Plot
Bona is a high school student who belongs to a middle class family. She is an admirer of Gardo, a stuntman who works in Philippine cinema productions. Bona is among a group of movie star admirers who tag along film productions, and she is seen observing him shoot movie scenes, cheering for him in basketball games, encouraging him to negotiate to get bit parts in movies. Bona has started neglecting household chores and getting home late, to her parents' chagrin.
One night, Bona accompanies Gardo to his home in an impoverished slum area with no running water. He is beaten up by unknown men, and Bona brings him to his home to tend to him. Bona ends up spending the night and does chores for Gardo, including lining up to draw water from a common well, giving Gardo warm baths, and cleaning in his home. Gardo says that he was beaten up by relatives of a woman who fell in love with him and laments that his injuries may take a few days to heal, although he appears happy to have Bona caring for him. When Bona finally goes back home, she is beaten severely by her father for causing worry and for not informing the family of her whereabouts. Bona runs away and asks to live with Gardo. She continues providing unpaid labor for Gardo.
Bona's father is able to find her in Gardo's home and angrily demands of Gardo that he marry Bona. Gardo refuses and says he does not know Bona and only agreed for her to live with him, upon her request. Bona's father erupts in anger and is intent to bring Bona back home but he collapses in an apparent heart attack. Bona's mother asks her to stay with the family but Bona refuses and goes back to Gardo's home.
One day, Bona gets into a fight with the woman spending time with Gardo in his home. Bona drives her out of Gardo's house. Gardo wakes up and asks what the dispute was about. Bona asks him not to bring in women to her home. Gardo corrects her and says the home is not hers and threatens to throw her out. Bona pleads to stay with him. In a later evening, Gardo and Bona sleep together.
One time, Gardo spends time out of the house, ostensibly to work on a film shoot. Later Gardo returns home with a woman, Annie, who is younger than Bona and is visibly distraught. It is likely that Gardo has gotten her pregnant and she is afraid of the consequences. Gardo and Bona later take Annie to a local herbologist for an abortion, which Bona pays for. Later, Gardo brings home a rich older woman, Katrina, with expensive gifts for Bona on her birthday.
Later, Bona was informed of her father's death. Bona tries to visit her father's funeral but is driven away by her brother, who blames her for the death. Bona returns home and finds Katrina, who informs her that Gardo will now live with her, and that Bona must now return to her family. Gardo later returns home and informs Bona that he will be migrating to the U.S. with Katrina, who is a rich widow, and that he has decided to sell his house. Bona says that she is unable to return to her family, but Gardo says he is not responsible for her. He asks Bona to prepare hot water for his bath. Bona takes the boiling water and pours it onto Gardo. The movie ends with Gardo screaming as he is severely burned.
Release
The film was an official entry to the 6th Metro Manila Film Festival. It has its international premiere at the 34th Cannes Film Festival on May 1981, as part of the Directors' Fortnight. [3] This marked the second appearance of director Lino Brocka at the Cannes Directors' Fortnight, following the premiere of Insiang at the 29th Cannes Film Festival in May 1976. [4]
Restoration
After its initial release in 1980, the film remained largely unseen. [5] Amongst Philippine film circles, it was believed that the film was lost after negatives and prints of films produced by NV Productions were destroyed in a fire. [3]
The restoration of Bona was led by French distribution company Carlotta Films, headed by its CEO and co-founder Vincent Paul-Boncour, and Kani Releasing. In his search for an original copy, Paul-Boncour learned of original negatives that were stored with a Paris film lab following its original Cannes premiere. The discovery was initially made by film historian Jose B. Capino, during his research for a book on director Lino Brocka, after interviewing Cannes film scout Pierre Rissient. The film restoration was carried out at Cité de Mémoire, with sound restoration handled by L.E. Diapason. [3] [6] In 2023, the first 20 minutes of the restoration was screened at the Marché du Film in Cannes, France. [3] [7]
The fully restored film premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival as part of the Cannes Classics section. [6] [8] earning raves from Oscar winning filmmaker Sean Baker and other Festival attendees. [9] It had its local Philippine premier as the closing film of the 2024 Cinemalaya Film Festival. [1] [5] The film was also screened at the 49th Toronto International Film Festival, as part of the TIFF Classics section. [10]
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