By Henrylito D. Tacio
One thing that sets the Philippines apart from other countries is its cinema. Most of the produced films — from the past to the present — give us a glimpse of the culture of how Filipinos live and change through the times. They are actually the mirror of Filipinos and the country itself.
Film directors, who sometimes serve as script writers themselves, are the instruments in making these movies possible. Perhaps one of the most important people who exerted a lot of influence on Philippine cinema was Edgar Romero.
Romero’s career spans three generations of filmmakers. Wikipedia noted some of these films that brought the culture and arts of the Philippines: “His 1976 film Ganito Kami Noon…Paano Kayo Ngayon?, set at the turn of the 20th century during the revolution against the Spaniards and, later, the American colonizers, follows a naïve peasant through his leap of faith to become a member of an imagined community. Agila situates a family’s story against the backdrop of the country’s history.
“Kamakalawa explores the folklore of prehistoric Philippines. Banta ng Kahapon, his ‘small’ political film, is set against the turmoil of the late 1960s, tracing the connection of the underworld to the corrupt halls of politics. His 13-part series of Noli Me Tangere brings Philippine national hero José Rizal’s novel to a new generation of viewers.”
When asked what got him into the showbiz, Eddie Romero – also known as Eddie S. Romero, Edgar F. Romero, E.F. Romero, Edgar Romero, Enrique Moreno, and Edgar Sinco Romero – replied: “I fell into the film business.”
Along with Gerry de Leon, Lino Brocka, Ishmael Bernal, and Fernando Poe, Jr., Romero was honored as National Artist by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA). His films, the citation states, “are delivered in an utterly simple style – minimalist, but never empty, always calculated, precise and functional, but never predictable.”
Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino’s Agustin Sotto called Romero “a filmmaker of substance.” In an article, he wrote: “Eddie Romero is that rare individual in Philippine Cinema: a man of erudition and consummate artistry working in conditions inhospitable to the tasks of general excellence.
“While the industrial mode of Philippine Cinema may be typified as crass commercialism and unmitigated sensationalism, Eddie Romero is counted among the very few artists who have managed to overcome the centrifugal mediocrity of popular concerns and produce works of great impact and astonishing originality.
“As one of Philippine Cinema’s leading scriptwriters and directors, he has a few peers. He is also an indefatigable industry and cultural leader as well as a pioneer in the field of international co-productions.”
The critics circle bestowed Romero a Gawad Urian for directing “Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon?” released in 1979. This film was selected as the country’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 49th Academy Awards.
Romero also received five screenplay awards from the Film Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS) for the following films: “Buhay Alamang” (1952), “Aguila” (1980), “The Passionate Strangers” (1966), “Durugin si Totoy Bato” (1979), and “Ang Padrino” (1984).
Perhaps not too many Filipinos know that Hollywood award-winning director Quentin Tarantino has drawn upon Romero’s film “Twilight People” (1972) as an inspiration for his “grindhouse” homages.
Two years ago, on May 28, Romero died of cardiopulmonary arrest. He was 88. Malacañang issued this statement: “His work spanned generations; Mr. Romero influenced numerous filmmakers, both here and abroad, to tread the same path and to aspire for the same sweeping ambitions that he held dear. His accomplishments form the legacy that Mr. Romero has undoubtedly left Philippine and global cinema.”
Romero was born on July 7, 1924 in Dumaguete City and grew up in a charged atmosphere of literacy and political engagement. His mother, Pilar Sinco, was a schoolteacher while his father was a Secretary of Education and a Congressman. His uncle, Vicente Sinco, served as president of the University of the Philippines before the war. “Given this background, it is not surprising that he exhibited precocity in the literary arts,” Sotto wrote in his article.
Indeed, Romero himself admitted that writing was his first and foremost passion. “I have been writing since the early age of seven or eight,” he said. When asked by a reporter about his writing and how he creates stories, he replied that it comes to him naturally. He explained that one doesn’t have to push himself to write: “If you do that, it’s hard. You have to go through a lot of learning.”
