Tonight in I-Witness, Howie Severino went to Thailand to look for the old Philippine movies that were said to be in their care. He saw there the so-called "lost" reel/copy of the first ever "Darna" film made in 1951. However, there was only Valentina in the 40-minute film and no Darna in sight. So it was questionable whether it was truly a Darna or Valentina movie. The audio had been clipped because during the early times in Thailand, actors used live vocals to incorporate with the film that they are showing. Dubbing wasn't as click back then.
Afterwards, the archivist showed another classic film which was already dubbed in Chinese. All credits were still intact expect the title of the film. It was another epic-fantasy film which they weren't sure whether it was Filipino or Malaysian. I swear, I almost cried when I saw the footages of the said film! There were mixed emotions. I was overwhelmed with the fact that Thailand had kept such film and I was also saddened by the situation of movies here in our country. Wala man lang tayong nasagip sa mga sinaunang pelikula natin! Dati, pagkatapos maipalabas ang pelikula, tinatapon na lang ang reel sa basurahan at kung minsan ay ginagawang torotot o banderitas. Kung ang Thailand na halos pareho lang natin ng estado pinansiyal ay nakagawa ng film archive, bakit tayo hindi? Kung tutuusin, tayo ang pinakaunang gumawa ng pelikula sa mga bansa sa Asya! Now, either we have to search the world for copies of our old movies and asked them for it or actually buy them from countries who have them. Hindi ba nakakalungkot 'yun?
Kung ako halos napaiyak, si Nick de Ocampo ay napamura pa! He, along with other film experts, made sure that the said epic-fantasy was made in the Philippines by Filipinos. From LVN Productions, it was directed by Gerry de Leon and starred Efren Reyes and Edna Luna. It was entitled "Banga ni Zimadura".
Now, the mysterious "Darna" film. Another film expert who actually saw that movie in 1951 in Clover Theater said that it was really THE "Darna" movie by Rosa del Rosario, directed by Fernando Poe Sr. It couldn't be a Valentina movie because there was no such thing as Valentina The Movie. Asan si Darna? That remains a mystery. Either the film was cut into two movies or something happened with the sliced Darna part.
According to Thailand's film archivist, he is willing to give back our films only if we would promise to take care of them and put up our own archive. Meron pa nga silang "Dyesebel" movie in their possession!
Hay, sana naman ay magkaroon nga tayo ng archive. I want to experience the time when our movies would compete globally at pagkakahuluhan ng mga taga-ibang bansa, the way Korean movies hit RP.
