of her life.

Thus, "Babae" shapes up as a film about three generations of women, and how they relate to and are sometimes victimized by the men in their lives. The thread that stitches its way in and out of these three generations is these women's general subservience to the wishes of their menfolk.

Nida's husband was loving but demanded all of her time. Nora's husband goes to the extent of raping her and crushing her self-esteem because her success is an "insult" to his self-worth and the provider of in their family. And Judy Ann imitates her mother's weakness by allowing her to be victimized by her own beau.

The interesting thing here is that it isn't the youngest generation that rebels, but Nora's character. Success makes her realize that she has an identity and value apart from her husband and daughter , and this is what pushes her to finally calling for a stop to her husband's violence, and insisting that her daughter get rid of her violent boyfriend.

In time, Nora's mother also discovers that there's life beyond widowhood, as an old beau reenters her life.

Appropriately enough, Nora's performance dominates the film. We're happy to report that Lupita Kashiwahara has succeeded here in weaning Nora away from the unnaturally constricted, overly "dramatic" performance style that she has been made to assume in her past few perfromances.

Her acting here is natural, focused, simple, sharp, felt, thoughtful-- -all hallmarks of true excellence in screen performance. Let's hope that, from here on in, Nora will refuse to go back to her old, "constricted" style, no matter what her other directors tell her.

Other fine performances are turned in here by Nida Blanca and Mark Gil. Alas, Judy Ann Santos and Jao Mapa can't seem to get a clear handle on their respective characters, and their performances confuse rather than clarify the thematic issues related to their characters. An interesting touch here is making Judy Ann, Nora's daughter by a man (Caloy Pimentel) who turns out to be gay, and is in fact now living with his lover (Chris Michelena). Part of Judy Ann's "confusion" springs from the fact that she feels she's being shunted between three homes---her mother's, her lola's, and her gay father's.

On the other hand, the film falters because a number of its themes and conflicts are talked about instead of shown. Also, its characters are too "wise," analyzing themselves and their problems pretty much to death.

Thus, the film works harder at the verbal rather than the visual level, when the opposite should be the case. Another flaw is the fact that some actors are miscast. Who can believe that Nida gave birth to Nora who then gave birth to Judy Ann? Visual credibility is an important factor in making it easy for viewers to believe in and thus emphatize in what they're watching.

Yet another visually discordant touch is casting Mark Gil as Nora's husband. Sure they're both fine actors, but, given the husband's character traits, is it believable that he would marry a charcter type like Nora?

In light of these "pro" and "con" factors, "Babae" comes off as a well-intentioned and occasionally forceful tribute to the strengths of women that however does not fully realize its intentions. Its insights are articulated rather than dramatically realized, so its impact is more on the mind than in the heart.