Lena S. Pareja, who wrote a short biography of the film director, says Romero had been a writer ever since he learned to read and write. When he was in high school in 1936, he sold his first short story to “Philippines Free Press,” a national magazine then run by its American founders.
His transition to filmmaking, however, started when movie director Gerardo “Gerry” de Leon asked him to write a movie (that was after de Leon read some of his stories). According to Romero, he was scared at the opportunity, as a career in Filipino movies was not in his plans – much less writing in Tagalog.
So, Romero told de Leon that he could write one in English, but not in Tagalog, since he was Visayan. “And he said, go ahead and write it. I speak Tagalog, so I can do the translation,” Romero recalled. It was through this invite that Romero’s first screenplay, “Ang Maestra” was born.
All in all, Romero made 51 films – either as scriptwriter, producer, and/or director. Sampaguita Pictures gave him his big break when he was in his early 20s. In 1947, he directed his first film, “Ang Kamay ng Diyos.” It topbilled Gerry de Leon (as himself), Carmen Rosales, and Leopoldo Salcedo.
In 1951, Romero became the first recipient of the Maria Clara award for best director for “Prinsesa at Pulubi,” an adaptation of “The Prince and the Pauper.” In 1953, his film “Ang Asawa Kong Amerikana” won for Luciano Carlos the best screenplay award at the Asian Film Festival.
In 1957, Romero – together with his mentor, Gerry de Leon – started producing films for the foreign B-film market. The first movie he did was “The Day of the Trumpet.” While the film was shown in the United States, he encountered Burgess Meredith, who wanted to work with him. They did and the output was “Man on the Run” (1958).
“After this successful venture,” Sotto wrote, “Romero set up Lynn-Romero Productions with Kane Lynn, a retired Lt. Commander of the American Navy who had connections with the Texas oil people and who had a yen for filmmaking. Lynn was in charge of the finances while Romero took over the production side. Among the films they produced were ‘The Scavengers’ with Vince Edwards, a film set in China about the search of an American fighter pilot for his estranged wife and ‘Terror is a Man,’ a horror film that received good reviews from the ‘New York Times.’”
When Lynn-Romero Productions was dissolved in the early sixties, Romero set up Hemisphere Productions which continued the co-production ventures. Among those he produced and co-directed were “The Walls of Hell,” “The Passionate Strangers,” “Manila: Open City, “The Brides of Blood Island,” and “Mad Doctor of Blood Island.”
In the seventies, his production company turned out exploitation films for Roger Gorman’s American-International. To name a few: “Twilight People,” “Woman Hunter,” “Black Mama, White Mama,” “Beast of the Yellow Night,” “Beyond Atlantis,” “Savage Sisters,” and “Sudden Death.”
In 1975, realizing that he had been living in the United States for so long, he returned to the Philippines and made “Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon?” The film was set at the turn of the 20th century during the revolution against the Spaniards and, later, the American colonizers.
Romero followed it with “Sinong Kapiling? Sinong Kasiping?” (1977), “Banta ng Kahapon” (1977), and “Agila” (1979). The 1980s saw him directing “Palaban” (1980), “Kamakalawa” (1981), “Desire (1982), and “Hari sa Hari, Lahi sa Lahi” (1987)
In 1992, his 13-part series of “Noli Me Tangere” brought the country’s national hero José Rizal’s novel to a new generation of viewers. He also did “A Case of Honor” in 1991.
In 2008, Romero made “Teach Me to Love,” the last full-length feature he did. During a break, a reporter asked Joey Romero, who served as the film’s executive producer, to talk about his father’s longevity and artistry. “My father’s body of works has made him a National Artist,” the younger Romero was quoted as saying. “Until now, ‘Aguila’ and ‘Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon?’ don’t look dated. They continue to move and affect viewers. His films are timeless!”
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