FILM CRITIQUE

NUNAL SA TUBIG
Ishmael Bernal
 GROUP MEMBERS

JUSTIN JOREY
RENDELL FAJARDO KC GLAIZA GALAGALA JEA MAE LOZANO VLADIMIER MATIENZO
ESTIMADO

CASSANDRA FAITH MCKAYLA JULIA JANMARI EMMANUEL

DARYL TINTERO ROGELYN UGATES
ORNALES PUNZALAN REYES
 INTRODUCTION
Nunal sa Tubig is a 1976 Philippine drama film which is
written by Jorge Arago and directed by Ishmael Bernal.
Ishmael Bernal is known to be “the genius of Philippine
Cinema” by critics. The director is renowned for his work as
a filmmaker that provides social commentary and
audacious observations in a Filipino community. He can
communicate his message—to combat censorship, release
the artists, bring justice to the oppressed, and entertain as
well as educate the audience—by improving the visuals or
developing the medium.
JORGE ARAGO
the writer
Born on January 12, 1943
A writer, scholar, filmmaker, and
journalist
Studied in University of the Philippines,
majored in Journalism, Comparative
Literature, and Geology.
Died on Tuesday, December 27, 2011 due
to heart attack.
Best known for writing the screenplay of
Ishmael Bernal’s Nunal sa Tubig (1976)
and Briccio Santos’ Ala verde, Ala pobre
(2005).
 Is known as a filipino filmmaker, stage and television
ISHMAEL BERNAL director, actor and screenwriter.
the director He is the world’s most influential social media star
and ideal celebrity influencer with a large number of
social media fans. He often posts personal photos
and videos to interact with his huge fan base on
social media platforms.
Renowned for melodramas, specially with feminist
and moral issues.
He also directed some other films known as City After
Dark (1980), Relasyon (1982), Himala (1982) and
Hinugot sa Langit (1985).
He became a National Artist of the Philippines in
2001
Died at the age of 58 on June 2 1996 due to non-
communicable disease
 KEY
CHARACTERS
 Maria
A friend and a
neighbor of played by
Chedeng. Elizabeth Oropesa
She is now 68 years of
age.

She was a Grand Slam

Best Actress winner for
Bulaklak Ng Maynila
(1999)
 Chedeng
A daughter of a
midwife who left the
town to follow the
played by
steps of her mother - Daria Ramirez
to be a midwife.

The first lover of She is now 70 years of

Benjamin.
age.
 Benjamin
Owns a ferry
that serves as a played by
shuttle service of George Estregan
the village.
Has a regular Died at age 49.
passenger -
Infamously known as the
Chedeng. "Penetration King" of
erotic Philippine cinema.
Social and Political Context
A few years before this film aired, an economic
crisis had just occurred in the then president
Ferdinand Marcos’ second term. Around 1969
and the early 1970s, Marcos’ economic strategy
and his campaign for re-election led to him to
rely on foriegn assistance and loans which left
the country in huge debt as his projects were
insufficient to cover for the costs of the
promised projects and his major spending for
campaigning didn’t help. During these times,
the inflation and doubling debt caused the
public to create an uproar.
PLOT
In the poverty-stricken village of Sta. Fe, something terrible has
occurred. The fish, which are the main source of income of the
villagers, began to mysteriously die. Mang Pedro (Ruben Rustia),
one of the fishermen whose milkfish pens are backed by investors,
was also affected.

The story focuses on the love triangle of Benjamin(George

Estregan), Chedeng(Daria Ramirez), and Maria(Elizabeth
Oropesa). The two women were unaware about the relationship
Benjamin has with the two of them.

Being enticed by possible opportunities outside the village,

Benjamin decided to join the Navy. However, his relationship with
Maria resulted in a child and his actions left the soon to be
mother on her own.
PLOT
Despite knowing the relationship between Maria and
Benjamin, Chedeng decided to treat Maria as her first
patient as a midwife. This unfortunately turned into a
tragedy as Maria lost her baby in the process of labor.
This took a heavy toll on Maria, the loss of her child was
too much for her to bear. With a heavy guilt, Chedeng
left the village.

