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Jermaine Rae A. Dimayacyac

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Ora Pro Nobis

The film entitled Ora Pro Nobis (Fight for Us) is a 1989 film directed by Lino Brocka starring

Philip Salvador, Dina Bonnevie, Gina Alajar and Bembol Roco. The film manifested the four out of

five traits of Filipino film and these are the following: a) scene-oriented narrative, b) digressions, c)tendency for overt representation, and d) circumlocutory dialogue. However, even if these traits are

still present in the film, Filipino films were becoming nationalistic showing the real thing thatshappening in our society.

Scene-oriented Narrative. The film has a lot of dramatic expositions but perhaps this is because thestory is about the oppressed people of Santa Filomena. An example would be the part where the

people from Santa Filomena were staying in a church but the Orapronobis threw bomb at them.

Gina Alajar was so worried that their suffering would not end. Another example is when Jun Lazaro

was abducted and Trixia was worried that their family may get into that kind of danger. However, Ithink, the deus-ex-machina factor of the film was not presented since the story is about seeking for

something that would end the peoples suffering.

Digressions. The film also has some digressions but not really that much. There is just one part of

the film where there is a group of people singing about the incident that was just told by one of the

victims (Pen Medina). The song was like Paalam na, paalam na ang awit ng langay langayanAgain, this might just be a small part of the movie but having this brings us back to the traits or so-

called flaws of the Filipino films. Perhaps, this trait was still given a moment in this film for the

viewers entertainment.

Tendency for Overt Representation. This trait is not that overt in the film but still societal status is

present in the film and particularly in this film since this film is about the oppressed people from

Santa Filomena. Like in the film, the poor people are overtly represented. They are presented aspeople from a small barrio far from the city far from where they thought there is justice and

freedom. They are always the victims of the Ora Pro Nobis so they are always the ones who get

killed.

Circumlocutory Dialogue. The dialogue of the actors are very striking that sometimes its as if they

are doing aBalagtasan. An example would be the part when Komander Kontra (Bembol Roco) wasabout to rape Esper (Gina Alajar). Komander Kontra has this line that says, Buksan mo ang iyongisipan, kasamahang Esperanza. Hayaang pumasok ang liwanag. Huwag kang magpagamit sa

kampo ng diliman just to express the point of asking where the rebels are.

Emphasis on the Centrality of the Star. This is the only trait that I think, was not included in thisfilm. Perhaps, because of the films aim to be nationalistic. So, the characters in this film do not

really portray the character that people see in them in real life. Lets say, Philip Salvador, he is notreally a former priest or an activist but he portrayed the said character in the film.

In conclusion, the film Ora Pro Nobis somehow presented the four traits even if they tried to benationalistic in their theme. I guess these traits are really Filipino because these traits cater the

Filipinos entertainment.