Review: Batu-Bato sa Langit

Behn Cervantes, The Philippines Daily Express, 1975

"Batu-Bato sa Langit" Sure enough this film goes into lengthy discussions on population control which is clearly the reason for its being in the festival. What the film really wants to do is to capitalize on the comic talents of Nora Aunor, Nida Blanca, Nova Villa and presumably, that of Christopher de Leon and German Moreno, too. The combined talents of these stars under the direction and script of Luciano Carlos is a scintillating comedy with many fine moments.

The script is witty but the story itself is pretty thin and is really made up of a series of television-type comedy skits. The film seems to end on at least three instances, when the number of what appear like additional scenes are inserted to meet the required length of a feature film.

What is questionable about the film is its whole tone. The jokes are good. Nora Aunor and Nida Blanca are excellent comediennes with Nova Villa squeezing every moment of her screen time. German Moreno seems to have rubbed off on Christopher, who mugs and prances about in underwear and imagines that a clown is ever in motion. The young actor mistakes comedy for slapstick. He is alternately frenetic or jumpy. Although he can be a charming performer, he is, at the very most in this film, trying hard. Beside the ladies he is at a loss and his lack of control is uncomfortable to view. The film manages to hide, behind the theme of population control, risque lines and out-and-out bomba. Genitalia of both sexes are operated on. The different devices for birth control are exhibited and demonstrated for use. All these would have been fine if they were made an integral part of the story. Carlos supplies ample humor, though he doesn't quite blend in the birth control aspect into the story to justify the demonstrations of birth control devices. Nora portrays a young woman about to have her baby --- the honeymoon occurring before the wedding. The main problem in the film is not birth control, it is love --- will the young couple manage to get married or not?

What I find questionable in the film is precisely that the love problem makes the birth control problem superfluous. The latter is clearly an appendage to meet a requirement. Even while the movie undertakes the propagation of population control information, it also takes advantage of the titillating effect of the information for entertainment and comic ends.

Worst of all, certain traditional morals of the people suffer, despite the fine comedy and the unabashed information on the different devices for birth control. The film seems to make a joke of pre-marital pregnancies, which is not treated as a problem but instead is nonchalantly accepted. This may sound pretty Victorian at this late stage of the twentieth century but I wonder what effect this will have upon the millions of Filipino youth, who will see their superstars engaging in conversations of pre-marital relationships as though they are merely considering the birds and the bees. The film absolves the couple of any fault and doesn't seriously impart the economic repercussions as seriously as it should. Little importance is given to adult attitudes about love, sex and marriage. The whole tone is one of permissiveness and tolerance.

I laughed at the many jokes, and the film makes me surer than ever that Nora Aunor is a fine actress, that Nida Blanca has improved with the years, and that Chaning Carlos has an uncanny understanding of what makes the audience laugh. However, I seriously wonder if this is all the audience is supposed to expect. Despite the threat in the title of the film, it proves to be merely frivolous. "Batu-Bato sa Langit...Ang Tamaan Huwag Magagalit", okay?