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''Himala'' ("Miracle") is a 1982 Filipino drama film directed by Ishmael Bernal and produced by the Experimental Cinema of the Philippines. The film's script was written by Ricky Lee based on the story of a teenage girl on Cabra Island in the province of Occidental Mindoro between 1966 and 1967.〔MiracleHunter, Inc. (2008). ("Marian Apparition Claims of the 20th Century" ). The Miracle Hunter. Retrieved on 2011-03-28.〕〔Pythias08 (2008-11-27). ("CNN Screening Room's feature on Himala" ). YouTube. Retrieved on 2011-03-28.〕 ''Himala'' was filmed entirely in the Philippine province of Ilocos Norte in just three weeks with a budget of only ₱3 million. The film premiered at the 1982 Metro Manila Film Festival, and in 1983, became the first Filipino film to be included in the "Competition Section" of the Berlin International Film Festival. Since then, ''Himala'' has been exhibited in a number of film festivals around the world.〔 On 11 November 2008, ''Himala'' won the Viewer's Choice Award for the Best Film of All Time from the Asia-Pacific Region in the 2008 CNN Asia Pacific Screen Awards beating out nine other films voted by thousands of film fans around the world.〔("Filipino film 'Himala' wins CNN APSA Viewer's Choice Award" ). CNN.com. Retrieved on 2011-03-28.〕〔Dlanorsk5 (2008-12-26). ("Nora Aunor HIMALA as CNN Viewer Choice Award as Best Film in Asia-Pacific" ). YouTube. Retrieved on 2011-03-28.〕 The ten finalists were chosen by critics, industry insiders and actors—including Bollywood stars Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai. 〔(2008-10-27). ("Himala in CNN film poll" ). Inquirer.net .Retrieved on 2011-03-28.〕〔Plaza, Gerry (2008-11-12). (inquirer.net, "CNN: ‘Himala’ best Asian film in history" ). Inquirer.net. Retrieved on 2011-03-28.〕 Nora Aunor is best known for her performance in the film as the purported seer and healer Elsa. Her portrayal is considered by most Filipino critics as the best of her career.〔 On its 30th anniversary, ''Himala'' is the first of the 3000+ films restored by the ABS-CBN Film Archive and Central Digital Lab, Inc.〔(ABS-CBN launches restored version of Himala )〕 The restored version premiered at the 69th Venice International Film Festival. ==Plot== The setting is a small town named Cupang, a community set in an arid landscape. The townsfolk believed that the ongoing drought was a curse placed upon them for driving away a leper some years before. During a solar eclipse, a local girl named Elsa (Aunor), reports seeing experiencing an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary near a tree atop the barren hill where her adoptive mother ''Aling'' Salíng (Labalan) found her as a baby. Elsa soon after engages in faith healing the local residents. She is assisted by her friends Chayong (Centeno), Sepa (Quiambao), and Baldo (Almeda) who eventually became part of her "Seven Apostles",〔 which later includes the entrepreneur Mrs. Alba (Palileo). Word spreads, drawing pilgrims and the curious to Cupang and Elsa's house, which is marked with a large banner proclaiming "Elsa Loves You". At the same time, enterprising residents of Cupang begin selling religious articles, offering accommodation–all capitalising on the sudden influx of local and foreign patients and tourists. A Manila-based filmmaker named Orly (Manikan) arrives in town to make a documentary on Elsa, interviewing her and the people who personally know her. Around the same time, Elsa's childhood friend Nimia (Dueñas), now a prostitute, has returned to Cupang. Nimia establishes a ''kabaret'' (nightclub/brothel) for tourists, which is later ordered closed by Elsa's Seven Apostles. One day, Orly approaches the town's vicar (Lamangan) in the local church's confessional. He tells the priest that he saw two drugged youths from Manila raping Elsa and Chayong on the hill of the apparitions. Orly tries to unburden himself of his tremendous guilt: instead of helping the two women, he continued filming the incident, as he needed a scoop to boost his struggling career. A cholera epidemic spreads throughout Cupang, with Sepa's two children dying after eating tainted meat. A still-traumatised Chayong then hangs herself out of shame following the rape. As the townsfolk bring the three bodies to the graveyard, a fourth coffin follows; the deceased's mother chastises Elsa, accusing the seer of failing to heal her child. Authorities quarantine Elsa's house, closing it off from would-be patients, while Elsa blamed herself for all of the deaths and decided to stop healing. Eventually, the pilgrims and tourists stopped coming, returning the town to its sleepy state. Elsa is seen throwing up from morning sickness, indicating her pregnancy from the rape. Mrs. Alba erroneously concluded that it is an "Immaculate Conception" (when she really meant the Virgin birth), and then declares it proof of Elsa's sanctity. At that exact moment, thunder roars from the skies, followed by a sudden downpour. The townspeople rejoice, convinced that the miracle has returned and that the curse has finally been lifted. Mrs. Alba and the crowd rush to Elsa's house and called out to her while dancing in the rain. Elsa emerges at her window, and commands her devotees to assemble the townsfolk and pilgrims on the hill. Speaking in front of an eager crowd, an initially apprehensive Elsa confesses that there were no miracles, no sightings of the Virgin, and that it is man who invents gods, miracles, and curses. In the middle of her passionate speech, a gun is fired at Elsa, mortally wounding her. A violent stampede ensues, with the old, the children, and the infirm being injured or killed in the mass hysteria. Ensconced in her mother Salíng's arms, Elsa takes her last breath as she gazes at the sky as Orly and the media film her final moments. Baldo announces Elsa's death, eliciting wailing and weeping from the people who then rush towards the makeshift stage. To convey Elsa's corpse into a waiting ambulance, her followers lifted her lifeless body–lying as though she was crucified–above the heads of the crowd clambering to touch her. People scamper all over the hill to follow Elsa's ambulance as it speeds away. Against her husband's will, Sepa addresses the crowd, proclaiming Elsa a martyr whose devotion to the Virgin must continue. Sepa and the congregation then fall on their knees and creep up the hill while repeatedly reciting the Hail Mary.〔Lee, Ricardo. "Si Tatang at mga HImala ng Ating Panahon - Himala", p. 54-93. Bagong Likha Publications, Inc. (1988).〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Himala」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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