Oro, Plata, Mata

Opening quote

The decade of disaster fell into three unequal parts: the two years before the war; the period of the Japanese occupation; and the liberation era. No decade in our history was more eventual than this one... So vast now seems the difference between what we have become and what we were before disaster struck that, in the Philippine vernacular term "peacetime" means exclusively all the years before December 8, 1941. There has been no "peacetime" since then.” |Nick Joaquin}}

According to the audio commentary by Peque Gallaga, he told the film's screenwriter, Jose Javier Reyes, to create a frame reference for the film, and the latter answered by citing a quote from Nick Joaquin. Peque agreed with the decision, and he revealed that he enjoyed reading his works.

Plot

In World War II-era Negros, the Ojeda family celebrates Maggie's debut. In the garden, Trining receives her first kiss from Miguel Lorenzo, her childhood sweetheart. The Ojeda patriarch, Don Claudio, and his fellow landowners talk about the impending war as some of the young, able-bodied men enlist. The celebration is cut short by news of the sinking of SS Corregidor by a mine. As the Japanese approach, the Ojedas accept the invitation extended by the Lorenzos, their old family friends, to stay with them in their provincial hacienda. Nena Ojeda and Inday Lorenzo try to deny the realities of war by preserving their pre-war lifestyle. Pining for her fiancé, Maggie goes through bouts of melancholy. Miguel and Trining turn from naughty children into impetuous adults.

Two more family friends, Jo Russell and Viring, join them in the refuge. As they witness the burning of the town and the Japanese nearing, the families evacuate to the Lorenzo family's forest lodge. A group of weary guerrillas arrives, and Jo tends to their injuries. The guerrillas leave a comrade, Hermes Mercurio, behind. Miguel endures more comments of the same kind when he fails to take action against a Japanese soldier who comes upon the girls bathing in the river and is killed by Hermes instead. Maggie comforts Miguel, who decides to learn how to shoot from Hermes. Later, Viring's jewelry is stolen by Melchor, Inday’s trusted foreman. He justifies his action as a reward for his services, but is promptly fired by Inday.

While Miguel and Hermes are away, Melchor and his band of thieves return and take revenge on his former masters. They raid the food supplies, slaughter the servants, rape Inday, and chop off Viring's fingers when she does not take off her ring. Trining unexpectedly goes with the bandits despite the atrocities. These experiences bring Maggie and Miguel closer together. Miguel urges the survivors to resume their mahjong games to help them cope with their trauma. Miguel is determined to hunt the bandits down and bring Trining back. He catches them in an abandoned hospital, but his courage is replaced with bloodlust, driving him to a killing spree. Miguel and Hermes finally kill Melchor and his men and rescue Trining.

After Liberation in 1945, a party is held in the Ojeda household to announce Maggie and Miguel's betrothal. The survivors attempt to reclaim their previous lifestyle, but the war has changed the world, just as it has forever changed each of them.

Cast

Release

Oro, Plata, Mata is the first film produced by the Experimental Cinema of the Philippines under Executive Order No. 770 by President Ferdinand E. Marcos. The film was first released on January 27, 1982, and it was approved to be shown by the Board of Censors for Motion Pictures. It was also shown in the United States on October 1, 1983, as part of the Chicago International Film Festival and in Japan on July 25, 1991, as part of the Filipino Movies Festival, which was sponsored and presented by the ASEAN Cultural Center.

Digital restoration

In the late 1990s, ABS-CBN originally planned to restore Oro, Plata, Mata, but the analog restoration costs exceeded up to 20 million pesos. According to Leo P. Katigbak, the head of ABS-CBN Film Archives, they did not proceed with the analog restoration of the film by fixing the film prints without addressing the defects in every frame. Eventually, the film was digitally restored and remastered in 2012 by the ABS-CBN Film Restoration and Central Digital Lab (supervised by Manet T. Dayrit and Rick Hawthorne). Peque Gallaga (the film's director) and Rody Lacap (the film's cinematographer) were involved in the restoration process. It is the second film to be restored by the ABS-CBN Film Restoration and Central Digital Lab.

Before the restoration commenced, the film print of the ABS-CBN Film Archives and two reserve prints were considered as the source of elements for the restoration but the ABS-CBN archive print was chosen instead because the film's picture quality was better. Peque Gallaga was consulted in preserving the original colours of the film since the film print was already fading. Central Digital Lab took 1,871 manual hours to complete the film restoration and 80 hours for color grading. The film's audio was restored by Post Haste Sound Inc. in Los Angeles, California, United States. It was lifted from the Betacam tape and upgraded from mono audio to Dolby Digital 5.1 audio mix.

Reception

Critical reception

Film critic Noel Vera praised the whole film's narrative of the Second World War as "beautifully structured" with a reference of the architectural superstition to the film; the bright conception and development of the characters; and the whole screenplay being similar to the 1939 epic historical drama film Gone with the Wind, starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh. However, Peque Gallaga did not even reach the highs of Luchino Visconti's 1963 film The Leopard because there are no found references and symbolisms developed from the Italian film. As a result, the film is considered a "masterpiece", also praising its cinematography, screenplay, and production designs.

Accolades

The movie won the 1982 Gawad Urian awards for Best Picture, Direction, Cinematography, Production Design, Musical Score, and Sound. In the same year, it won the Luna Awards for Production Design and Best Supporting Actress (Liza Lorena). It is marketed as one of the top ten best films of the 1980s. Oro, Plata, Mata (1982) - Awards

Notes

References

References

1. Sulat Jr, Bert B.. (December 1, 2012). "Oro, Plata, Mata: Revisited, restored, riveting still". [[Rappler]].
2. (October 21, 2012). "Oro, Plata, Mata to be restored in HD". ABS-CBN News.
3. (2013). "Oro, Plata, Mata - DVD commentary". ABS-CBN Film Productions Inc..
4. Sorilla IV, Franz. (July 8, 2021). "ABS-CBN Film Archives: The Process, Challenges, And Rewards Of Film Restoration". Tatler Philippines.
5. (September 24, 2013). "Gallaga's Oro restored". [[The Philippine Star]].
6. San Diego Jr., Bayani. (December 9, 2012). "'Oro, Plata, Mata' restored, Bacolod screening planned". [[Philippine Daily Inquirer]].
7. (May 15, 2020). "Sagip Pelikula Spotlight looks into Oro, Plata, Mata (1982) for the month of May". ABS-CBN Film Restoration.
8. (May 4, 2020). "Find out more about the restoration of Oro, Plata, Mata (1982)".
9. ''CRITIC AFTER DARK: Oro, Plata, Mata (Gold, Silver, Death; Peque Gallaga, 1982)'', Noel Vera, March 13, 2013.