This MMFF entry received top accolades from various award-giving bodies, including the Film Academy of the Philippines (FAP) and the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino (Gawad Urian).
Helmed by actor-director Cesar Montano, Panaghoy Sa Suba is a Visayan-language film, which is one of the entries to the 2004 Metro Manila Film Festival. It served as Montano’s directorial debut. It won the festival’s second Best Picture trophy, as well as the Best Director award for Montano.
The film is set in the province of Bohol, before, during, and after World War II. Cesar Montano also played the central character as Duroy, who fell in love with his village’s most beautiful girl, Iset (Juliana Palermo).
The film follows Duroy navigating his life and his family’s situation, as they received abuses from the Americans, the Japanese invaders, and even fellow Filipinos. When the war exploded, Duroy had to join the guerrilla forces while peeping from afar to not lose his sight of Juliana, whose beauty has now caught the attention of a powerful Japanese military officer.
Panaghoy Sa Suba is a period drama that reverently pays tribute to the cultural heritage band history of Bohol. It’s a beautiful and painful drama too about an impossible romance.
Montano was greatly lauded for his efforts to showcase, and thus immortalize, his home province’s colonial inheritance and exquisite historical treasure. For a newbie, then, his directorial styles also earned the nods of many critics, hence his winning an Urian Best Direction trophy.
Montano’s character in the film, Duroy, embodies the very traits of the ideal Filipino man: resilient, brave, even visionary. Montano’s compelling articulation of his character also made Duroy accessible and tangible to moviegoers. As a character, Duroy truly stood out, a reminder of the classic Filipino bravery that redeemed our dignity and freedom as a race and a nation. The film also provided some scathing commentary on the abuses perpetrated by the Church, then, as well as on certain sociopolitical issues that still prevail today.
Also part of Panaghoy Sa Suba’s main cast are Reiven Bulado, Daria Ramirez, Rebecca Lusterio, Jackie Woo, Phil Anthony, Caridad Sanchez, Joel Torre, Ronnie Lazaro, and Suzette Ranillo.
Browse through the photo gallery below to see the rare set and still photos from the movie. Don’t forget to share your thoughts about the film in the comment section:
