Cinema
A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino
Lamberto V. Avellana · 1965
Synopsis
In Intramuros, old Manila, in October 1941, Candida and Paula Marasigan, two sisters who have remained unmarried, look after their father, Lorenzo, a once-famous painter, and his last canvas, in which a young man carries an old man on his back, both in his own likeness. Pressed by their brother and sister, Manolo and Pepang, to sell the house, they rent a room to the musician Tony Javier, while the canvas attracts covetous eyes.
Context
Produced by Manuel de Leon, the film adapts the play that Nick Joaquin had written in English in 1950 and keeps its language. Daisy Hontiveros-Avellana, the director's wife, and Naty Crame-Rogers, both from the stage, play the two sisters. In 2014, the Film Development Council of the Philippines and Mike de Leon, the producer's son, had the original negative, held at the Asian Film Archive, restored by the L'Immagine Ritrovata laboratory; the restored version was presented in 2015 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
Who it is for
A film of one hundred and seven minutes, in English and in black and white, adapted from the theatre and shot almost entirely in the family home.
Prizes and reception
Nominated six times for the awards of the Philippine academy, it was released in France by Carlotta, as a supplement to a box set devoted to Mike de Leon.
Sources for this page 8
The pages consulted to check this page.