Bulaklak sa City Jail (English: The Flowers of the City Jail) is a 1984 Filipino neo noircrimeprisondrama film directed by Mario O'Hara from a story and screenplay written by Lualhati Bautista, based on her novel of the same name that was serialized in Liwayway from 1982 to 1983.[1] Starring Nora Aunor, Gina Alajar, Celia Rodriguez, Perla Bautista, Maya Valdez, Zenaida Amador, and Maritess Gutierrez, the film depicts the situation of women in the city jail.[2]
Produced by Cherubim Films, the film was theatrically released on December 25, 1984, as one of the official entries for the 10th Metro Manila Film Festival. In 2019, it was digitally restored and remastered by ABS-CBN Film Restoration, in association with Kantana Thailand and Wildsound Studios.
The movie tackles the indictment of people wrongfully accused, or denied justice in their prison sentence, as well as the state of the penal system in the Philippines.[3]
Plot
Angela Aguilar (Nora Aunor), a nightclub singer, was sent to the women's section of the Manila City Jail for the crime of frustrated murder, while awaiting trial. Immediately upon incarceration, she is sexually assaulted by Barbie Berenguer (Maya Valdez), a lesbian prison overseer, and other women in the jail, and her clothes are taken from her.
Angela shares her cell with Juliet Navarete (Gina Alajar) who was charged with estafa, Viring (Perla Bautista) who was imprisoned for killing her husband and who is taking care of her daughter inside of her jail cell, Lena (Celia Rodriguez) who engages in sexual work inside the jail cell with male prisoners.
The conditions in the jail cell are poor, and the women are subjected to abuse.
Barbie tries to convince Angela to have sex with Paquito (Tom Olivar), a male prison warden, upon the latter’s insistence, but it is discovered that Angela is pregnant. Instead, Angela was forced to clean Barbie’s jail cell and latrines.
Viring reveals that her child was fathered by a police personnel who was previously assigned to the jail. The child, Sarah, is later taken away from Viring and was brought to a foster home. Sarah dies in said foster home, which drives Viring insane.
Yolly is an inmate who is in a relationship with Kardo, a male inmate and they sleep together in secret in various jail cells. Yolly catches the attention of Paquito. Paquito and other prison guards and inmates manhandle Kardo, and Kardo tries to convince Yolly to have sex with Paquito and the other senior prison guards, in order to avoid having him sent to the state penitentiary in Muntinlupa. This is because Kardo is already a convicted felon. However, Kardo was still sent to the state penitentiary. Once Yolly finds out, she hangs herself and is discovered by Angela.
Patricia (Maritess Gutierrez) is imprisoned after causing the death of a sorority sister in a neophyte hazing incident. On her first day, she is beaten up, similar to the first day of Angela. Angela befriends her and tries to help her. However, she is later killed by Paquito when he tries to coerce her into having sex.
Lena suddenly finds her son imprisoned. Her son informs her that he was involved in an incident involving the death of a third person, together with his friend group. Her son is unable to give the name of the actual guilty party to the police. Lena breaks down in anger and sadness, saying that she had been engaging in sex work even from jail in order to be able to send money to them, only for her son to find himself in jail as well. Later, her son kills one of the prison guards, because he was unable to bear the humiliation that his mother was suffering. He is then taken away to the state penitentiary, to Lena’s despair.
Juliet seduces one of the prison guards into having sex with her. She steals the prison guard’s firearm and escapes. She is able to take her son from the family who has taken him and is abusing him. However she is killed when police tried to apprehend her again.
Later, Atty. Diaz (Cris Daluz), Angela's lawyer, advises her to confess the crime she committed to end the case. He tries to convince her to do so, in order for the case to end quickly. However contrary to her counsel’s advice, she pleads not guilty and her case continues. Angela considers undergoing an abortion and is taken out of the prison compound to do so. However, she reconsiders. She is brought back to prison and is punished.
After several months, Angela is in labor and is taken to the hospital to give birth. In the hospital, she escapes and meets a friend who promises to help her. Later, she is near Manila Zoo and is spotted. She hides in the zoo but the zoo is evacuated of patrons and a manhunt ensues to recapture her. She hides in the zoo and gives birth on her own. She begs with the police not to take her child away and pleads for mercy.
Later, Angela’s trial commences and she is acquitted, as the prosecution was unable to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt. She is shown with her son being baptized and the various inmates serving as the child’s godparents.
Cast
Nora Aunor as Angela Aguilar, a nightclub singer who was charged with frustrated murder
Gina Alajar as Juliet Navarete, Angela's cellmate who was charged with estafa and has a son
Production Managers: Maritess Gutierrez and Andy Biag
Release
Cherubim Films released the film on December 25, 1984, and it is one of the following entries for the 10th Metro Manila Film Festival. It won six awards including Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Director.
Digital restoration
The restored version of the film was premiered on November 11, 2019, at the Ayala Malls Manila Bay in Parañaque City as part of the Cinema One Originals film festival. It was attended by the film's surviving cast and staff members: actors Ricky Davao and Tom Olivar, film producer Cherry Cobarubbias, and former actress and now chef Maritess Gutierrez (she also represented her mother Gloria Romero), as well as the staff and crew of the ABS-CBN Film Archives, and the channel head of Cinema One, Ronald Arguelles. Actress Pinky Amador (niece of the late Zenaida Amador, who died in 2008), actress-producer Ruby Flores-Arcilla (daughter of Bella Flores, who died in 2013), and director Denise O'Hara (niece of Mario O'Hara, who died in 2012) also attended the premiere as the representatives of the cast and staff members who were deceased or unable to attend.[4][5]
Reception
Critical reception
Engelbert Rafferty, writing for Film Police Reviews, called the film a "classic" and praised the screenplay written by Lualhati Bautista, which she made alive and fascinated the viewers and the dramatic performances of the cast, particularly Nora Aunor for playing the character who was described as "a woman maltreated by society".[6]
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