When Benjamin returned, he saw but a husk of Maria’s

past self. The story ends with Maria and her Aunt
Banang (Ella Luansing) stare at the sky and see the sun
coming out from the clouds while gathering wood on a
nearby hill.
CRITICAL EVALUATION
One of the movies that has withstood the test of time is A Speck in the Water
(Nunal sa Tubig, 1976), also known as A Mole in the Water. Ishmael Bernal, who
was revered at home as a key figure in the "renaissance" of Filipino cinema in the
1970s and 1980s, was generally ignored abroad at the time, with the exception of
two movies: City After Dark (1980) and the well-known Himala, which was
screened at the Berlinale in 1982. (and in Udine in 2018). A shadow had been
cast over Bernal when traveling overseas by the charismatic presence of his main
rival, Lino Brocka, whose several films were marketed in Cannes (by the late
Pierre Rissient).
Jorge Arago's tale of the battle between unscrupulous businessmen and poor
fisherman, mixed with the love/sex relationship between two female friends and a
male lover, depicts the deplorable rural Philippines of the 1970s at a period when
a screenplay was an actual script. A Speck in the Water is a subtle but profound
tale of individual and societal failings on a dying island, expertly staged by
Ishmael Bernal and captured by Arnold Alvaro. As the old man Jacob says once
in the film: “Our island is a speck in the water, a mole on the feet on a dive
being.” According to Filipino superstition, “a mole on one’s feet'' means
restlessness and itching for perpetual motion, a lifelong journey of traveling,
with no lasting destination.
Techniques and Styles

Ishmael Bernal’s films are mostly known for his melodramas, particularly with
feminist and moral issues, he directed many landmark Filipino films. Therefore,
his films are mostly focusing on the characters, the slow paced cameras and
slow-pace of every scene. His style is to deliver a message to the people that it will
leave them thinking about it. He is also mostly calm but attacking. The
characters may seem calm but it eventually shows their true nature in the film.
Techniques and Style

Nunal sa Tubig’s cinematography is very classic which consist of different

elements from lighting, exposure, camera placement and movements. It captures
slow motion in the key characters and captures the essence of the very goal of
the film. The effects and colorings are not like what we have today because of
lack of equipment in the past. The lighting is not that great, some parts of the
films show partial parts of the key character due to the darkness. Long shots,
medium shots and close-up shots are mainly the most used cinematic shots
throughout the movie.
Cinematic Shots

Medium shot
(conversations)

Long shot Close-up shot

(environment) (emotions)
"Tuli" There are a lot of significant lines and
symbolisms in the film. It includes showing the
naked life of the people on the island, showing
how their life is very natural and very
unclothed to other people like the traditional
Life “tuli” of the boys, the labor of a pregnant
woman at the same time showing how they
abort a child by covering it in a piece of old
newspaper and burying it to the ground. It
shows the contrast of life and death that some
children will be born and some will never make
Death it.
In this scene, during Chedeng’s father’s wake, we can see the elder is dismayed
to see such young children attending the regretful ceremony. Much like in
reality, children are not spared from the tragedies and misfortunes of life.
More often than not, the very victims of the world’s evil are children.
This is the scene where we get an insight to the meaning behind the title of the
movie. Mang Jacob likened the village to a mole on a divine being’s foot as a
response to Benjamin. According to Filipino superstition, having a mole on one’s
foot means that a person is relentless, ever-moving, always on a journey and
never a destination. This pertains to the fact that they are powerless to the
changes brought upon the unending journey of the divine being.
Another significant scene that is shown is the scene when they offered prayers for the
death of Chedeng’s father. In the scene, Maria, Benjamin and Chedeng are standing
together with Benjamin in the center, giving the hint of a love triangle among the three
of them. It is also shown in the scene that Benjamin is starting to flirt with Chedeng.
Fishing is one of Santa Fe's principal occupations, but they also raise pigs, do fabric embroidery and a fare
income using boats by taking people to the barrio. Their necessities are also primarily obtained from the
island itself, such as the wood needed for their fire and for building their shelter and other items. But for
some reason, their fish died, forcing the villagers to catch them all and turn them into "Daing," or dried
fish. As their primary source of income has been lost, this is the beginning of their island's demise.
This scene shows one of the most common themes of
Filipino films, which shows the differences in one's
class. Before this scene, Mr. Blanko together with his
wife and daughter accompany him to go check their
fishing business in Santa Fe. When speaking, you can
notice that both the wife and daughter share a trait
of being so-called “conyo” or speaking both Tagalog
and English at the same time although in the movie
the wife also speaks in Spanish. And in this scene,
where the family is to go back to the city, it shows the
modernity of the boat the family is using, one with a
motor boat and a standard rowing boat. This shows
that the rich people are having easier transport while
on the other hand, Benjamin, rowing the boat using
his strength.
There is a scene where they showed symbolism of
life like their water resources from a “poso” that
they can still get fresh water, then eventually, it
was gone. It shows that their island is dying and
that their resources are becoming unavailable for
everyone. All they can do is to swim in the lake to
bathe or get water from the lake to use for
washing. The lighting mood of the scene is also
contrasting. When you look at the first two
photos above, the bright lighting signifies that
there’s still hope, but in the scenes below is the
moment when they had no hope, therefore
portraying the cold dark aura.
The death of Maria’s child

