Of the Flesh

Of the Flesh (Filipino: Karnal) is a 1983 Philippine drama film directed by Marilou Diaz-Abaya.[1] It was adapted and written by Ricky Lee from the legal story "To Take a Life" by Teresa Añover Rodriguez. The film was selected as the Philippine entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 57th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.[2]

Karnal
The poster of the film's restored version, released in 2015
Directed byMarilou Diaz-Abaya
Produced byBenjamin G. Yalung
Written byRicardo Lee
Based onTo Take a Life
by Teresita Añover Rodriguez
Starring
Narrated byCharito Solis
Music byRyan Cayabyab
CinematographyManolo Abaya
Edited byMarc Tarnate
Production
company
Cine Suerte[lower-alpha 1]
Distributed byABS-CBN Film Productions (restored version)
Release date
  • 25 December 1983 (1983-12-25)
Running time
123 minutes
CountryPhilippines
Language

Plot

A middle-aged woman (Charito Solis), acting as the narrator, tells a long but violent and tragic story about her mother's life in the town which is only one step ahead to Hell. She also mentions about the lives of the townspeople living under the rule of a tyrannical and violent landowner.

The newlyweds Narcing (Phillip Salvador) and Puring (Cecille Castillo) arrived from Manila, the capital, to live in the hometown of the Mulawin where Narcing was born and raised. His father, Gusting (Vic Silayan), was taken aback by Puring's resemblance to his deceased wife Elena. The analogy prompted Gusting to sacrifice his daughter-in-law. He made an advance gesture toward Puring, showing his anger by motivating Narcing to be more assertive. At the same time, he had to lay bare the villagers in his friendship with a deaf man Gorio (Joel Torre). In the violent family conflict that ensued, Narcing attacked his father with a long shot, hunting him out of the way.

While her husband is in jail, Puring gives birth to a demon-possessed infant, considered by the town's villagers. After burying her daughter in the burning fields, Narcing escaped from prison but the authorities were pursuing to capture him. As he found his wife at Gorio's hut, Narcing, along with Puring, escapes in order to avoid being captured by the authorities. Unfortunately for him, Narcing was captured by the authorities but his hands were tied by a rope and he was repeatedly stumbled and slid in the ground as Puring emotionally cries when she watches the tragedy. Moments later as the jail warden opens the cell, he found out that Narcing committed suicide by slitting his throat. The news of his death leads to Puring devastated and emotionally cried in shock.

The narrator revealed her identity as the niece of Narcing and Puring. Her mother Doray (Grace Amilbangsa) was Narcing's sister. Forcing his father to marry he did not want to, please Doray flee from the family home with his fiancée. Likewise, she was also a victim of family violence in the past. On the other hand, Puring returns to Manila to work as a dispatcher again but according to the others' accounts, she became even worse when she became a prostitute to the Americans in the dark areas of the capital where she forcefully spoke English to them and some said, she became a nun where she forgave her sins that she committed.

Cast

Restoration

The film's restoration was handled by the ABS-CBN Film Restoration and Central Digital Lab in Makati City. According to ABS-CBN film archives head Leo Katigbak, the restoration of “Karnal” started last year but was discontinued when technicians spotted some defects in its acquired copy. “The process, however, was not so convoluted for ‘Karnal.’ We were lucky to have generated print from the master negatives before they got lost. Ours is a very good print. While there was a fair amount of damage, we were able to pull it off with today’s digital capabilities,” Katigbak told the Inquirer during the special screening on 13 Aug at the Cultural Center of the Philippines in Pasay City. Katigbak, whose team has already restored some 30 films this year alone, said the most daunting task was “finding a copy that’s restorable. Owning the rights to the film is also a complicated issue, especially if this involves multiple ownership. For some of the movies, we have opted not to continue with the restoration because of disputed ownership.” “More than half” of the rights to “Karnal” were already owned by ABS-CBN, he added. “We just had to negotiate for the remaining rights,” he said. “Ideally, one should be able to acquire all the rights to be able to utilize it in all the platforms. We wanted ‘Karnal’ on iTunes and video-on-demand.” Being able to “bring the film to where its audiences are,” was another consideration. Katigbak pointed out: “If they want to watch this on their tablets, on their mobile phones or cable, this has to be available in a quality that’s very good. We want to be able to make this available in all the platforms. This is so that we can fully utilize all the prospects of the movie.”[3]

The film's restored version was premiered on 13 August 2015 at the Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theatre) of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.[4] The premiere was attended by the film's stars Phillip Salvador, Vangie Labalan, and Cecille Castillo; the director's two sons, musician Marc and cinematographer David Abaya; the film's cinematographer and the director's husband Manolo Abaya, and the writer Ricky Lee.[5][6][7][8][9] Directors Antoinette Jadaone and Dan Villegas also attended the film's premiere.[10]

Accolades
Year Group Category Nominee Result
1983 Metro Manila Film Festival[11] Best Film Karnal Won
Best Sound Engineering Rudy Baldovino Won
Best Cinematography Manolo Abaya Won
Best Art Direction Fiel Zabat Won

Notes
  1. The film's rights are currently owned by ABS-CBN Corporation.
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See also

References
  1. "Karnal". Asian Cinevision. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  2. Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
  3. "The challenges of restoring 'Karnal'". Philippine Daily Inquirer. 16 August 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  4. ABS-CBN Film Restoration: Karnal in HD Full Trailer. YouTube. ABS-CBN Entertainment. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  5. Phillip Salvador on Restored Film Karnal. YouTube. ABS-CBN Entertainment. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  6. Vangie Labalan and Cecille Castillo on Restored Film Karnal. YouTube. ABS-CBN Entertainment. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  7. Ricky Lee and Manolo Abaya on Restored Film Karnal. YouTube. ABS-CBN Entertainment. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  8. Vangie Labalan and Cecille Castillo on Restored Film Karnal. YouTube. ABS-CBN Entertainment. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  9. Marc Abaya and David Abaya on Restored Film Karnal. YouTube. ABS-CBN Entertainment. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  10. Direk Antoinette Jadaone and Direk Dan Villegas on Restored Film Karnal. YouTube. ABS-CBN Entertainment. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  11. "Metro Manila Film Festival:1983". IMDB. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
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