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MANILA, Philippines — “Walang himala” is probably among the most memorable (and most parodied) lines the late National Artist Nora Aunor could be remembered for among her many movies and TV shows through the years.
But while Elsa — the character Nora played in the 1982 film “Himala” — said that there was no miracle; Peque Gallaga believed that there was — and it was Nora herself.
Gallaga, who served as the film’s Production Designer under the direction of the movie’s director, Ishmael Bernal, shared to this author Nora’s iconic acting in the unforgettable scene.
In one of this author’s classes as a Production Design short course scholar under Production Designers of the Philippines and Mowelfund, Gallaga shared how they shot the famous “Walang himala” monologue of Nora or “Ate Guy.”
According to him, Nora read the script by Ricky Lee once, while smoking and talking to people on the set.
When Bernal called Nora to shoot the scene, she told Gallaga without nervousness or hesitation, “Sandali lang ha,” and nonchalantly put her cigarette on the ash tray on the table. Even without a formal practice on the scene, she then proceeded to deliver the speech that ran for about a minute – with only one take.
Gallaga explained that Bernal instructed them to shoot the scene only once because they gathered a huge crowd of around 2,000 extras for the stampede scene following the speech, the film’s final and biggest scene, and they could no longer gather such a huge crowd, nor afford to pay them, if there would be more takes.
After that first and only take of the scene that has become the talk-of-the-town even for decades afterwards, Gallaga recalled that Nora simply went back to smoking her cigarette – she started and ended shooting the speech with the cigarette still lit up.
According to Gallaga, he worked with dozens of new and veteran artists, but he had never seen someone act as naturally as Nora.
Nora then went on to win awards for the performance, including Best Actress at the 1982 Metro Manila Film Festival.
“Himala” is the only Filipino film that made it to CNN International’s list of Best Asian Films of All Time.
Following “Himala,” the production outfit that produced the film, Experimental Cinema of the Philippines, went on to produce Gallaga’s directorial debut “Oro, Plata, Mata,” another Philippine cinema classic.
Gallaga died in 2020 at the age of 76, while Nora succumbed to acute respiratory infection last April 16 at the age of 71. — Deni Rose M. Afinidad-Bernardo
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Credit belongs to: www.philstar.com
