directed by: Lino Brocka

Bona  (1980)

Bona (Nora Aunor)  is a girl who decided to abandon her family to become an alalay (help) of  an Narcissistic, drunkard, irresponsible, low rate actor Gardo (Philip Salvador) she admire and regard highly. She does everything for him, cook, clean his house, prepare his things, fetch water for his bath, work she never does in her own household her father so furious about, calling her inutile. She accompanies him to his shoots and even one time pay for an abortion of a girl he accidentally impregnated. She does those things without getting anything in return.  Why she does that we will never understand.  

The film brilliantly depicted the desperate, impoverished lives of Filipinos during pre-People Power Era.  Couple making love could be heard from a house nearby; a door from a decrepit house is damaged because of a silly fight by Gardo and a neighbor.  People queue for hours for a pale of water from a deep well You can ask for food from someone if you have no money to buy them. Reality, in the most painful depiction is the main pull of this masterpiece.

 It is also a study of the psychology of a common Filipino inutile pastime, celebrity worshipping. We love our celebrities. We watch them shamefully promote their unimportant films on tv. We fall from their romantic gimmickry. We have ways now to follow them. But for Bona it’s not a pastime. It’s a dream. A fan living with her idol. It’ s the most important thing for her, to be near her  idol.

this book humorously and poignantly depicted the humdrum office life… a lot of laugh out loud stories about trivial, trite and inane stuff we do at work..moving and poignant tales of loneliness, desperation, forgiveness

characters who I relate to and made me think of people in my work life

one good read…

im HOUSE addict… it is one of the best tv shows around … well written…. learned a lot about the cases they handle, the medical terms i didnt even know existed..House’s twisted and sometimes or most of the times right dispositions in life, love, relationships…

my list:

Kafka on the Shore – Haruki Murakami

Native Son – Richard Wright

Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins

the brief and wondrous life of oscar wao – Junot Diaz

Beyond Assasinations – Aravind Adiga

The Metamorphosis – Franz Kafka

jey kulit

just testing posting pictures….

recently found books:

from Bookay Ukay in UP village Quezoncity,

Sabbath’s Theather by Philip Roth

Dance, Dance, Dance by Haruki Murakami

Elegy for Iris by John Bayley (bought it for only P50)

from Chapters and Pages – Pavillion Mall, Edsa Central Mandaluyong

Big Russ and Me by Tim Russert

Cold Snap by Thom Jones  (both books for only P99.00)

A Son of the Circus by John Irving

that ‘ recent’ book store in St. Francis, sorry forgot the store name.. will check later

Lord of the Rings – Return of the King – JRR Tolkien (I was so desperate because this was not available in NBS and Powerbooks when I find it that day in St. Francis)

Booksale in Jeepney Park, Edsa Central Park Mandaluyong

Bag of Bones by Stephen King

The Shipping News by E.Annie Proulx

Cider House Rules by John Irving