Minsa'y Isang Gamu-gamo

Minsa'y Isang Gamu-gamo (transl. Once a Moth) is a 1976 Filipino drama film directed by Lupita Aquino-Kashiwahara and written by Marina Feleo-Gonzales. It concerns a Filipino nurse, Cora de la Cruz, who dreams of moving to America. When her brother is killed, her ideas change. The film criticises American military presence in the Philippines.[1] It was an entry to the 1976 Metro Manila Film Festival and won five awards at the 25th FAMAS Awards, including those for best picture, director and screenplay. The film was restored by the ABS-CBN Film Restoration Project through Kantana Post Production in Thailand; the restored version was released on October 12, 2018 as part of the Cinema One Originals film festival of that year.[2]

Minsa'y Isang Gamu-gamo
Official poster for the 1976 Metro Manila Film Festival
Directed byLupita Aquino-Kashiwahara[lower-alpha 1]
Produced by
  • Cirio H. Santiago
  • Digna Santiago
Screenplay byMarina Feleo-Gonzales
Story byMarina Feleo-Gonzales
Starring
Music byResty Umali
CinematographyJose Batac Jr.
Edited byEdgardo Vinarao
Production
company
NV Productions
Distributed byPremiere Productions
Release date
  • December 25, 1976 (1976-12-25)
Running time
110 minutes
Country Philippines
LanguageFilipino
English
Box office₱10.5 million

Synopsis

The de la Cruzes and the Santoses are two lower-middle-class families who live in Pampanga. Cora de la Cruz is a nurse who dreams of living in the United States. Her papers are ready and she organises employment at an American hospital. She hopes to get a green card that would allow her to stay in the US, achieve immigrant status and then bring her family to that country for a better life. Cora's mother and younger brother encourage her, but her grandfather, Ingkong, disagrees. He believes that moving to America is a betrayal of their country.

Bonifacio Santos is Cora’s fiancee. He intends to join the U.S. Navy so that he can be with Cora in America. His mother and their maid are saving money to help him with the expenses. The families make no reference in their plans to instances of crime, including murder, committed by American soldiers in the Philippines who are indemnified against prosecution under laws of extraterritoriality. Bonifacio's mother works at a commissary at an American base. She is mistreated by a Filipino female guard, who strips Santo of her “smuggled” panties and waves them like a flag to the delight the American male guards. Santos takes the matter to court with no success and the guard retaliates by raiding her store. Bonifacio becomes disenchanted with America and abandons his plans.

Cora is appalled at the failure of the Philippine courts to provide justice for Mrs. Santos but continues with her plans to leave for America. On the night of her despedida (farewell party), Cora's brother is shot dead by an American soldier while scavenging in the garbage dump of the American base. Cora stays to seek justice for her brother. She discovers that the case cannot continue as the soldier has been reassigned to another country.[3]

Cast
CharacterActor
Corazon "Cora" dela CruzNora Aunor
The eldest and breadwinner of the dela Cruz family. She is a qualified nurse and she dreams to work in the United States as an opportunity to get out of poverty and also, becoming an American citizen. She lives with her mother, younger brother, and grandfather who served in the Bataan Death March.
Bonifacio "Boni" SantosJay Ilagan
Named after Andres Bonifacio by his parents. Boni is Yolanda's only child and Cora's fiancé who dreams to join the US Navy in order to be with Cora. However, this decision was abandoned when his mother was harassed by a Filipino female guard in Clark Air Base and their PX goods at their store were violently confiscated.
Mercedes "Chedeng" dela CruzGloria Sevilla
Cora and Carlito's widowed mother and Ingkong Menciong's daughter. She agrees her daughter to work in the United States and become an American citizen. She is a housewife who sells military surpluses from Vietnam.
Yolanda SantosPerla Bautista
Bonifacio's mother. She works in the commissary in the premises of the Clark Air Base. She insisted her son to join the US Navy since her family is suffering from hardships. Just like Chedeng, she is a widower.
Carlito dela CruzEddie Villamayor
Cora's younger brother who loves kiting in the open fields. He, along with his mother, agreed to her sister's decision of becoming an American citizen. He was later killed by an American soldier, prompting his sister wanted justice for him and abandon her plans to work in the United States.
Ingkong MenciongPaquito Salcedo
Cora and Carlito's grandfather and Chedeng's father who used to be a survivor of the Bataan Death March. He strongly opposes her granddaughter of becoming an American citizen, believing that she would lose her Filipino citizenship.

Release

The film was released on December 25, 1976 as one of the entries for the 1976 Metro Manila Film Festival where they won two awards: Best Editing and Best Story.