The tragic death of Maria’s child greatly symbolizes

the death of the village of Sta.Fe. Death has been one
of key topics of the movie and is shown throughout
the span of the movie. We first see the death of the
older generation with the passing of Chedeng’s father.
This tragedy is followed by the death of the fish; the
village’s main source of livelihood which shows that the
village is no longer able to support the people. And
lastly, the death of Maria’s child shows that the
village is unfit to support the future generation.
CONCLUSION
Our overall thoughts about this work is a pretty
positive one. The shots are not only beautifully
captured but each shot gives the viewer the raw
and natural feel of the surroundings as though
they are actually there. Along with those amazing
shots was great directing and writing. They
showed a lot of symbolisms and the one about life
and death really stood out.
CONCLUSION
Key reasons why we love the film is that it portrays the
situation when the film was released about the economic
crisis that had just occurred in the then president
Ferdinand Marcos’ second term. It led him to rely on
foriegn assistance and loans which left the country in huge
debt. Same thing happened to the film where they
encountered a crisis, some of the people are drowning in
debt. One more thing is the love triangle situation which is
mostly common in the Philippine cinema. It mostly captures
the viewers and gives flavor to the juice. What we meant is
that the film itself talks about life and death, it’s also not
bad to add more conflict to make it more interesting.
CONCLUSION
Though the movie is already a masterpiece, there are some
pauses that are not relevant in the film. Some problems in
the film are not tackled properly like how the fishes died,
or how the water in the "poso" suddenly gets empty. The
audio is also unclear due to the background noises. The
lighting is also lacking although it is understandable given
that way back then, the resources are not like what we have
right now. The artists must know the proper film blocking.
CONCLUSION
Nunal sa Tubig is an award winning film that changed the
people’s perspective towards the Filipino film. It
transcended our views and opinions that it created
relations to the actual happenings during the time of
release of this film. It gave us a rollercoaster of emotion but
it ended with a tragic happening of the death of Maria’s
child signifying the death of the island. It was an amazing
film that not anyone can comprehend the deeper meaning
behind all of the signs and symbols but it is meaningful to
watch.
NUNAL SA TUBIG
REFERENCES
Ishmael Bernal (Director) Wiki, Biography, Age, Wife, Family, Net Worth. (2021, September 25).
Retrieved September 30, 2022, from Wiki: Biography & Celebrity Profiles as wikipedia website:
https://profilesinfo.com/ishmael-bernal-wiki-networth-age/

Jorge Arago. (n.d.). Retrieved September 30, 2022, from EVERYTHING’S FINE website:
https://www.everythingsfineph.com/jorge-arago/

Moya, G. (2015, April 23). “Nunal sa tubig”: The island in the middle of Laguna Lake. Retrieved
September 28, 2022, from RAPPLER website: https://www.rappler.com/moveph/90776-talim-island-
laguna-lake-earth-day/

News, A.-C. (2011, December 30). Screenwriter Jorge Arago passes away. Retrieved September 30, 2022,
from ABS-CBN News website: https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/12/30/11/screenwriter-jorge-
arago-passes-away

Nunal sa Tubig. (2022, August 3). Retrieved September 30, 2022, from Wikipedia website:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nunal_sa_Tubig
REFERENCES
Order of National Artists: Ishmael Bernal. (n.d.). Retrieved from National Commission for Culture
and the Arts website: https://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-
of-the-philippines/ishmael-bernal/

SANTIAGO, B. K. S. (2012, September 21). Not a list of Martial Law movies. Retrieved September 30,
2022, from GMA News Online website:
https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/lifestyle/content/275001/not-a-list-of-martial-law-movies/story/

Tessier, M. (2019). A Speck in the Water. Retrieved October 4, 2022, from www.fareastfilm.com
website: https://www.fareastfilm.com/eng/archive/2019/a-speck-in-the-water/?IDLYT=15535