Misteryo sa Tuwa
Misteryo sa Tuwa (English: Joyful Mystery) is a 1984 Philippine period drama and political thriller film written and directed by Abbo Q. Dela Cruz for the Experimental Cinema of the Philippines. It is set in Lucban, Quezon, in the 1950s where three men stole a suitcase from a plane crash site and never reported to the authorities and when the authorities approach to the town mayor to help find the suitcase, the latter made a vicious plan to steal the money for his greed.
| Misteryo sa Tuwa | |
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 The poster of the restored version, released in 2019. | |
| Directed by | Abbo Q. Dela Cruz |
| Written by |
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| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Rody Lacap |
| Edited by | Jess Navarro |
| Music by |
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Production company | |
Release date |
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Running time | 122 minutes |
| Country | Philippines |
| Languages | Filipino English |
It stars Tony Santos Sr., Johnny Delgado, Ronnie Lazaro, Amable Quiambao, Alicia Alonzo, Maria Montes, and Vangie Labalan in the film that tackles greed, corruption, and hatred.
Summary
In a peaceful village at the footsteps of Mt. Banahaw, the people were gathered to celebrate in a joyous occasion where the villagers and visitors have fun together. On that day, a plane crashes in a nearby area and many people were shocked by the incident. As they discover the remnants, many things and dead passengers were scattered all over the area but everyone saw a lot of items worth of fortune in the area where they stole and retrieve them in order to escape their lives of being poor. On the other hand, the three men Ponsoy, Mesiong, and Jamin steal a suitcase belonging to a dead American passenger from the plane crash which they vow not to report to the authorities.
By the time the authorities knew the knowledge of the suitcase being held by three men, the town mayor Pedro Valle, and his men including Castro, have decided to create necessary measures to suppress the three men and take the suitcase full of money for their personal gains. As the film progresses, the motivations of the characters were exposed one by one as they were continued to be victimized by torture, abuse, and violence as the contingent of soldiers would begin their final assault to kill the pillagers in the mountains as an act of revenge for their violent attack in the village.
Cast
- Tony Santos Sr. as Ponsoy
- Johnny Delgado as Mesiong
- Ronnie Lazaro as Jamin
- Amable Quiambao as Ada
- Alicia Alonzo as Pinang
- Robert Antonio as Kapitan Salgado
- Lito Anzures as Castro
- Mario Taguiwalo as Alcalde Valle
- Maria Montes as Ising
- Ray Ventura as Santos
- Perry Fajardo as Marcial
- Susanna Faller as Inang Iska
- Romeo Igloria as Benito
- Mely Mallari as Marta
- Vangie Labalan as Marcela
- Benjamin Delina as Luis
- Wilfredo Saludares as Didong
- Filemon Faller as Julian
- Lorenza Nanong as Priscilla
- Kenneth Hutalla as Tiko
- Mary Jane Salvanerra as Pinang's Baby
- Susano Dealino as Kalihim Cruz
The director and its crew members also hired the townspeople of Lucban, Quezon and the Lucban Theatre Ensemble as extras of the film as well as the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Production
Misteryo sa Tuwa was adapted from a winning entry from the scriptwriting contest of ECP in 1982.
The film was shot in the town of Lucban, Quezon, the hometown of the director Abbo Q. Dela Cruz and his brother Rosauro "Uro" Q. Dela Cruz who was served as the crowd director of the film.
Release
Misteryo sa Tuwa was released by the Experimental Cinema of the Philippines on December 25, 1984 as part of the 1984 Metro Manila Film Festival. In Japan, it was released on December 12, 1985 as one of the films exhibited for the 30th Asia-Pacific Film Festival and its literal Japanese title is also Joyful Mystery (Japanese: よろこびの神秘, Hepburn: Yorokobi no shinpi).
Digital restoration
The film was restored by the ABS-CBN Film Restoration through the Kantana Post-Production (Thailand) Co. Ltd. and L'Immagine Ritrovata for the image restoration from film prints and Wildsound Studios for its color grading and audio restoration.[1][2]
To address the issue of the damaged parts of Reel 3, the restoration team contacted the film's cinematographer Rody Lacap for the approval of fixing the parts of the film. In the end, Lacap decided to make the damaged parts in sepia tones. According to Leo P. Katigbak, head of the archives division said that they could spend ₱500,000 on the colorization of the damaged scenes but it was turned down due to Lacap's instructions. The whole restoration process of Misteryo sa Tuwa cost ₱5 million and the total duration of restoring the film was 3,440 hours.[2]
The restored version was premiered on November 11, 2019 at the Ayala Malls Manila Bay as part of the Cinema One Originals film festival. The premiere was attended by Vangie Labalan (one of the film's surviving cast members), film editor Jess Navarro, and the representatives of the cast and crew members of the film who are deceased or unable to attend: Wanggo Gallaga (son of Peque and Madeleine Gallaga), Rose S. Alimon (daughter of Tony Santos Sr.), Teresita V. Dela Cruz (wife of the film's director), Esperanza "Espie" Dela Cruz-Salva (sister of the director and the film's wardrobe assistant), Juan Miguel Escudero (nephew of the film's production designer Don Escudero) and Eduardo R. Meñez, the head of the Office of Strategic Communications and Research - Department of Foreign Affairs.[3]
Reception
Critical reception
According to a review by Panos Kotzathanasis for Asian Movie Pulse, the film is considered "a great film that manages to communicate the plethora of its comments with utter eloquence, while entertaining significantly in the process." He praised the film's storyline and settings, the cast members, Rody Lacap's cinematography, production designs by Rodell Cruz and Don Escudero.[4]
From a review by Hayley Scanlon of Windows on Worlds, she described the film as "both a tale of human greed and selfishness", owing to the scenes that were alluded or referenced to the then-Martial Law era.[5]
Matthew Ecosia of Film Geek Guy described the film's restoration as "far from perfect, but it is something special" and he praised the restoration efforts of ABS-CBN Film Restoration despite the encountered discolored and damaged frames that cannot be eliminated entirely by the restoration team. In terms of the film's story, he described it as "a tense display of how our drives as humans never really change regardless of time".[6]
Accolades
| Year | Award-Giving Body | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Gawad Urian Awards[7] | Best Cinematography | Rody Lacap | Won |
| Best Music | Jaime Fabregas | Nominated | ||
| Best Production Design | Rodell Cruz and Don Escudero | Won | ||
| Best Sound | Ramon Reyes | Nominated | ||
Notes
- The film's ownership rights is currently controlled by ABS-CBN Corporation.
References
- "Misteryo sa Tuwa - Cinema One Originals Premiere". Facebook. November 11, 2019. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
- Abellon, Bam V. (November 4, 2019). "This 1984 film took 3,600 hours and Php 5 million to restore — and we'll finally get to see it". ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs. ABS-CBN News Channel. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
- "Restored BULAKLAK SA CITY JAIL and MISTERYO SA TUWA Interviews". Facebook. November 16, 2019. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
- Kotzathanasis, Panos (October 30, 2020). "Film Review: Misteryo sa Tuwa (1984) by Abbo Q. Dela Cruz". Asian Movie Pulse. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
- Scanlon, Hayley (November 22, 2020). "Joyful Mystery (Misteryo sa Tuwa, Abbo Q. Dela Cruz, 1984)". Windows on Worlds. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
- Ecosia, Matthew (November 23, 2019). "Cinema One Originals 2019 reviews (Part 2): Misteryo sa Tuwa, The Lighthouse, Utopia". Film Geek Guy. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
- . IMDB. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