Digital restoration

The restoration of Minsa'y Isang Gamu-gamo has successfully removed all film defects and damages such as dust/dirt, patches, continuous patch, single frame scratches, flicker, stabilization, splice marks, bumps, squeezes, gate hair, continuous dust, continuous line scratch, color stains, mold, mislight, vertical band, fungus, color breathing under a total of 3,600 restoration hours and through the dedication of more than 250 diligent and professional restoration artists. The 35mm print used for the restoration from the collection of the ABS-CBN Film Archives is incomplete due to the missing first part (Reel 1) of the film. Fortunately, the 35mm print copy of Reel 1 from the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) was provided to complete the main picture. The print, however, is faded and in bad condition that has resulted to low picture quality. Color grading and audio restoration was handled by Wildsound Studios. The 35mm print was scanned in 4K and digitally restored in 2K.

Television broadcast

The 4K digitally restored and remastered version of Minsa'y Isang Gamu-gamo was premiered on Cinema One on May 19, 2019 as part of its Restored Cinema presentation.

It also received a free-to-air television premiere on ABS-CBN on March 8, 2020 as a feature presentation of its Sunday late-night presentation block Sunday's Best under the Restored Classics banner. The ABS-CBN broadcast attained a nationwide share rating of 2.3%, which is tied with GMA Network's showing of the 1997 film Halik ng Vampira.[4]

Review

Criticism of the film was mixed.[3][5] Tiongson, a reporter for the Philippines Daily Express, wrote:

"Acting in Gamu-gamo is superb. Once again, Nora Aunor proves herself to be one of the finest actresses today, with an acting style that is both “raw”and “fine,” characterized by a disarming sincerity and force, that can break into an unbelievable number of nuances, shades, and colors of emotion. Outstanding is her court scene where her face registers a gamut of emotions—from anger to confusion to depression and despair—in the space of about ten seconds. Like a mature actress, she does not attack dramatic scenes with histrionics or hysteria. Over her brother’s coffin, she curses the Americans who came to pay her family off by screaming “My brother is not a pig” over and over again with mounting intensity."[6]

Controversy

In 1976, criticism of the presence of American military bases in the Philippines was censored by the government. The actress, Nora Aunor, who played Cora, was a friend of the president, Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Imelda Marcos. This may have assisted the release of the film.

Awards
Year Group Category Nominee Result
1976 Metro Manila Film Festival Best Editing Edgardo Vinarao Won
Best Story Marina Feleo-Gonzales Won
Best Actress Nora Aunor Nominated
Best Picture Nominated
Best Director Lupita Aquino-Kashiwahara Nominated
1977 25th FAMAS Awards Best Picture Won
Best Director Lupita Aquino-Kashiwahara Won
Best Editing Edgardo Vinarao Won
Best Screenplay Marina Feleo-Gonzales Won
Best Story Marina Feleo-Gonzales Won
Best Supporting Actor Paquito Salcedo Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Perla Bautista Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Gloria Sevilla Nominated
Gawad Urian Awards (Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino) Best Picture Nora Aunor Nominated
Best Director Lupita Aquino-Kashiwahara Nominated
Best Screenplay Marina Feleo-Gonzales Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Leopoldo Salcedo Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Paquito Salcedo Nominated

Film festivals where Minsa'y isang Gamu-gamo has been shown or has competed
  • 1986 - Opening Film, Bay Area Asian American International Film Festival
  • 1998 - Filipino Film Retrospective Lincoln Center, New York, July 31-August 20
  • 1998 - Phl Centennial Film Festival
  • 1998 - Lincoln Center New York Film Festival
  • 1998 - Filipino Retrospective, Guggenhein Museum
  • 2018 - Cinema One Originals, October 2018

Notes
  1. Credited as Lupita A. Concio

References
  1. Capino J. B. "Dream Factories of a Former Colony: American Fantasies, Philippine Cinema." University of Minnesota Press, 2010 p39. ISBN 145291527X, 9781452915272. Accessed at Google Books 6 January 2014.
  2. "'Gamu-gamo' is forever". Philippine Daily Inquirer. October 13, 2018. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
  3. Tiongson N. G. "Minsa'y Isang Gamu-Gamo: Filipino with a Passion."The Philippines Daily Express. 1976. Accessed 3 May 2013.
  4. "National TV Ratings (March 6-8, 2020)". ABS-CBN Newsroom. March 9, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  5. "Minsa'y Isang Gamu-Gamo." Eboy Donato blog. Accessed 19 July 2013.
  6. Tiongson N. G. "Minsa’y Isang Gamu-gamo: Filipino with a Passion." Philippines Daily Express, 29 December 1976.
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