September 5, 1996, seven p.m. SM Megamall 10, in that part of the cineplex reserved for Tagalog movies. The masses came, not shod in "bakya" this time but in imitation Nikes and patent-leather pumps.

It's the premiere of the latest Nora Aunor film, "Bakit May kahapon Pa?" Super-snooty guards and production hands swat away those with no invitation, or P 50 to spare for the premiere. In their minds run still the stereotype of the Nora Aunor fans --- loud and wild ready to scalp the fans of Ate Vi. But as an editor said, there are now "nouveau Noranians (who) are an extremely sober, if not refined, group. The demographic reads thus: young, schooled, followers of good cinema and, some of them, amply politicized even."

But whether old or nouveau fans, they were there that night. Unlike other premieres where only a handful attend, the cinema was already three-fourths full when I came. I saw Jeff Ramos, who told me my Sweet Valley High twin sister was in the balcony. It wasn't hard to find jessica --- her Catwoman glasses glinted in the dark --- and I sat beside her.

We were caught up in what the Zen masters would call a "satori" moment. The warm and golden voice of Nora Aunor enveloped us with "My Pledge of Love," "Moonlight Becomes You," and "The Shadow of Your Smile," among others. I waited for "Pearly Shells," but what came instead was loud screaming. From the left came Nora in a cream suit and shades. Now even the mouveau Noranians have turned wild. Dear Nora sat in front of us. All these reminded me of Life Theater in Quiapo in 1970, when my grandmother and I would attend the premiere of Nora's movies. Then I fished for "Filipinas" magazine from my bag; the magazine had Nora on the cover. I asked Jeff to ask Nora to please autograph my copy. My grandmother, Lord bless her, would've been proud.

When the film began, a hush fell on the crowd. This is Nora Aunor's first significant movie after "The Flor Contmeplacion Story," and already it's controversial. The Film Ratings Board deemed it unworthy of a B rating.

The story pivots around Helen, a young girl who witnesses the massacre of her parents and her neighbors in the hands of the military, led then by Col. Valderrama. The girl grows up unhinged in the city. She joins the underground movement, marries a comrade, and helps kill Gen. Valderamma's son. But during the ambush, she also shoots the colonel's sister. Since it's not part of the plan, her comrades ask her to resolve her personal problems first. Thus begins her descent into the deeper circles of hell.

Dawn Zulueta, as the general's daughter, and Eddie Garcia as the grand "verdugo" himself are good. At least on this score, the FRB is right. But they fail to note Nora Aunor's acting, indirectly saying its "uneven, bordering on overacting." Of course they're wrong. From her first glimpse of the general during the funeral wake to their confrontation in the end, Nora turns in a finely-modulated performance. The eyes have it, and the voice, now grainy with sadness, then fierce with rage. She swings on the pendulum of pain, from cold-blooded plotter to woman haunted by her many ghosts. Silent now and ever so calm, a whirlpool of destruction in the next.

The film also scores well for editing, sound and cinematography. The FRB calls "gratuitous" the cinmetography for the scene where Helen bids farewell to her husband (Daniel Fernando). She sits on a rock on the river's edge, wrapped in a blue light. She watches the water flow on and on, and knows she can't be water, for her heart has hardened like a rock. Lonely and bitter her life will be, until everything is brought to its apocalypse.

Echoes of Old Testament resonate in the film, with its theme of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Which is as well it should be. The film's downside is its weak writing. Parts of it reminds you of "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle," "Music Box," or even "Missing." There are gaps in the narrative. When Helen returns to her parish priest and confesses, he tells her he will give her sleeping pills. The general's daughter could've used her cellphone to call the cops. Dawn's daughter keeps on whining I want to string her up a tree.

But these are minor. "Bakit May Kahapon Pa?" may not be excellent, but it deserves a B rating. Joel lamangan is raising a body of films that challenges the way our history has been written. the film will be shown on Sept. 18, three days shy of Sept. 21, the day Ferdinand marcos began our own descent to hell.